Rolls-Royce turnaround plan gets the thumbs-up

ROLLS-ROYCE was among the blue-chip risers as its turnaround plan won a vote of confidence in the City.

The FTSE 100 engine maker, which has enjoyed a stellar start to 2023, was given a fresh boost as analysts at Jefferies raised its target price to 210p from 170p. Shares rose 2.1pc, or 3.05p, to 148.15p.

Boss Tufan Erginbilgic said the recovery is now ‘moving at pace’.

Global stock markets wobbled amid mounting concerns over the US debt ceiling.

The White House is locked in a bitter dispute with Republicans over raising the government borrowing limit from its current level of £25 trillion.

Failure to reach a deal could see the US run of money to pay its bills as soon as June 1 – and trigger a default that could cause a sharp economic downturn and ructions on financial markets.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that such a default would leave millions of Americans without income payments, potentially triggering a recession which destroys many of the country’s jobs and businesses.

And she said the accompanying financial crisis could multiply the severity of the downturn, adding: ‘It is very conceivable that we’d see a number of financial markets break – with worldwide panic triggering margin calls, runs and fire sales. Time is running out.’

With data from China showing its economy is cooling, the FTSE 100 fell 0.3pc, or 26.62 points, to 7751.08 and the FTSE 250 edged up 0.1pc, or 13.97 points, to 19272.72.

Asos shares fell as two shareholders revised their stakes a week after it reported steep firsthalf losses. Ken Griffin’s Citadel, a Miami-based hedge fund which manages £46bn in assets, upped its holding in the fast fashion group from 4.79pc to 5.69pc.

But T Rowe Price, an investment house, reduced its stake in Asos from 5.98pc to 3.22pc. Shares slid 0.4pc, or 1.6p, to 398.9p.

Marston’s, which has 1,440 pubs, said consumers’ thirst for socialising has not been dented by eyewatering household bills.

The group posted a narrowing half-year loss of £3.6m, compared with £7.5m in the same period last year. Revenues climbed 10.7pc in the six months to April 1, compared to a year earlier. Shares slipped 6.3pc, or 2.35p, to 34.8p.

Sales at Greggs rose 17.1pc to £609m in the first 19 weeks of 2023, with hot food such as chicken goujons and potato wedges particularly popular. Shares fell 3.2pc, or 92p, to 2752p.

Genus sank into the red after the livestock breeder warned that its profit would be lower than hoped due to ongoing turmoil in the Chinese pig market.

Its porcine genetics operation in China made a profit of £8.8m in the six months to the end of December. But the business is now expected to be ‘modestly loss-making’ in the second half of the year to June 30 as pig prices remain unstable.

As a result, profits across the group are expected to be lower than hoped for the year to the end of June. Shares slid 0.9pc, or 24p, to 2544p.

Higher interest rates made business tough at Land Securities.

The commercial property owner of offices in central London and the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent said the value of its portfolio slid 7.7pc to £10.2bn in the 12 months to the end of March.

As a result, it swung to a loss of £622m, having made an £875m profit the year before.

Despite the economic turmoil, it forecast an estimated rental value growth of between 1pc and 5pc for London and major retail destinations for the year to the end of March 2024.

Shares rose 2.4pc, or 14.6p, to 634.6p yesterday.