The central bank leaned toward raising interest rates to a 15-year high this week. Ryanair Profits Soar – Business Live | Jobs

British gambling company 888 has announced the resignation of its chief executive and halted VIP activities in the Middle East.

888 told the city: Itai Pazner will resign as CEO and Director with immediate effect.

non-executive chairman of the group, Lord Mendelsohnholds the position of Executive Chairman on an interim basis while the Board is looking for a permanent CEO.

888 also announced the suspension of VIP activities in the Middle East region. An internal compliance review found that some best practices were not followed regarding his KYC (Know Your Client) and AML (Anti-Money Laundering) processes there.

Further internal investigations are ongoing, but “the board has made the decision to suspend VIP customer accounts in the region, effective immediately,” it said.

Lord Mendelsohn say:

“The Board and I take the Group’s compliance responsibilities very seriously.

We make no compromises in our approach to compliance to build a strong and sustainable business. ”

stock 888 It fell 7.5% at the open.

Consumer goods giant Unilever has appointed Hein Schumacher as chief executive officer to succeed Alan Jope.

Schumacher51, is now head of the Dutch dairy business FrieslandCampina.

He joined Unilever as a Non-Executive Director in October last year and will become CEO on July 1st.

The FTSE 100 company, which has brands such as Dove soap, Hellmann’s mayonnaise, Domestos bleach and Marmite, told the stock market last September that Jope had decided to retire at the end of 2023.

Billionaire Activist Investor Nelson PeltzHead of investor Trian Partners said, “We are a strong supporter of Hein as our new CEO and look forward to working closely with him to drive important sustainable stakeholder value.” said.

Peltz, who has driven a major transformation of Unilever’s sprawling business, said:

“I first met Hein when he was a director of HJ Heinz Company from 2006 to 2013 and was impressed with his leadership skills and business acumen.

Earlier this month, Jope said Peltz had brought “all kinds of great ideas” to the company since joining the board last May.

Unilever’s shares are up 0.8% at the open and sit near the top of the FTSE 100 leaderboard.

Victoria Scholar, investment directors of interactive investornotes that Unilever shares have had a tough start to 2023, falling more than 3% compared to a nearly 3% rise in the FTSE 100.

she says:

Unilever’s outgoing CEO, Jope, has been at the helm since January 2019, steering the business through the ups and downs of the pandemic. Since his appointment, Unilever’s share price has changed little and remains below other shares in the sector. His share price soared when he announced his resignation last year, suggesting investors are eager for a change in management. Jope came under heavy criticism during his time as CEO for his unsuccessful attempt to acquire GSK’s consumer health business.

Unilever is in the consumer goods sector, part of a market commonly seen as relatively resilient to economic downturns, but rising costs and consumers’ choice of unbranded, cheap We are facing challenges from the risk of replacing with alternative products. Unilever is trying to offset cost pressures by raising prices, but this could weaken demand amid cost-of-living pressures and weaken relationships with retailers already coping with squeezed margins.

European stock markets are expected to open lower as investors prepare for decisions by the UK, Eurozone and US central banks later this week.

These major central banks are expected to raise interest rates to their highest levels since the financial crisis, potentially further slowing the global economy as they battle the highest inflation seen in decades.

of Bank of England is expected to raise UK interest rates from 3.5% to possibly 4% on Thursday, the highest level since autumn 2008. The BoE may also revise its growth projections upwards.

of European Central Bank It is also expected to increase borrowing costs by 50 basis points (0.5%).

of US Federal Reserve System may make decisions the night before and delay the tightening program. It could possibly raise US interest rates by another quarter of a percentage point.

Equity markets have rebounded in recent weeks, supported by signs that price pressures are easing, with hopes that China’s easing of Covid-19 restrictions could boost the global economy.

Many investors are optimistic that the central bank will ease rate hikes after a sharp rate hike through 2022. Michael Hewson of CMC market I will explain:

Last week’s surge in U.S. markets not only averted a hard landing for the U.S. economy, but also signaled a pause by the Federal Reserve, not only suggesting further cuts in the rate hike cycle to 25bps. and.

This belief that the Fed’s rate hike cycle could be paused was bolstered last week when the Bank of Canada suggested it was doing just that to further assess the impact of recent rate hikes on the economy as a whole. was given.

But if central banks defy that expectation, they could ruin the party this week.

Hewson say:

A strong start to 2023 is set for European markets, given what the outlook is for this week’s three central bankers’ meetings, as well as the Federal Reserve, ECB and Bank of England. You seem a little more cautious. More importantly, how many more rate hikes are expected over the next week and beyond?

As the warning is set to translate into a lower opening in European markets this morning, ahead of Q4 German GDP figures expected to signal a halt to the German economy. I can see it.

British FTSE100 The futures market suggests a drop of about 50 points, or 0.6%, to 7717 at the opening price.

Ryanair said it gained market share in several key EU markets during the last quarter.

He said the most notable increases were in Italy (26% to 40%), Poland (27% to 38%), Ireland (49% to 58%) and Spain (21% to 23%). I’m here.

whole, Ryanair We have been operating 12% above our pre-Covid capacity for the last 9 months.

Chief Executive Michael O’Leary said in a statement that demand is strong.

We are seeing strong demand for Easter and summer 2023 flights as tourists from Asia are returning and a strong US dollar is pushing Americans to explore Europe.

The turmoil in the airline industry is an opportunity for Ryanair to continue growing, adds O’Leary.

Over the past three years, many airlines have gone bankrupt and many legacy carriers (including Alitalia, TAP, SAS and LOT) have significantly reduced their fleet and passenger numbers while amassing multi-billion euro state aid packages. reduced.

These structural capacity reductions have created enormous growth opportunities for Ryanair.

Good morning. Welcome to our rolling coverage of business, financial markets and the global economy.

Booming deals over Christmas and New Year helped low-budget airlines Ryanair Compared to pre-Covid levels, profit tripled last quarter.

Only 2 days from UK regional airlines flybee suspend the transaction, cancel all scheduled flights, Ryanair report a surge in profits in the last three months of 2022

Ryanair said “strong residential travel demand” during the October half-term and Christmas/New Year holiday season “wasn’t adversely affected by Covid or the war in Ukraine”, fueling strong traffic and fares in all markets. said.

Profit after tax for October-December 2022 was reported at €211 million, compared to €88 million in the same quarter pre-Covid. A year ago, the company posted its €96 million loss in the quarter when pandemic restrictions and Omicron variants hit demand.

During the quarter, traffic increased 24% to 38.4 million passengers. This put him 7% higher than pre-Covid levels and fares 14% higher than pre-pandemic.

Ryanair Easter falls in April this year, so we expect the quarter to be in the red. However, he maintains his recently updated forecast of profit after tax of €125 million from €1.325 billion for the full year to the end of March.

CFO Neil Sorahan said demand was strong, telling Reuters:

Bookings are showing no signs of a recession at this time. ”

“We had record bookings in the second and third weeks of January and very strong demand heading into Easter and summer without any fare stimulus.

agenda

• 09:00 GMT: Germany’s Q4 2022 GDP Report

• 10am GMT: January Eurozone Consumer and Business Confidence Report

• 3.30pm GMT: Dallas Fed Index of US Manufacturing for January