The trend for eating in to save money particularly benefited categories including cooking sauces, pasta, canned goods and meal solutions

International News via Reuters:

A shift in Britain to cooking at home rather than eating out has boosted sales and profit for packaged food makers Premier Foods and Princes Group, the companies said on Thursday.

The trend for eating in to save money particularly benefited categories including cooking sauces, pasta, canned goods and meal solutions.

Premier Foods CEO Alex Whitehouse said he expected consumers’ efforts to find shelter from inflation would support demand for the company’s affordable products.

Its brands include OXO bone broth, Bisto gravy and Homepride cooking sauces.

Among its sweet segment, where Premier Foods has focused on launching new products, its Mr Kipling brand had its biggest year to date, the company said without giving any detail.

Princes, which makes Princes Tuna, Napolina pasta and Branston beans, has also introduced new products as it seeks to raise prices where needed to offset rising fuel, freight, and packaging costs linked to the Middle East war.

Princes Group, which floated on the London stock market in October, said April trading was running ahead of the prior year. It did not provide figures.

Both companies, which supply packaged food to Britain’s major supermarkets, have said they aim to grow through acquisitions and Princes Group said on Thursday it hoped to complete at least one deal in the next couple of months. 

Analysts at brokerage Jefferies said there was significant scope for M&A at Premier Foods, either through more bolt-on deals or something bigger.

Princes reported a 17% jump in adjusted core profit for the three months ended March 31 to 38.2 million pounds ($51.63 million).

Premier Foods’ headline trading profit climbed 6.7% to 200.4 million pounds for the year ended March 28, beating market expectations. It raised its dividend by 20%.

Shares in Premier Foods and Princes Group rose 4% and 0.9%, respectively.

($1 = 0.7399 pounds)

Reporting by Simone Lobo and Nithyashree R B in Bengaluru; Writing by Yadarisa Shabong; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Barbara Lewis

Gross domestic product increased by 0.3% month-on-month in March, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, against expectations in a Reuters poll of economists for a 0.2% contraction

International News via Reuters:

Britain’s economy grew unexpectedly in March to cap another strong first quarter, suggesting it was in better shape as the Iran war escalated than many feared, though economists said seasonal distortions were flattering the figures.

Gross domestic product increased by 0.3% month-on-month in March, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, against expectations in a Reuters poll of economists for a 0.2% contraction.

The services sector, construction output and manufacturing all grew strongly.

For the first quarter as a whole, the economy expanded by 0.6% – marking the third year running of conspicuously strong growth in the first quarter.

Economists said measurement issues related to shifts in spending after the pandemic may be contributing to that pattern.

Raj Badiani, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said the stockpiling of goods sparked by the Iran war may also have pulled forward demand in March.

“Nevertheless, recession risks have risen, and we now expect the UK economy to contract mildly in the second and third quarters of this year,” Badiani said, citing a coming inflation surge caused by higher oil prices, and pressure on the Bank of England to raise interest rates.

The ONS said partial spending data for April “pointed to some weakening going into the second quarter”.

It remains to be seen how renewed uncertainty in Westminster – with investors now unsure about the political future of Prime Minister Keir Starmer – will weigh on the economic outlook.

The ONS on Thursday published a blog that acknowledged there may be post-pandemic shifts in the timing of spending in the economy and said it was keeping its methods under review.

It nudged down its growth estimates for the first quarters of 2024 and 2025 as a result.

“It seems that something’s not quite right with the way the data is being seasonally adjusted, a legacy we suspect of higher inflation and the timing of annual price hikes,” said ING economist James Smith.

“Today’s data won’t change much for the Bank of England, which is singularly focused on the impending inflation spike and the risk of it spilling into wage growth.”

A Reuters poll of economists this week showed the BoE will hold borrowing costs at 3.75% this year, though over a third expect at least one rate hike as the Iran war fuels an energy price surge that drove up inflation forecasts.

Financial markets by contrast have priced in between two and three quarter-point rises this year.

Recent business surveys point to a rapid increase in cost pressures that is likely to weigh on corporate activity.

Finance minister Rachel Reeves said the data showed she had the right economic plan.

