-- After a long weekend in the UK, the FTSE 100 closed 1.40% lower on Tuesday as corporate earnings continued to pour in against the backdrop of a fragile US-Iran ceasefire.
British banking group HSBC (HSBA.L) dropped 5.86% after reporting first-quarter results that were described as "mixed" by BofA Global Research, with profit after tax attributable to ordinary shareholders of the parent edging up year over year to $6.94 billion from $6.93 billion.
"HSBC printed an ok set of Q126 numbers," BofA said. "[Pretax profit] ex notable items was in line with consensus, with income beat (from fees and other income) offset by higher costs and impairments. Banking [net interest income] was in line. We are encouraged by HSBC's continued balance sheet and Wealth fee income growth, and remain confident in management's ability to manage cost. While [expected credit loss] was noisy in Q1, we are not concerned about the fundamental credit quality of HSBC's loan book."
On the upside, Intertek Group (ITRK.L) rose 5.95% to lead the blue-chip index after confirming it had received a third unsolicited, indicative and conditional proposal from Swedish private equity firm EQT, offering 58 pounds sterling per share in cash, up from prior rejected bids of 54 pounds per share and 51.50 pounds per share.
"We raise ITRK to Outperform and our [price target] by ~30% to GBP58.50 following announcements of a strategic review to potentially split the business in two and of potential private equity interest in the whole group," RBC Capital Markets said. "We think the status quo is the least likely outcome and think key protagonists have their eye on an eventual US listing of the core testing assets to sit alongside highly comparable, highly valued UL Solutions."
In the economic corner, the UK's new car registrations surged 24% year over year to 149,247 units in April, according to data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. The reading indicated a recovery in the car market from the negative tax change impact in 2025 and marked the best outturn since 2019, SMMT said.
"The mounting cost of compliance threatens to limit consumer choice, overall decarbonisation and the sector's competitiveness so the need for a rapid review of the transition to align policy with market realities is unchanged, else Britain's attractiveness as a vehicle market and manufacturing hub will be put at risk," said SMMT Chief Executive Mike Hawes.