TalkTalk Telecom Posts Profit In H1, Revenues Down; FY20 View Remains Unchanged

TalkTalk Telecom Group plc (TALK.L) reported Friday that its first-half profit before taxation, on a pre-IFRS 16 basis, was 4 million pounds, compared to last year’s loss of 4 million pounds.

On IFRS 16 basis, latest profit before tax was 1 million pounds.

Pre-IFRS 16 operating profit climbed to 28 million pounds from prior year’s 19 million pounds. Headline EBITDA increased to 115 million pounds from 101 million pounds last year.

Revenue, meanwhile, dropped to 792 million pounds from prior year’s 822 million pounds. Headline revenue, excluding Carrier and Off-net, was 764 million pounds, down from 771 million pounds a year ago.

Looking ahead, the company said its Headline EBITDA outlook for the year remains unchanged, with increased Fibre penetration and HQ move efficiencies driving a materially lower cost base.

Future Plc FY Pre-tax Profit Rises; Sees Full Year Ahead Of Its Previous View

Future plc (FUTR.L) reported that its profit before tax for the year ended 30 September 2019 rose to 12.7 million pounds from 4.4 million pounds last year.

Profit for the year attributable to owners of the parent for the year grew to 8.1 million pounds from 2.9 million pounds in the previous year. Earnings per share were 9.3 pence up from 4.7 pence last year.

Group revenue increased 70% to 221.5 million pounds from last year. The latest-year result included a 8.5 million pounds uplift as a result of adopting IFRS 15.

The Board recommended a final dividend of 1 pence per share for the year ended 30 September 2019, payable on 14 February 2020 to all shareholders on the register at close of business on 17 January 2020.

The company expects the full year to be ahead of the Board’s previous expectations.

Media group Future hikes guidance

Future PLC (FUTR.LN) on Friday reported that pretax profit significantly rose in fiscal 2019, and said that it expects results for 2020 to be ahead of the board’s previous expectations following a strong start of the financial year.

The U.K. specialist media group also said that on Thursday it signed a contract to buy Barcroft Studios, which is expected to complete on Nov. 30 for a total consideration of 23.5 million pounds ($30.2 million), of which 40% will be paid in shares.

The London-listed company made a pretax profit of GBP12.7 million pounds for the year ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of GBP4.4 million for the same period a year earlier.

Adjusted operating profit–one of the company’s preferred metrics–rose to GBP52.2 million from GBP18.5 in fiscal 2018.

Revenue rose 70.3% to GBP221.5 million from GBP130.1 million. It added that its U.S. expansion is progressing well, as 54% of revenue came from that market, which has delivered organic growth of 40%.

Diluted earnings per share rose to 9.3 pence from 4.7 pence, while adjusted earnings per share rose to 47.5 pence from 24.3 pence.

The board has recommended a final dividend of 1 pence a share for the financial year.

"Future has had an outstanding year. Our strong financial results provide clear evidence of the continued and effective execution of our strategy, leveraging our technology platform across all our brands to diversify our revenue streams," Chief Executive Zillah Byng-Thorne said.

Write to Sabela Ojea at [email protected]; @sabelaojeaguix

Hong Kong confirms recession as protests and trade war continue

Hong Kong protests concerning due to its importance to China economy: Expert

Robert Charles, former Assistant Secretary of State under President George W. Bush, joins FOX Business to discuss China-related issues, such as trade and the Hong Kong protests.

Hong Kong confirmed on Friday it plunged into recession for the first time in a decade following months of anti-government protests and the U.S.-China trade war.

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Third quarter figures showed the economy shrank by 3.2 percent from the preceding period.

That makes it a second straight quarter of contraction, meeting the technical definition of a recession.

With no end to the increasingly violent protests in sight,

Analysts tell Reuters the slump could be long and deep, with gross domestic product seen shrinking further this quarter and well into next year, if violent protests continue.

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Malaysia Central Bank Unexpectedly Cuts Reserve Requirement

Malaysia’s central bank lowered its statutory reserve requirement ratio in an unexpected move on Friday, to improve liquidity in the domestic financial market.

Bank Negara Malaysia decided to reduce the SRR to 3.00 percent from 3.50 percent, effective from November 16.

“This will continue to support the efficient functioning of the domestic financial markets and facilitate effective liquidity management by the banking institutions,” the bank said.

The BNM added that SRR is an instrument to manage liquidity and is not a signal on the stance of monetary policy.

The central bank had left its key interest rate unchanged for a third policy session in a row, early this week. The overnight policy rate remains at 3.00 percent.

The previous change in the rate was in May, which was the first cut since July 2016.

Prakash Sakpal, an economist at ING, said the SRR cut is viewed as a clear precursor to the deteriorating growth outlook.

Today’s move raises confidence in forecasts of an additional 50 basis point interest rate cut in the current easing cycle, Sakpal added. The move will happen in the first quarter of 2020.

The third quarter GDP data is due on November 15. The economy had expanded 4.9 percent in the second quarter.

The central bank expects growth to come in the range of 4.3-4.8 percent this year.