FTSE 100 live: UK unemployment drops, Vodafone, Land Securities and Imperial Brands report

Investors are still waiting for Imperial Brands to catch fire, and there is a sense that patience is wearing thin.

The tobacco giant behind Rizla, Winston, Drum and other brands is edging towards “next generation” smoking vapes. Too slowly, say some.

Profit for the year was up 15% to £3.15 billion, but that seems largely due to the sale of the cigar division. The divi is edged up by 1% to 139p, but the market wasn’t overly impressed.

Dan Lane at Freetrade said: “Get ready to hear all about the ‘strengthening’ and ‘acceleration’ phases from Imperial over the next few years. Behind the buzzwords, that means cost-cutting followed by finally making room for heated tobacco products. But, for all the gung-ho attitudes to the future this morning, Imperial is still pumping cash into the ways of the past.”

The shares fell 25p to 1573p.

Younger drinkers returning to partying habits since “Freedom Day” have helped Revolution Bars‘ sales top pre-Covid levels – and the chain now plans to capitalise on cheap rents up for grabs on UK high streets.

Revolution, which runs 67 bars nationwide and employs 3000 staff, has had a difficult pandemic. Revenues fell from £110 million to just over £39 million in the year to July 3.

But the listed chain said weekends have been “busier than ever” since then, pushing sales 14% above 2020 levels.

Boss Rob Pitcher said the chain now plans to use some of £34 million in equity recently raised to open eight new sites and refurbish over half its estate over the next two years.

A “recovery” in the central London office market has helped Land Securities return to profit, with the property giant cheering business demand for space even as many people work from home.

Mark Allan, chief executive of the firm, which has been investing in central London offices and mixed use sites in cities, said: “The economic recovery following the pandemic has generally been at the stronger and more sustained end of our expectations range.”

He said “decision makers” are now prepared to commit to lettings. Allan added that firms are attracted to high quality and sustainable space, although he pointed out some companies are still uncertain about how many staff will be in the office at one time.

The FTSE 100 is flat in early trade despite strong earnings and upgrades boosting stocks.

The FTSE is down 2 points at 7350 after almost an hour of trade.

Vodafone is top of the index, up 5%, after strong half-year numbers. Diageo is just behind with a gain of 2.7% after raising profit guidance and setting a new aim to capture 6% of the world’s entire alcohol market value. Land Securities is up 2% after bouncing back to profit of £275 million in half year, from £835 million loss last year.

Netflix has secured more room to film productions in the South East, agreeing to double the size of its production hub at the famous Shepperton Studios.

Today Pinewood Group said it has agreed a “long-term contract” with the California-headquartered streaming giant to double the size of its existing production hub at Shepperton Studios.

Read the full story HERE.

A host of retailers and food brands have agreed lettings to open new stores in Covent Garden, in a boost for the West End which was hammered by the pandemic.

FTSE 250 landlord Capital & Counties, which has a £1.7 billion property portfolio in central London, said fashion firm Uniqlo taking over a 21,600 square feet site is among the deals done.

Nine other brands have or will launch stores on Capco’s estate. They are watch company TAG Heuer, jewellery business e&e, WatchHouse Coffee, fashion retailer Empresa, beauty brand Lisa Eldridge, Bullards Spirits, fragrance specialist Guerlain and beauty group OTO.

LA-based clothing company Rails will open its debut London site on Floral Street.

Vodafone has increased its guidance after a strong half-year performance.

Revenue rose 5% to €22.5 billion and adjusted earnings were up 6.5% to €7.5 billion. Headline operating profit fell 22% to €2.6 billion due to one-off gains from a deal last year. When that was excluded operating profit rose.

Vodafone CEO Nick Read said he was seeing “very broad based” strength across the business and said today’s numbers showed he was building a “sustained growth engine” in a sector where growth has “historically been flat to negative.”

Vodafone said full-year adjusted earnings were now set to be at the top end of forecasts at €15.2 billion to €15.4 billion. The forecast for free cash flow was upgraded by €100 million to €5.3 billion.

The telecoms giant maintained its interim dividend at 4.5 cents per share.

UK job vacancies have hit a record high of 1.17 million.

Jack Kennedy, UK economist at the global job site Indeed, said: “This data speaks volumes about the strength of the jobs market. For months the drumbeat of job creation has been getting steadily louder, and it barely skipped a beat as the furlough scheme was ending.”

That seems to leave the path clear for the Bank of England to raise interest rates, a move it delayed last week to the anger of some in the City.

The UK’s official unemployment rate has come in at 4.3%, lower than forecast.

Matthew Percival, CBI Director of People & Skills, said: “The UK’s jobs outlook remained strong over the summer with employment figures rising and unemployment falling. However, ongoing supply chain issues, labour shortages and record high vacancies have put a brake on growth.

“The Supply Chain Advisory Group is a positive development, demonstrating the Government’s willingness to work in partnership with business to tackle current challenges. Companies will continue to face these issues well into the New Year, so it’s important this spirit of collaboration is maintained to safeguard the UK’s economic recovery.”

Thomas Pugh, economist at RSM UK, said: “The labour market appears to have escaped the end of the furlough scheme relatively unharmed. If the official data for October tells a similar story, which we think it will, then a major obstacle preventing the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) from raising interest rates in December will have been removed.

“The 160,000 rise in payrolls for October, also released today, suggests that the winding down of the furlough scheme didn’t lead to a surge in unemployment last month. Indeed, the claimant count rate fell from 5.2% in September to 5.1% in October. What’s more, total vacancies continued to rise to another record of 1,172,000. And there was evidence that the issue is becoming more widespread throughout the economy with 15 of the 18 industry sectors showing record highs. Both single month vacancies and Adzuna’s online job advert estimates reached record levels of vacancy numbers in October, suggesting that the end of the furlough scheme hasn’t helped to ease labour shortages.

“This isn’t official data so the MPC will want more evidence to be sure that the labour market is recovering. But the official data for September indicates that the labour market recovery was robust. Indeed, the fall in the unemployment rate from 4.5% in August to 4.3% in September was driven by a 247,000 rise in employment.”