FTSE 100 Live: Disney swings to $460 million loss; Deliveroo ups earnings guidance

Average house price rises over £250,000 at Persimmon as it sticks with profit forecasts

The average selling price of a house built by Persimmon homes rose above £250,000 in the first half of 2023, even as Bank of England rate hikes and the demise of the government’s Help to Buy scheme piled pressure on the market.

Nonetheless, the York-based FTSE 100 developer reported an average price of £256, 445 in the six months to the end of June, up 4% year-on-year. For private sales, the average price rose 8% to £288,327, with a greater proportion of larger homes sold.

Revenue fell to £1.19 billion from £1.69 billion and profit before tax slumped 65% to £151 million. The number of completions was also down, to 4,249 from 6,652.

It said the drop in completions reflected “the lower forward order book coming into the year following the market challenges after last Autumn’s ‘mini-Budget’”

Dean Finch, CEO, said the firm was “on track” to deliver profit forecasts for the year, adding:

“Our pricing overall has remained resilient with continued positive momentum in the forward order book. However, the reduced volumes in the first half of the year has negatively affected our operating margins as we predicted earlier in the year. As we look forward, we expect increasing completions to result in improving operating margins.”

Entain puts aside £585m for HMRC bribery prove

Ladbrkes and Coral owner Entain has put aside £585 million to settle an HMRC bribery probe into the Turkish business it sold in 2017.

The betting giant is in negotiations over a deferred prosecution agreement, and while it is not final, it says it expects to have to pay more than half a billion pounds.

Entain shares plummeted two months ago when it revealed it was in talks over a settlement, but the figure reached is much larger than the £300 million or so that City analysts had predicted.

Read more here

Deliveroo upgrades earnings guidance as losses narrow

Food delivery app Deliveroo upgraded its guidance after a robust first-half performance saw its losses narrow.

The London-based firm said it would make pre-tax earnings of between £60-80 million, ahead of the £20-50 million it previously guided, after losses fell to £82.9 million from £153.8 million the previous year.

Deliveroo boss Will Shu said: “Over the last 18 months, Deliveroo has reached adjusted EBITDA profitability ahead of plan, and we are progressing towards our goal of generating consistent positive free cash flow. The industry is large and still early in its maturity, and we are excited by the growth opportunities ahead of us.”

US inflation seen higher, FTSE 100 set to fall

The US annual inflation rate is set to show its first increase in a year today, with Wall Street expecting a figure of 3.3% for July compared with 3% the previous month.

The consumer prices index (CPI) has fallen from a peak of 9.1% in June 2022, but year-on-year base effects and higher fuel prices will mean an end to that trend.

The sharp fallback in inflation and signs of resilience in the jobs market have raised hopes that the US economy can achieve a soft landing after 2022’s price shock.

However, the threat of more Federal Reserve interest rate rises has not gone away and policymakers will be paying close attention to today’s core inflation figure excluding food and energy prices. This is due to be unchanged at 4.8%.

Wall Street markets showed their unease ahead of this afternoon’s release, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500index down 0.5% and 0.7% respectively and the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite off 1.2%.

The FTSE 100 index rose 60 points yesterday but CMC Markets expects London’s top flight to open nine points lower at 7578 this morning.

Morning refresh: what you need to know to start the day

Good morning from the City desk of the Evening Standard

25 million euros: that’s the cost just one holiday operator has said travel chaos caused by wildfires in Greece has led to over just a few weeks. That would suggest the total economic cost is set to be many multiples of this to the tourism industry. It’s one the industry could have to reckon with much more frequently if extreme weather events such as this one become more common in the years ahead.

Overnight Disney swung to a $460 million loss after it revealed it had shed more than 7% of its subscription base, a figure higher than analysts had expected. Shares nudged up slightly in after-market trading as Wall Street analysts were buoyed by Disney’s promise to raise prices and crack down on password sharing.

Here’s a look at some of our other headlines from yesterday:

Paddy Power owner Flutter returns to profit and targets US listing by year endChina in deflation for first time in 2 years as prices fall 0.3%Coca Cola HBC profits double to almost €386 million as sales of coffee and energy drinks help it shift 1.4 billion casesCity giant ICAP cuts number of brokersAmazon “in talks” to take big stake in ARM IPO next month

This morning we’re expecting results from food delivery app Deliveroo, betting business Entain, mining firm Antofagasta and investment service Hargreaves Landsdown.

In the afternoon we’ll get US inflation and unemployment numbers.