MARKET REPORT: Daily Mirror owner to cut 200 jobs as shares slump

Shares in Reach Plc plummeted after the owner of the Daily Mirror warned earnings would be lower than hoped.

The newspaper publisher, which also owns the Daily Express and Daily Star, said profit for the year would be lower than analysts’ forecast of £112.8m.

Shares fell 26 percent, or 28.4 pence, to 81 pence following the news. The downside forecast came when it reported that sales fell 4.2 percent in the three months to December.

Price increases helped circulation revenues increase 1.8 percent during the period, but gains were wiped out after print advertising revenue fell 20.2 percent. Digital sales fell by 5.9 percent.

The drop in sales was caused by customers choosing to spend less money on marketing during Black Friday and Christmas.

The group, which has cut costs to cushion the blow, has set a target of saving around £30 million this year.

But this could lead to the loss of about 200 jobs. Panmure Gordon analyst Johnathan Barrett said Reach’s digital audience was immensely valuable and could become an acquisition target for “any media company with the financial firepower looking to reach an online consumer audience.”

The stock market in London returned to positive territory, with the FTSE 100 rising 0.4 percent or 30.49 points to 7724.98 – the highest level since mid-2008 and not far off the all-time high of 7877. FTSE 250 added 0.7 percent, or 130.73 points, to 19521.70.

Back in London, car dealer Lookers raised its profit forecast for the year to more than £80m, up from an earlier estimate of ‘no less than £75m’ following strong trading.

New car sales rose 4.1 percent in the three months to December, better than the industry’s 1 percent growth.

Stock watch – Deltic Energy

Deltic Energy investors cheered after the joint venture discovered gas in the southern part of the North Sea.

Gas has been found in a Shell-led operation to drill the Pensacola well.

Shell has a 65 percent working interest in the operation, followed by Deltic for 30 percent, with the remainder held by Netherlands-based One Dyas.

A full well test is now underway and is expected to take approximately 30 days.

Deltic shares rose 46.8 percent, or 0.93 pence, to 2.9 pence.

Used car sales and maintenance revenue were both nearly 10 percent higher than the same period in 2021. Shares were up 5 percent, or 3.9 pence, to 81.8 pence.

Topps Tiles will meet its target of increasing its market share to 20 percent by 2025, ahead of schedule.

The floor salesman said sales in the 13 weeks to December were 10.2 percent higher than a year earlier. At the end of October, the market share was 19 percent. Shares fell 0.6 percent, or 0.3 pence, to 46.8 pence.

Bowling alley operator Ten Entertainment Group hailed a record year as sales rose nearly 90 per cent for the year to January 1, meaning it now expects annual profits to reach nearly £26m. Shares rose 0.2 percent, or 0.5 pence, to 293 pence.

Less than a week after the largest bank in the United Arab Emirates walked away from submitting a bid, Standard Chartered went on the hunt for a new owner of its aviation finance business.

This unit makes up about 2 percent of the international lender’s total income. Shares fell 0.1 percent, or 0.4 pence, to 687.4 pence.

There was some calm for the recruitment industry after Page Group insisted that “a shortage of candidates and a high number of vacancies” persisted.

The outlook came despite a weaker final quarter of 2022.

As a result, Page Group expects an annual profit of £195 million, down from a previous estimate of £204 million.

Despite this, shares gained 1.6 percent, or 7.2 pence, to 446 pence.

It followed a dismal update from rival Robert Walters 24 hours earlier that sent stocks crashing across the industry.

Ferrexpo boss Jim North praised his staff’s “determination” after it produced 6.1 million tons of pellets in a year ravaged by the war in Ukraine, which battered the miner’s production of iron ore, with a 2022 volume which was almost half that of the previous 12 months.

Shares of the company rose 2 percent, or 3.4 pence, to 173.2 pence.