Tesco (TSCO.L)
Tesco shares rose as much as 1% in the London market on Wednesday after the company announced a 160% rise in pre-tax profits, jumping from 882 million pounds ($1,119.77 million) to 2.3 billion pounds in 2022. .
Sales at Britain's biggest supermarket rose 4.4% to £68.2bn in the year to February 24, but more than 4,000 products were cheaper at the end of the year, with prices dropping by around 12% on average.
The company now expects retail adjusted operating profit to be at least £2.8bn in 2024-25.
Tesco also predicted food inflation would stabilize in low single digits for the rest of the year as it plans to make efficiency savings of £500m over the next year.
Retail adjusted operating profit, which excludes Tesco Bank's results, rose 10.9% to £2.76bn.
Chief Ken Murphy said: “While inflationary pressures have eased significantly, we recognize that the situation remains challenging for many of our customers, which is why we have worked hard to reduce prices and are now offering the lowest priced comprehensive food products for over a year. It continues to be a goods store.” Executive.
“We continue to invest to support our most important customers, lowering prices on more than 4,000 products and doubling down on the powerful combination of Aldi price match, low prices and Clubcard prices.”
read more: FTSE 100 LIVE: European stocks rise ahead of major US inflation report
However, not everyone was happy about Tesco's huge profits, with Unite the Union harshly criticizing Tesco amid the cost of living crisis.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Tesco is raking in mountains of cash as families struggle to put food on the table due to soaring prices. Many companies are taking advantage of the cost of living crisis. They are grabbing excess profits.
“Profiteering is rampant in our economy. The government's lack of action has failed to curb it.”
TSMC (TSM)
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world's largest chipmaker, saw quarterly sales rise at the fastest pace in more than a year.
The company reported stronger-than-expected sales for the March quarter, up 16% to about NT$592.6 billion ($18.5 billion), compared with the average estimate of NT$579.5 billion.
The company is expected to return to strong growth this year.
As part of Joe Biden's bid to attract computer chip production, TSMC has received a promise of $11.6 billion in subsidies from the U.S. government and has agreed to manufacture cutting-edge products in Arizona starting in 2028. That's what I received.
The company already has two factories in Arizona and plans to build a third under its latest agreement with the U.S. government. Taiwanese companies are set to receive up to $6.6 billion (£5.2 billion) in direct funding from the US government, with the potential for up to $5 billion more in the form of loans.
The partnership is part of the company's efforts to expand semiconductor production in the United States. The United States currently relies heavily on Asia, especially Taiwan, for chips.
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“The United States invented these chips, but over time, our production capacity went from nearly 40% of the world's capacity to nearly 10%, and we didn't have a single chip that was cutting edge,” Biden said in a statement. ” he said. “[That exposes] We are exposed to significant economic and national security vulnerabilities. ”
The Commerce Ministry said the deal would create at least 6,000 direct jobs in high-tech, 20,000 in factory construction and tens of thousands of indirect jobs.
TSMC also announced in January that AI revenue is growing 50% annually. It is a major chip maker for Nvidia and Apple.
Money (GC=F)
Gold continued to shine on Wednesday, with prices up 0.3% during trading after rising nearly 20% since mid-February.
Expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will cut interest rates this year and ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine are spurring the rise.
The rally in precious metals is far from over, according to macro fund managers interviewed by Bloomberg.
Rajeev de Mello, global macro portfolio manager at GAMA Asset Management SA, said prices may be vulnerable to slight corrections now, but any decline would attract more buyers. He said it was highly likely.
“It's a relatively small market and it can go up very quickly,” he said, comparing it to the size of U.S. Treasuries. “Really, this is a very momentum asset.”
In New York's Comex gold futures market, asset managers are making even more bullish bets on gold, with net longs increasing to near a four-year high in the week ending April 2.
Meanwhile, central bank purchases totaled more than 1,000 tonnes in 2022 and 2023, much of it led by economies, particularly China, which has accelerated efforts to diversify investments away from the dollar.
M&C Saatchi (SAA.L)
M&C Saatchi saw its profits fall by 10% in 2023 as customers cut spending to weather the recession.
The agency, which created the 'Workers Not Working' advert credited with bringing Margaret Thatcher to power, saw its turnover fall by 7% to £252.8m.
The company blamed “macroeconomic uncertainty” for the poor performance, but insisted the first quarter of the year was promising.
Trading was further impacted by weaker performance in Asia Pacific and the Americas, where sales declined by 21% and 38%, respectively.
“We are laying the foundations for sustained growth and improved profitability in the years to come and are beginning to transform our business into a leaner and more agile business,” said Executive Chairman Gila Bingthorne.
The stock price fell more than 2% on the news.
Last month, KPMG was fined around £1.5 million by the UK's accounting watchdog over its audit of M&C Saatchi.
M&C Saatchi discovered accounting errors that led to restatements to the company's accounts in 2018. The FRC found violations including a failure to conduct a “professional skeptical audit.”
The company said its revenue had been inflated by around £1.2 million as a result of failures related to customer credit payments. These were eventually amended in his 2019 annual accounts for M&C Saatchi.
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