ii view monthly round-up: January 2025

ii view monthly round-up: January 2025

January saw UK larger cap companies making solid progress. The FTSE 350 index climbed 5.5%, easily recovering a 2% loss suffered in December. 

Food-on-the-go-retailer Greggs (LSE:GRG) detailed annual sales that hit the £2 billion milestone for the first time, although fourth-quarter same store sales missed City estimates. Sales at its managed outlets rose just 2.5%, hindered by subdued high street footfall. That was down from growth of 5% in the prior third quarter and below analyst hopes of 6%. Shares in the FTSE 250 company fell 23% over the month.  

Recruitment agency PageGroup (LSE:PAGE) lowered its full-year profit expectation as the tough economic backdrop for Germany and France hurt both corporate and candidate confidence to hire and change jobs. Fourth-quarter Europe profits fell 16%. Page now expects 2024 operating profit to come in at the lower end of City forecasts of between £49 million and £58.5 million.

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Persimmon (LSE:PSN) outlined 2024 home completions that beat City forecasts, with the housebuilder now expecting full-year profits at the upper end of analyst hopes. Home completions for 2024 climbed 7% to 10,664, beating forecasts by around 1%. The average selling price improved 5% to £268,500. Persimmon shares climbed almost 6% in January having fallen by 14% in 2024. 

Mining giant Rio Tinto Registered Shares (LSE:RIO) reported quarterly demand for its biggest profit generating commodity iron ore broadly matching City hopes. Fourth-quarter shipments of Australian Pilbara iron ore improved 1% from the previous quarter to 85.7 million tonnes (mt). Against a backdrop of a challenged Chinese economy, full-year shipments fell 1% to 328.6mt. Rio shares gained 3.5% in January having declined by close to a fifth in 2024. 

Oil and gas producer Harbour Energy (LSE:HBR) outlined trading broadly matching City expectations. Production for 2025 is expected to increase significantly following its 2024 acquisition of Norwegian group Wintershall Dea. The FTSE 250 company operates across Norway, the UK, Germany, Argentina, Mexico, North Africa and South East Asia. The Wintershall Dea’s late-year contribution pushed 2024 revenues to $6.1 billion from $3.7 billion in 2023. 

Water company Pennon Group (LSE:PNN) accepted proposals for the new five-year regulatory period to 2030 as well as launching a new £490 million shareholder fundraising to help fund a £3.2 billion investment programme. Pennon’s dividend payment will be rebased lower given the issuance of new shares under a proposed rights issue. The dividend will continue to be linked to inflation, but without an additional 2% increase previously applied under the old dividend policy. 

Engineer Smiths Group (LSE:SMIN) underlined an increased emphasis on shareholder value as it detailed plans to reduce business interests and return cash to shareholders. Smiths Group businesses generating sales of close to two-fifths of its overall total will be sold or demerged, with a large portion of disposal proceeds being returned to shareholders. The FTSE 100 company will then focus on John Crane, making items such as mechanical seals for oil & gas companies, as well as Flex-Tek, which makes components to heat and move liquids for industries such as aerospace. Smith’s shares rose by 20% in January. 

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In the US, streaming giant Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) reported the addition of a record 19 million new subscribers during the final quarter of 2024. Content such as the Mike Tyson versus Jake Paul boxing match and NFL football games helped push total global subscribers to more than 300 million. Netflix will now no longer report subscriber numbers as it looks to focus on revenues and earnings. Netflix shares rose almost 10% in January, adding to an 83% gain over 2024. 

Electric vehicle (EV) maker Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) detailed sales and earnings that missed Wall Street expectations in January. Intense competition and cautious consumer sentiment created reduced demand and required cuts in vehicle selling prices, taking auto related revenues down 8% to $19.8 billion. Telsa however, stayed confident about 2025, repeating expectations for a return to auto growth, supported by advancements in vehicle autonomy and new products. 

Finally, iPhone maker Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) broke records. Growing demand for services such as iCloud data storage helped fuel a new all-time high for quarterly revenues and earnings. Sales of its core iPhone product retreated almost 1% to $69.1 billion, but with the Dow Jones company guiding towards better-than-expected overall sales growth for the current second quarter to late March.