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Moonpig

Greetings card and gifting platform Moonpig reported a 13% fall in pretax profit as higher expenses offset a 5.2% rise in revenue.

It said it expects low single-digit revenue growth for the first half of the new year.

“We have high profitability, strong cash generation and inherent flexibility that allows us to respond rapidly to a dynamic macroeconomic environment,” said chief executive Nickyl Raithatha.

H&M

H&M, the world’s second-biggest fashion retailer, posted stronger than expected March-May profits and said third-quarter sales were off to a good start as the company strives to catch up with faster-growing rivals.

Operating profit in the Sweden-based group’s fiscal second quarter was ahead of forecast in a Refinitiv poll of analysts.

B&M

Discount chain B&M European Value Retail has reported an uplift in first-quarter revenues with ‘strong, profitable trading momentum’ across all three of its businesses.

Total sales rose by 13.5% to £1.32 billion in the 13 weeks to 24 June, compared to £1.61bn in the same period last year.

Sales in B&M UK grew by 11.3% to £1.06bn, with both grocery and merchandise categories performing ‘very well’ the company said.

Global markets

The Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, and the European Central Bank made it clear at a bankers’ conference that their fight against inflation wasn’t done yet, and that more rate hikes are in the pipeline.

In New York, stock indices ended narrowly mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 0.2%, the S&P 500 flat and the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.3%.

In early Asian trade, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was up 0.4%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.2%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 1.5%.