BUSINESS LIVE: Inflation remains at 4%; Bloomsbury raises profit expectations; Coca-Cola HBC makes record profits

Sarah Coles, Head of Personal Finance, Hargreaves Lansdown:

‘As a tall man in a cramped house, we were prepared for a bump, so it’s a relief that inflation remained at 4%. The even better news is that the economy is expected to decline sharply from here on out. However, we cannot afford to relax as there will still be bumps.

‘Behind the calm leading figure there was a lot of movement. The £94 increase in the energy price cap in January means electricity rose by 4% and gas by 6.8% this month.

Both have fallen in the past year, and energy prices are not nearly as painful as they were in the immediate aftermath of the invasion of Ukraine. Prices are down 18% from their January 2023 peak.

‘However, they are still much higher than before this all started – an increase of 89% since January 2021. Energy bills are still a challenge for millions of families, and separate ONS figures show that more than two in five say that it is difficult to pay these. bills.”

A superstar commodities trader at Macquarie will leave the company this month after raking in more pay than JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon and his own CEO.

In a surprise announcement, the Australian investment bank said Nick O’Kane would step down as head of its Commodities and Global Markets (CGM) division on February 27.

Lindsay James, investment strategist at Quilter Investors:

‘Core inflation, which excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, has fallen significantly slower than the headline rate, and here too progress appears to have stalled. Inflation remained stable at 5.1% in November and December, refusing to budge again in January, partly driven by strong services inflation, which rose from 6.4% to 6.5%.

‘That said, the month-on-month data is more encouraging, and so this is unlikely to move the Bank of England away from its recent suggestion that interest rates have peaked.

‘Yesterday’s UK labor market statistics showed a further decline in wages, with annual growth in regular earnings (excluding bonuses) falling to 6.2% in October to December, compared to 6.6% in the previous period of three months.

‘While this may seem high at first glance, annual analysis of the pattern over the past three months indicates that this is now falling quite rapidly, with the annualized nominal growth rate of regular profits standing at 2.2% – and quickly approaching the level of the Bank of England. target and provides some reassurance that this inflationary pulse is easing.

‘In addition, it is widely expected that tomorrow’s GDP data will show that Britain entered a recession at the end of last year. Although Andrew Bailey has withdrawn with the expectation that this will be both superficial and short-lived, the pressure on the Bank to cut rates sooner or later will undoubtedly remain, and today’s CPI data release will little change.’

Coca-Cola HBC expects profits to grow in 2024 after the bottler posted record profits last year, helped by strong demand for its sparkling drinks, coffee and energy drinks, as well as easing cost pressures.

The Swiss-based company, in which US drinks giant Coca-Cola owns a stake of around 23 percent, expects comparable operating profit to grow between 3 and 9 percent in 2024.

It reported a 17.7 percent increase in comparable operating profit for the year ended December 31 to €1.08 billion.

Boss Zoran Bogdanovic said:

“While we expect the macroeconomic and geopolitical environment to remain challenging, we remain confident that we will continue to make progress towards our medium-term growth objectives.”

Yodel was bought at the last minute by a consortium led by rival operator Shift.

The parcel delivery giant, owned by the Barclay family, was acquired by YDLGP, a new group that also includes Shift founder Jacob Corlett and investment bank Solano Pa.

Harry Potter publisher Bloomsbury Publishing has forecast that annual profits and revenues will be ‘significantly higher’ than market expectations, supported in part by robust sales of Sarah J. Maas’s latest science fiction and fantasy title.

‘I am overjoyed to report an exceptionally strong period of trading, driven primarily by increasing demand for fantasy fiction.

‘Sarah J. Maas is a publishing phenomenon and we are fortunate to have enrolled her for her first book thirteen years ago.

‘Her books have a huge audience that continues to grow, supported by major promotional campaigns from Bloomsbury, driving strong word of mouth, especially through TikTok and Instagram channels.’

Victoria Scholar, head of investments at Interactive Investor:

“UK CPI inflation was 4% in January, unchanged from December, and better than analyst expectations for a figure of 4.2%. The core CPI came in at 5.1%, also below consensus estimates of 5.2%. The upward contributions from higher gas and electricity rates were offset by downward contributions from furniture, household items, food and non-alcoholic beverages.

‘Gas and electricity prices rose faster than this time last year due to the effect of the energy price cap, and second-hand car prices rose for the first time since May. Meanwhile, furniture and soft furnishings prices fell 5.2% month on month, the biggest monthly fall since January 2020.

Inflation for food and non-alcoholic beverages fell to 7% in January from 8% in December, the lowest annual rate since April 2022, and declined for the tenth month in a row from a high of 19.2% in March 2023. Food prices have fallen this month. for the first time in more than two years. Bread and grain prices fell 1.3% this month, the biggest monthly drop since May 2021. However, food prices are still high compared to two years ago.

‘Inflation has been steadily declining since hitting a 40-year high in October 2022. While inflation has risen very slightly over the past month, inflation remains unchanged month-on-month in January despite forecasts for another marginal increase, as a result of compensatory contributions from various goods. and services.

‘The Bank of England will no doubt be pleased to have avoided an upside surprise in inflation, especially after US inflation came in higher than expected yesterday, triggering a sell-off on Wall Street.’

Bitcoin’s price fluctuated wildly as investors worried about the outlook for interest rates in the United States.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency rose to $50,383 in early trading – a level last seen in December 2021 – taking gains to nearly 30 percent in the past three weeks.

Consumer price inflation was lower than expected in January and held steady at 4 percent this month, while it was forecast to rise to 4.2 percent, new data from the Office for National Statistics shows.