European equities closed lower on Thursday, however the FTSE 100 remained strong, closing up on the day. Meanwhile, futures are currently trading higher on the back of key interest rate decisions. The Bank of England raised rates by 75 basis points, its biggest interest rate hike in decades.
Elsewehere, take a look at some of the biggest news stories on Friday.
DFS
- DFS Furniture provided its trading update on Friday, which saw a rise in demand since September.
- Since early September, DFS said it has observed a positive trend, with group order volumes growing relative to FY22.
- The company said its overall performance was in line with its mid case scenario (PBT of £36m) for the full year.
4imprint Group
- 4impring Group reported its trading update, highlighting the group’s encouraging performance.
- This has strengthened 4imprint’s confidence that it would meet or exceed its long-hel revenue target of $1 billion during 2022.
- The group stated October year to date order counts in the primary North American business were up 32over 2021 and average order values remained buoyant at 6% above 2021.
Hill & Smith
- Just an interesting turn of events, Hill & Smith have announced a change of name on Friday.
- The group changed its name from Hill & Smith Holdings PLC to Hill & Smith PLC.
- The change has now taken effect and the LSE will be updated to reflect this in due course.
Morgan Advanced Materials
- Morgan Advanced Materials announced its trading update on Friday.
- The company stated sales for the nine months to September were 10.5% higher compared to the prior year.
- Its revenue has remained robus and the company now expects operating profit for the full year to be in the range of 7% and 9% above its previous guidance.