BUSINESS LIVE: De La Rue welcomes the demand for banknotes; Superdry profit hit; Hipgnosis delays results

London-listed shares are in the green this morning, with property shares leading the FTSE 100's gains, as investors assess continued hopes for rate cuts from the US Federal Reserve and brace for more economic data later this week to appear.

Among individual stocks, Superdry fell 18.9 percent after the British fashion retailer reported a hit to annual profits as sales were 'significantly below' management expectations.

A leading American stock exchange is looking for more British companies to list in New York.

Karen Snow, global head of listings at Nasdaq, said she is in discussions with a number of British companies about the move.

Analysts have started lowering forecasts for Superdry after this morning's profit warning.

Peel Hunt has downgraded Superdry from 'buy' to 'hold' and downgraded its price target from 130p to just 40p.

'Superdry benefited greatly from last year's cold snap, especially through third-party platforms such as Next.

“As a brand that over-indexes on jackets and outerwear, this year's warm autumn weather has weighed heavily on sales in stores, online and across platforms.

'We have reduced full-year sales assumptions by around 15% to £506m to reflect first half trading trends in the second half, particularly in wholesale.

'We expect management to focus more on clearing inventory ahead of full-price trading, and also anticipate lower margins in the second half of the year. Cost savings remain on track as previously identified, with more to come.

'The net effect is a full year loss of approximately £45 million (previously approximately £5 million).

'Superdry was on track at the end of September, but has clearly seen a deterioration in trading in October and November, as evidenced by the latest update in the recent sales note on the Asian IP'

Octopus Energy has been valued at £6.2 billion in a new investment round.

The energy giant raised a further £630 million from existing shareholders, including Japanese giants Origin Energy and Tokyo Gas, as well as former US vice-president Al Gore's Generation Asset Management.

This means its valuation has increased by 60 percent since its last fundraising in December 2021.

Controversial music royalty fund Hipgnosis has been forced to postpone the publication of its half-year financial results due to concerns about the valuation of its assets.

It told shareholders this morning:

'The valuation received by the Company from its independent appraiser is significantly higher than the valuation implied by proposed and recent transactions in the sector, in particular the proposed sale of assets to Hipgnosis Songs Capital for a net consideration of $417, 5 million, which reflects a discount of 24.3 million. percent to the valuation of these assets as of March 31, 2023, and the recent sale of non-core assets of $23.1 million, reflecting a discount of 14.2 percent to the valuation of these assets as of September 30, 2023.

'The Board has therefore sought advice from Hipgnosis Song Management Limited, its investment adviser, the majority of which are owned by funds managed and/or advised by Blackstone, on their views on the independent appraiser's valuation.

'Hipgnosis Song Management Limited ultimately issued an advisory opinion, which was heavily cautious, leaving the Board of Directors concerned about the valuation of the company's assets in the interim results.'

A senior Bank of England official has played down growing expectations of a rate cut – even as a report warned the economy was simply 'moving ahead'.

Deputy Governor Ben Broadbent said the central bank needs to see a “longer and more pronounced decline” in wage growth, but the job is complicated by “muddy” data.

This is despite growing market expectations that interest rates will be cut as early as May, against the backdrop of signs of declining inflation and a faltering economy.

Struggling fashion retailer Superdry has reported a hit to annual profits due to a challenging trading environment including warmer weather.

The company, whose fashion line mainly includes sweatshirts, hoodies and jackets, said the unusual weather in early autumn led to a delayed absorption of the autumn/winter range, affecting sales in the first half of the fiscal year ended October 28 was damaged.

Founder and CEO Julian Dunkerton said:

'The unusual weather in early autumn led to a delayed take-up of our autumn/winter range and this impacted sales in the first half of the year.

'While we have seen modest signs of improvement following the recent spell of colder weather, current trading has remained challenging and this is reflected in the weaker than expected business performance.

“The operational progress we have made in the first half has been more encouraging thanks to the sale of intellectual property rights for the South Asia region and strong progress on our cost efficiency program.”

Adobe has terminated its £16 billion acquisition of design platform Figma after clashes with regulators in Britain and Europe.

The companies said there was 'no clear path' to gaining approval from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and the European Commission.

Photoshop owner Adobe will pay Figma a termination fee of almost £800 million.

A recovery in banknote demand has boosted De La Rue's profits, with the banknote printer exceeding breakeven expectations for the first half of the financial year with an adjusted operating profit of £7.9 million.

The 200-year-old company still expects full-year adjusted operating profit of around £20m.

Clive Vacher, CEO of De La Rue:

“De La Rue's robust first-half performance reflects the important actions we have taken since 2020 to make the business resilient to changing market conditions.

“These actions have enabled us to weather a downturn over the past eighteen months, especially in the foreign exchange sector, and I am pleased that the market is now showing signs of continued recovery. We have doubled the currency order book since September 2023 and are showing a high win rate, with more opportunities in the pipeline.

'Authentication remains on track for £100 million in revenues for the full financial year. We have secured a significant multi-year contract extension, and we are in the late stages of securing another contract extension in GRS. Our Australian passport program is moving quickly and is a key growth driver this year.”