Separate trade data showed a 1.8 billion pound ($2.4 billion) jump in fuel imports during March – the third-largest monthly increase since records began in 1997 and a reflection of Britain’s vulnerability to higher global energy prices in the wake of the Iran war.

($1 = 0.7390 pounds)

Reporting by Andy Bruce and Suban Abdulla; Editing by Muvija M and Paul Sandle

The Financial Conduct Authority has told alternative asset managers, a sector that includes private credit and equity, about an overhaul of reporting requirements, the sources said

International News via Reuters:

Britain’s financial regulator is preparing to force private credit managers to report more detailed and tailored data, sources told Reuters, as it seeks to increase scrutiny of the fast-growing and still opaque industry.

The Financial Conduct Authority has told alternative asset managers, a sector that includes private credit and equity, about an overhaul of reporting requirements, the sources said.

The regulator’s plan could see some private credit firms forced to disclose granular, loan-level data on a regular basis – prompting pushback from the industry – or less onerous fund-level data, the sources said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the discussions were private. These firms currently report broad data such as turnover and trading volumes. 

The planned overhaul, which was first reported by the Financial Times, comes as regulators globally grapple with risks posed by the $3.5 trillion private credit sector, which involves the lending to mid-market companies by investment funds. Scrutiny has increased following several private-market related borrower failures in the U.S. and UK that have left creditors facing losses.

Private credit managers including KKR, Apollo, BlackRock and Blue Owl have in recent weeks also been forced to cap investor redemptions for some of their funds as investors exit. 

UK regulators have set the stage for increased reporting, with the Bank of England this year stressing how the “opacity” of the market could trigger a loss of confidence. The BoE has launched a stress test of the private credit and equity sectors, with interim results due later this year.

The FCA plans to consult formally with the industry on its proposals in the coming months, the sources said.

An FCA spokesperson told Reuters that “improving how we collect data so it is timely, accurate and proportionate will maintain the UK’s position as a world-leading asset management centre.” 

“Better data means we can supervise risks effectively, support market confidence and identify opportunities for growth.”

INDUSTRY OPPOSED TO LOAN-LEVEL DATA

All alternative investment fund managers, including private credit, private equity and hedge funds, currently report to the FCA using a template known as Annex IV. 

The EU‑era template, introduced in 2013, requires alternative managers to report metrics such as turnover, trading volumes, leverage and exposures, typically semi‑annually or annually, with some larger or riskier firms filing quarterly.

Annex IV “will be reformed in a pretty significant manner,” one of the sources with knowledge of the proposals said. 

The industry would be “extremely opposed” to reporting very granular, loan-level data on an ongoing basis, the source said, calling it a “potential nightmare” for firms with liquid strategies in which positions change regularly.

The industry preference, they added, would be to report portfolio-level metrics and broad risk exposures. 

The second source with knowledge of the plans said the FCA was likely to use the BoE stress test as a “starting point” for ongoing requirements.

Other regulators are adapting reporting demands. The U.S. in April unveiled plans to raise the threshold at which enhanced disclosures are required from alternative asset managers, reducing the reporting burden for most. 

The Financial Stability Board, in its first in-depth review into private credit, this month flagged the lack of granular fund and loan-level data as a challenge faced by authorities. 

Reporting by Phoebe Seers and Nell Mackenzie; Editing by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes, Alexandra Hudson

British government 10-year gilt yields hit their highest since 2008 on Tuesday in response to pressure on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to resign from members of his Labour Party, before falling back slightly on Wednesday

International News via Reuters:

Bank of England rate setter Catherine Mann on Wednesday said the financial landscape was relevant to future rate decisions, when asked about recent moves in the gilt market driven by political drama in London.

British government 10-year gilt yields hit their highest since 2008 on Tuesday in response to pressure on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to resign from members of his Labour Party, before falling back slightly on Wednesday.

“With regard to the 10-year yield and exchange rates, I take the financial landscape as a key factor in my decision-making,” she said in a question and answer session after giving a speech at the London School of Economics.

Reporting by David Milliken, writing by William James; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama