LONDON MARKETS: Brexit Stockpiling Shows Up In Manufacturing Data And Bakery Results
October 01 2019 - 06:28AM
Dow Jones News
By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch
The extent of stockpiling ahead of a possible hard Brexit was on
display in Tuesday in areas ranging from manufacturing data to a
bakery's results.
U.K. manufacturing PMI rose to a four-month high in September --
but driven by stockpiling, IHS Markit said.
Levels of output, new orders, new export business and employment
fell while those for stocks or purchases and input buying volumes
rose, IHS Markit said as the headline index rose to 48.3 in
September from 47.4 in August.
Baker Greggs (GRG.LN) meanwhile said it was preparing for the
potential impact of the U.K.'s departure from the European Union
"by building stocks of key ingredients and equipment that could be
affected by disruption to the flow of goods into the U.K." The
company said it's seeing pressure on both labor and food input
costs.
Greggs said it was reiterating its full-year forecast as
same-store sales in the 13 weeks to Sept. 28 rose 7.4%, which is
slower than the 9.4% growth in the nine months to Sept. 28. "This
was inevitable at some point, and whilst the company's guidance
remains unchanged, this may encourage (remaining) momentum
investors to look elsewhere," said analysts at Barclays of the
slowing sales growth.
Greggs shares tumbled 6.4%.
The FTSE 100 more broadly declined 0.12% to 7399.39.
Gainers included plumbing and heating products distributor
Ferguson (FERG.LN) , which rose 4.6% as it reported a rise in
pretax profit for the fiscal year on 6.1% revenue growth, and said
it was outperforming the U.S. market.
AstraZeneca PLC (AZN.LN) slipped 1.7% as it said the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration hadn't approved its new drug application
for PT010, an inhaled treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 01, 2019 06:13 ET (10:13 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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