Good morning, a light one in terms of earnings after the storm of results in recent days. An interesting disposal emerged from electronics retailer Currys Plc, which agreed to sell its Greece and Cyprus retail business to local peer Public Power Corporation SA in a €200 million deal.
Currys will use the proceeds to pay down debt and said the move will help it focus on maintaining momentum in the UK and Ireland and “getting the Nordics back on track.” The London-based firm earlier this year cancelled its final dividend and lowered pension contributions to save cash as its Nordic business continues to battle tough competition. Its shares have dropped more than 40% from their March peak this year.
Key Business News
Wickes Group Plc: The DIY retailer said selling price inflation remained broadly flat in the past months and it expects this to continue for the remainder of the year and into 2024. Still, third-quarter sales in its “do-it-for-me” segment were down 4.4% as customers took longer to commit to big-ticket purchases.
Britain’s markets watchdog is closely monitoring areas of the finance industry with elevated risks of leverage that’s grown amid rising interest rates, Financial Conduct Authority Chief Executive Officer Nikhil Rathi told Bloomberg TV. The FCA is most concerned about private credit, private equity, hedge funds, and commercial real estate, Rathi said.
Elon Musk renewed calls for regulations on artificial intelligence during an on-stage conversation with Rishi Sunak as part of a two-day UK AI Safety Summit. The billionaire’s high-profile appearance alongside the British PM capped off a gathering marked by tensions between those who are focused on supposed existential risks from AI and those who worry about near-term concerns, such as the technology’s potential to fuel discrimination and misinformation.
Markets Today’s Take
Bank of England Deputy Governor Ben Broadbent said yesterday the BOE wasn’t trying to send financial markets a message on interest rates. However, the bank’s inconsistent approach on Thursday might have done just that.
Governor Andrew Bailey used a Bloomberg TV interview to push back against the market’s reaction to its latest decision to hold rates. That had seen investors price in as many as three quarter-point cuts by end of 2024.
The trouble was, Bailey had just hours earlier said he wasn’t pushing back against the market pricing it used to inform its forecasts, which embedded previous expectations for one cut next year.
By engaging with the market in the afternoon, and not earlier in the day, it seems the BOE is at risk at sending a pretty clear message on what it’s comfortable with at the moment.
Of course, the big picture is that it wants to stave off any talk of cuts for as long as possible to help build up credibility on fighting inflation, given — as yesterday showed — once investors get a sniff that the next move in rates might be lower, things can escalate pretty quickly.
Source : BNN Bloomberg