WEBVTT - WH Smith Cuts, Sanofi Setback, STMicro Up

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news, The.

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<v Speaker 2>Stock Movers Report, your roundup of companies making moves in

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<v Speaker 2>the stock market. Harnessing the power of Bloomberg Data.

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<v Speaker 3>Let's take a look at some of the stocks on

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<v Speaker 3>the move today in Europe. I'm Caroline Hepget with Lizzie

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<v Speaker 3>burden Out, joined by Bloomberg reporter Chloe Malay. Good Morning,

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<v Speaker 3>Good morning, John Mensis, Travel Essentials and in Motion. These

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<v Speaker 3>are all the brands of W. H. Smith. What's been

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<v Speaker 3>going on with that business?

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, well, it's really kind of setback after setback for

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<v Speaker 1>W Smith lately. So there were two big, three big

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<v Speaker 1>things happening today, so we had a guidance scout, so

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<v Speaker 1>as guidance by quite a bit. It also announced that

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<v Speaker 1>it will launch a capital race to try and bolster

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<v Speaker 1>its balance sheet, and then it also had one hundred

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<v Speaker 1>and fifty million pound impairment charge. So all of that

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<v Speaker 1>is essentially because of the Iran wars. So they now

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<v Speaker 1>only operate airport stores. Last year WH Smith sold their

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<v Speaker 1>high street business to Madella Capital, so now they're only

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<v Speaker 1>really doing this airport side of the business, which means

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<v Speaker 1>that they're very exposed to any kind of air travel disruption,

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<v Speaker 1>and so all of their airport stores in the Middle

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<v Speaker 1>East are of course struggling because there's been so much

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<v Speaker 1>a disruption there to air travel. And then also more globally,

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<v Speaker 1>there's obviously this week consumer confidence that we've been talking

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<v Speaker 1>about for all retailers, and so that means that we

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<v Speaker 1>are seeing fewer passengers and then also lower spend per passenger,

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<v Speaker 1>and so that's really really weighing on performance on the

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<v Speaker 1>sales for the wh Smith and it's not the first

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<v Speaker 1>time this year that it had worn actually about that impact.

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<v Speaker 1>Back in Aprooid suspended its dividend on the back of that,

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<v Speaker 1>saying that it needed to reduce debt and to bolster

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<v Speaker 1>the balance sheet during this downturn. And then then today,

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<v Speaker 1>as I said, this guidance capital raise impairment charge, so

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<v Speaker 1>kind of a triple whammy there for that company. And

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<v Speaker 1>then in addition to this, we also had this major

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<v Speaker 1>accounting era in the US business that happened last year,

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<v Speaker 1>and so that led the CEO to resign. And then

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<v Speaker 1>just yesterday the UK's Financial Reporting Council said that it

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<v Speaker 1>had started an investigation into PWC's audit of the results

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<v Speaker 1>in twenty twenty four, So overall, very bad time for

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<v Speaker 1>wo Smith and we can see that reflected in those

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<v Speaker 1>shows that really really slumped today. They were down about

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<v Speaker 1>seventeen percent at the open. Next Dot Chloe, Sonofi and

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<v Speaker 1>I'll let you pronounce the weird drug name. Well I

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<v Speaker 1>was planning on not pronounced, so I don't know how

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<v Speaker 1>we're going to do this. So there's also set back

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<v Speaker 1>for Sophie because it just halted a late stage trial

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<v Speaker 1>for an experimental drug for a rare autoimmune disorder, which

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<v Speaker 1>again I'm not going to try to pronounce, but it

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<v Speaker 1>is a condition that causes progressive weakness and sensory impairment

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<v Speaker 1>in the arms and legs. And so the late stage

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<v Speaker 1>trial disappointed there. It's not the first drug recently from

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<v Speaker 1>Sonofi that's failed to impress. We also had one for

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<v Speaker 1>dermatitis that disappointed, another one for MS that also showed

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<v Speaker 1>mixed results. So it's kind of setback after setback there

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<v Speaker 1>as well. And Setian has said that this really now

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<v Speaker 1>sort of ramps up the pressure on the new CEO

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<v Speaker 1>to work on rebuilding this research and development pipeline. The

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<v Speaker 1>previous year was actually removed for failing to bring new

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<v Speaker 1>drugs to the market quickly enough, so I'm sure that

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<v Speaker 1>the new CEO is now definitely feeling that pressure as well.

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<v Speaker 1>And of course getting new medicines out is super important

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<v Speaker 1>for drug makers that are seeing those patents expire for

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<v Speaker 1>some of their best sellers.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, really proved, But is the name of the drug

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<v Speaker 3>or at least that's how it's caled. Well, if anyone

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<v Speaker 3>is interested in understanding one knows about it, I think

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<v Speaker 3>it's worth mentioning just a brief word on st micro Electronics.

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<v Speaker 3>Lizzie's been talking about the move in the share price today.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, so it was raised to a BI rating by

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<v Speaker 1>Bank of America analysts and also they set a new

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<v Speaker 1>street high price target for the company. Said that essentially

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<v Speaker 1>has a lot of positive growth drivers, of course benefiting

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<v Speaker 1>from data centers but also the satellite business, and also

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<v Speaker 1>there's some recovery in industrials and autos. So overall doing

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<v Speaker 1>quite well and of course quite relevant with all this

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<v Speaker 1>air trade talk that we've been having over the last

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<v Speaker 1>few days.

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