MARKET REPORT: Prudential Stocks Rise on Boom in Business Following End of China Covid Restrictions and Increased Demand in Hong Kong
Shares of Prudential rose after it announced a boom in business following the end of China’s Covid restrictions and increased demand in Hong Kong.
The FTSE 100 Asia-focused insurer, which spun its UK operations into M&G four years ago (up 1.5 percent, or 3.1 pence, to 205.1 pence), reported a 29 percent increase in revenue to £1.23 billion ($1.55 billion). in the first three months of the year. And profit rose 26 percent to $743 million (£593 million).
The insurance giant said this was driven by growth in Hong Kong, where trade surged – thanks to higher sales to domestic customers and the reopening of the border with mainland China.
Prudential added that business had remained good in Hong Kong since the end of the first quarter. The company focuses exclusively on Asia and Africa and has sold its American and British weapons. Shares gained 4.2 percent, or 48.5p, to 1211.5p.
The London stock market ended its last trading session in April on a high, with the FTSE 100 up 0.5 percent or 38.99 points to 7870.57 and the FTSE 250 gaining 0.9 percent or 177.13 points to 19425.14. The closely watched Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust rose 2.1 percent, or 13.2 pence, to 628.8 pence following positive results from US tech giants. The FTSE 100-listed technology backer, flagship of the Baillie Gifford fund empire, is a favorite of retail investors seeking easy access to the US technology world.
Boost: Prudential reported a 29 percent increase in sales to £1.23 billion ($1.55 billion) in the first three months of the year
It has stakes in Tesla, Netflix and Amazon, which on Thursday posted revenues of £102bn for the first three months of the year – 9 per cent more than in 2022 and more than the £100bn forecast by analysts.
The world’s largest online retailer also posted a quarterly profit of £2.6bn, following a loss of £3bn in the same period of 2022. Further up the rankings and Morgan Advanced Materials boss insisted his company’s recovery is at schedule after a cyber-attack in January boosted sales and profits.
Pete Raby said the group, which makes ceramics for metal smelters, still expects full-year profits to be about 10 to 15 percent below previous estimates.
The cyberattack also forced the group to postpone the publication of the 2022 results. Turnover rose 17 percent to £1.1 billion last year, while profits jumped 21.3 percent to £151 million. Shares gained 3 percent, or 9p, to 306.5p.
Smurfit Kappa continued to hope that things would improve in 2023 after sales fell 1 per cent to £2.6 billion in the first three months of this year, while profits rose 7 per cent to £297 million. Shares rose 3.4 percent, or 96p, to 2942p.
At Computacenter, the IT group applauded positive performance across Europe and North America during the first quarter of 2023. As a result, it expects higher earnings this year compared to 2022. Shares rose 0.5 percent, or 12p, up to 2296p. Hikma Pharmaceuticals has revised its full-year forecasts for its generics business, which includes the substances used in nasal sprays and dry powder inhalers, upwards after a better-than-expected start to 2023.
The division’s revenue, which accounted for 27 percent ($672 million) of group sales last year, should grow nearly 20 percent compared to previous forecasts of at least 10 percent. Shares were up 4 percent, or 71 pence, to 1841 pence.
Alphawave, a British-Canadian semiconductor company, will ask on Tuesday to suspend trading of its shares after it allegedly missed the deadline to publish its 2022 results.
The delay was due to KPMG requesting more time to complete its audit. Shares fell 14.9 percent, or 17.8 pence, to 101.4 pence.
Tech group Wandisco said an independent investigation into potentially fraudulent irregularities in its finances has revealed one employee was responsible for erroneously adding £103m in revenue and sales entries to its 2022 results. Shares remain suspended.