BT Group FY 23 – 18/05 – BT Group shares have seen some decent gains since hitting two-year lows back in December.
The art of meeting expectations appears to have been behind this outperformance with the shares up over 25% year to date. In Q3 BT reported numbers that were in line with expectations. Adjusted revenue came in slightly below expectations at £5.21bn, a decline of 2.9%, although adjusted EBITDA increased in line with expectations to £2.01bn. On a 9-month basis profits after tax came in at £1.32bn, on revenues of £15.59bn, with adjusted EBITDA rising 3% to £5.88bn. BT reaffirmed its full year guidance. Full year revenues are expected to come in at £20.53bn, with full year adjusted EBITDA of £7.87bn.
...LVMH, Kering, and Hermes all reporting strong rebounds in Q1 sales due to strong rebounds in their Asia markets, as the economies of China and Japan report strong post Covid recovery sales. Burberry shares hit record highs back in April on the back of optimism over the China recovery as we look ahead to this week's full year numbers which are expected to show that full year revenues came in at £3.1bn. In the first 3 quarters of this current year China sales have proved to be a drag with a decline of 23% in Q3 and 19% in Q2. This weakness didn't stop H1 sales rising by 5% with same store sales rising by 1% in Q3. This week's Q4 and full year numbers should see China and Asia come back with a vengeance, with Q4 revenues of £812m.
With the US housing market in the doldrums, you might expect more money to get spent on home improvements, although spending does tend to be limited during the winter months. Comparable store sales fell by -0.3% in Q4, against an expectation of a 0.3% gain. Other than that, the numbers weren't that bad, with net sales coming in at $35.83bn, while profits beat expectations, coming in at $3.30c a share. The outlook, however, was disappointing with Home Depot forecasting flat sales growth for 2023, while operating margins are set to come in below 14.5% due to higher wage costs. Q1 revenues are expected to come in at $38.6bn and profits of $3.85c a share.
