FTSE 100 Live: Blue-chip index above 8000, house prices flat

Brewdog sets sights on China with new JV

Craft brewery Brewdog is aiming to crack the Chinese market through a new joint venture with Budweiser China.

Brewdog China will use Budweiser’s sales and distribution network in order to sell beers such as Brewdog’s Punk IPA and Elvis Juice. It aims to start selling its products in China next month.

The announcement follows the opening of a Brewdog-branded rooftop bar in Las Vegas at the end of last year.

“Chinese drinkers love craft beer, but the sector is still very new,” Brewdog founder James Watt said. “In Budweiser China, we have found a partner that shares our growth vision for BrewDog in China and is perfectly placed to support our rapid growth in the region.”

Lush in legal dispute with ex-boss over £217m share sale

Hand-made cosmetics retailer Lush has been plunged into a legal dispute with a business set up by its former chief executive Andrew Gerrie over the sale of Gerrie’s stake in Lush.

Silverwood Brands – a company set up last year that lists Gerrie as a director – announced in December that it had acquired a 19.8% stake in Lush – which has 106 UK shops and 937 in total – from Gerrie and his wife Alison Hawksley for £216.8m.

At the time of the deal, Silverwood specifically noted that it had acquired the shares for “the applicable minimum prices” that Lush’s articles of associations would allow them to be sold for.

Read more here

Mixed start for FTSE 100, Brent crude higher

The FTSE 100 index is broadly flat at 8004, with investors opting to stay on the sidelines ahead of blue-chip earnings later this week.

Asia markets finished in positive territory after China’s central bank left its key lending rate unchanged for the sixth month in a row.

Hargreaves Lansdown senior analyst Susannah Streeter said: “For now, it seems optimism about the recovery of demand in China is outweighing worries about a slowing US economy, with stocks on Chinese indices buoyed by the status quo decision to keep rates on hold.”

“This has helped push up the price of crude oil, off the back of expectations that companies in China will be hungry for more energy, particularly as consumer sentiment rebounds.

“On the supply side, the threat of fresh sanctions and export controls on the Russian energy and financial sectors are also supporting oil prices, with Brent Crude trading up 0.7%, above $83 a barrel.”.

In London, NatWest was among those under pressure as shares fell 1.8p to 282.8p after tumbling on Friday due to the lender’s cautious guidance on 2023 trading. Lloyds Banking Group, which reports figures on Wednesday, rose 0.4p to 51.3p.

FTSE 100 seen higher, earnings and US rates in focus

With US markets shut for the Presidents’ Day holiday, traders in Europe are braced for a subdued session today.

The FTSE 100 index closed above 8000 on Friday and is forecast by CMC Markets to open 22 points higher at 8026.

The drop in volumes is likely to be short lived, however, with more clues due this week on the next rates move by the Federal Reserve.

Minutes from this month’s meeting are due on Wednesday, followed by Friday’s figures showing the central bank’s favoured measure of inflation.

This week’s earnings line-up includes banking giants Lloyds and HSBC, plus the miners Anglo America and Rio Tinto. Globally, there are figures from US retailers Walmart and Home Depot and China’s tech giants Baidu and Alibaba.

Darktrace orders third-party report into finances as it battles short-seller report

Darktrace has ordered an external report into its finances in a bid to fend off a short-seller reort questioning the validity of its financial statements.

The cybersecurity firm has appointed accountancy firm Ernst & Young to provide an additional independent third-party review of its key financial processes and controls.

In a 70-page report released last month, New York-based Quintessential Capital Management said it was “deeply skeptical” about the validity of Darktrace’s financial statements and expressed its “fear that sales, margins, and growth rates may be overstated and close to a sharp correction.”

Darktrace has denied the allegations raised in the report.

Darktrace chair Gordon Hurst, said: “The Board believes fully in the robustness of Darktrace’s financial processes and controls.

“As a sign of that confidence, we have commissioned this independent third-party review by E&Y. We look forward to the outcome of this review.”

House prices flat ahead of spring selling season

The usual spike in house prices ahead of the spring selling season appears to be absent this year, Rightmove said today.

The property portal said the average price increased by just £14 month-on-month in February as sellers broke with tradition and showed unseasonal restraint.

It is the smallest increase recorded by Rightmove between January and February, in records going back to 2001. Across Britain, the average asking price for a home in February is £362,452, it said.

Read more on the Rightmove report

Recap: Friday’s top stories

Good morning. Here’s a summary of our top stories from Friday.

• NatWest made its highest profits since the financial crash and chief executive Alison Rose also cashed in, with a leap in pay from £3.6 million to £5.2 million.
• Online estate agent PurpleBricks could be sold as the business launched a strategic review and announced a profit warning alongside yet another round of redundancies.
• Prime West End office rents have jumped 19% over a year to be well ahead of pre-pandemic levels, as businesses hunt for the most desirable space, fresh research shows.