European index futures are mostly in the red ahead of the opening bell on Wednesday. UK inflation for April came in at 8.7%, below the prior reading of 10.1%, but above the forecasted 8.5%. In addition, core inflation of 6.8% was above the previous 6.2% reading and above the expected 6.1%.

Marks & Spencer (MKS)

• Marks & Spencer posted its final results for the 52 weeks ended April 1, 2023.
• Profit before tax an adjusting items came in at £482 million, down more than 7% from last year’s £522.9 million, which included £59.8 million in UK business rates relief.
• Statuatory revenue grew 9.6% to £11.93 billion.
• Looking ahead, MKS sees more challenging market conditions in but said its performance is improving. It expects modest growth in revenue in FY24.

Kingfisher (KGF)

• Kingfisher posted a Q1 trading update to April 30, 2023.
• Total group sales came in at £3.27 billion, up 0.8% from the same period last year.
• Like-for-like sales declined 3.3%.
• Looking ahead, KGF said trading trends since early April have seen an improvement, with LFL sales at -1.0%,
• The company is comfortable with FY 23/24 consensus analyst expectations of adjusted PBT of £634m. For H1 it expects to report an adjusted PBT of around £350m.

Whitbread (WTB)

• Whitbread shares edged higher Tuesday after JPMorgan said it could see revenues and earnings rally in the upcoming financial year.
• The investment bank said WTB has had a “very strong year” and is benefiting from “solid trading momentum.”
• JPMorgan, which has an Overweight rating and 4,300p price target on the stock, said they think the “story has a lot more legs.”
• The firm lifted its 2024 financial year underlying earnings estimates for Whitbread to £968m, up 2.4%.