Stocks mixed as UK consumer confidence sinks to fresh low

British Gas owner Centrica (CNA.L) has revealed earnings in its household supply arm more than halved last year.

Its British Gas energy supply division for households and businesses tumbled to £297m in 2024, from £751m the year before.

It unveiled overall adjusted earnings of £2.3bn for last year, down by a third from 2023 when its profits reached £3.5bn after a £500m windfall from the energy regulator.

Centrica revealed it shed 70,000 household customers in the year, with its total residential customer base falling to 7.46 million in 2024 from 7.53 million in 12 months prior.

The firm also announced a new £500m share buyback programme, news which has helped push its shares up 8% on the day.

Chris O’Shea, chief executive, said it was a good year for Centrica, but stressed there was “so much more we can do”.

Gold (GC=F) hit a new record high this morning, with the $3,000 per ounce level within sight.

It gained as much as 1% today to $2,967 per ounce, meaning it has risen by over 12% so far this year.

It has recently been driven by uncertainty surrounding potential US tariffs and the Russia-Ukraine peace deal.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said:

A scandal over how consumers have been sold car loans has opened up the possibility that lenders could end up paying out tens of billions of pounds in compensation.

Analysts have reportedly said the scandal could cost lenders from £30bn to £44bn, with concerns that it could be on the scale of the £50bn payment protection insurance (PPI) scandal.

The UK’s chancellor Rachel Reeves attempted to intervene in the Supreme Court case on the matter, though judges rejected this application on Monday.

On the back of this news, shares in Lloyds (LLOY.L) and Close Brothers (CBG.L) — two major providers of motor finance in the UK — fell.

Investors will be looking closely at Lloyds’ results on Thursday for any further updates on how potential compensation could impact its business.

Here’s more detail on what you need to know about the scandal.

Renault (RNO.PA) reported a record operating profit for 2024, beating expectations thanks to lower costs and new launches boosting margins.

The French car maker saw its operating profit margin coming in at a record 7.6% while revenues rose 7.4% to hit €56.2bn (£46.5bn).

However it booked a €1.5bn loss on the sale of Nissan shares, as it scaled back its partnership with the Japanese brand. Without the sale of Nissan shares, profit would have come in at €2.8bn, a 21% increase on 2023.

Its shares slipped in early trade, but had gained 9% since the start of the year and JPMorgan analysts described the results as “a strong set of numbers”.

Chief financial officer Thierry Pieton said:

Mercedes-Benz (MBG.DE) has announced plans to cut production costs amid a sharp slowdown in electric vehicle sales.

The German car firm plans to reduce costs by 10% by 2027 as it seeks to “ensure the company’s future competitiveness”, after EV sales nosedived 23% last year and deals in China fell 7%.

Profits dropped 28% to €10.4bn (£8.6bn) last year, while revenues also slid about 4% to €145.6bn.

Mercedes warned that its earnings before interest, taxes and other charges would be “significantly below” the €13.6bn EBITDA achieved in 2024, which was down 30% on the previous year.

But Ola Kallenius, chief executive, said:

UK consumer confidence sank to a new low this month amid concerns about finances and the state of the economy.

According to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Opinium, the public’s expectations for the economy worsened for a fifth month running in February, having fallen almost 40 points since July last year.

Households are also more pessimistic about their own personal finances as they anticipate further price rises in the shops, as retailers pass on higher taxes.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said:

Lloyds (LLOY.L) has reported a significant 20.4% drop in its annual profit, falling short of market forecasts, as the bank set aside additional funds for potential motor finance payouts.

The UK’s largest mortgage lender revealed a pretax profit of £5.97bn ($7.5bn) for the year 2024, down from £7.5bn in 2023. Analysts had predicted a slightly higher profit of £6.39bn, according to a consensus compiled by Reuters.

The bank attributed the decline to the impact of interest rate cuts on lending margins and the ongoing sluggishness in Britain’s economic recovery.

Net interest margin — the difference between savings and loan rates — fell 16 basis points to 2.95%.

Underlying net interest income fell 7% to £12.8bn amid falling interest rates. Pre-tax profit also tumbled in the fourth quarter to £824m, a 55% drop from the £1.8bn achieved in the previous quarter.

Despite the overall downturn, the bank’s net income for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024 rose by 3.4%, reaching £4.37bn compared to the same quarter in the previous year.

However, underlying profit for the quarter plummeted by 43.1% year-on-year to £993m, while earnings per share stood at just 1 pence, a 41.2% decline compared to the same period in 2023.

Read more on Yahoo Finance UK

Asian shares traded mostly lower after a quiet day on Wall Street, with the Nikkei (^N225) down 1.2% on the day in Japan, while the Hang Seng (^HSI) fell 1.6% in Hong Kong.

The Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) was flat end of the session after China left its benchmark interest rate unchanged, in a move it said was meant to maintain financial stability.

Across the pond on Wall Street, the benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.2% to 6,144.15, adding to its record high. The Dow Jones (^DJI) climbed 0.2% to 44,627.59 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) advanced 0.1% to 20,056.25.

It came amid concerns about Donald Trump’s tariff policies which continued to weigh on investors’ minds.

In the bond market, the yield on key 10-year US Treasury notes fell to 4.538% from 4.551% late on Tuesday.

Good morning, and welcome back to our markets live blog. As usual we will be taking a deep dive into what’s moving markets and all that’s happening across the global economy.

Here’s a quick look at what’s on the agenda for today:

• 7am: Trading updates: Lloyds, Anglo American, Centrica, Mondi, Hays, Safestore

• 11am: CBI industrial trends report

• 1.30pm: US initial jobless claims data

• 3pm: Eurozone consumer confidence report for February