Business
Bunzl acquires more businesses as profits dip in first half
Specialist distribution firm Bunzl has expanded with a raft of fresh acquisitions as it reported a decline in first-half profits.
However, shares in the company ticked higher after it resumed its share buyback programme.
The FTSE 100 company scrapped its buyback in April alongside a major profit warning linked to challenges in its North American business.
However, on Tuesday, bosses restarted the programme and said it was “seeing early positive indicators of success” in North America.
Bunzl said it has made “good progress” following action taken to improve performance in the region and in continental Europe, adding that its expects improved trading in the second half of 2025 as a result.
The firm also expects to be boosted by recent acquisition activity.
On Tuesday, the company announced the acquisition of Spanish food service distributor Quindesur and a deal to buy Mexican protective equipment specialist Guantes Internacionales (Gisa).
The business also confirmed that it has completed two other previously announced acquisition deals.
Chief executive Frank van Zanten nevertheless said the company had a “challenging” first half of the year and still faces “uncertain” macro-economic conditions.
It reported that revenues rose by 0.8% to £5.76 billion for the six months to June, compared with the same period a year earlier.
Meanwhile, operating profits slipped by 14% to £330.5 million for the period, after profitability was impacted by weakness in North America.
Mr van Zanten said: “We are reiterating our group outlook for 2025 and expectations for an improved performance in the second half, driven by the actions taken.
“Notwithstanding a challenging first half for Bunzl, and the ongoing uncertain macro-economic backdrop, our teams are very focused on improving performance, and I remain confident in Bunzl’s underlying resilience and strong business model, and its ability to deliver consistent compounding growth in the medium term.”
Shares were up 5% in early trading.
The supply chain risk designation of the artificial intelligence firm is a first for a US company.
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UniQure needs to run another study to prove that its gene therapy “actually helps people with Huntington’s disease,” a senior U.S. Food and Drug Administration official said on a call with reporters Thursday.
The official, who requested anonymity before discussing sensitive information, confirmed the agency has asked the company to run a placebo controlled trial of its treatment, which is administered directly into the brain. UniQure has said that type of study isn’t ethical because it would require putting people under general anesthesia for hours, a characterization the official disputed.
“So what is really going on? UniQure is the latest company to make a failed therapy for Huntington’s patients,” the official said. “They likely acknowledge or understand at some deep level that their trial failed years ago, and instead of doing the right thing and running the correct clinical study, UniQure is performing a distorted or manipulated comparison in the mind of FDA.”
The comments mark the latest development in a messy public spat between UniQure and the FDA, and as the agency comes under fire for a number of recent drug approval application rejections, including some where companies have accused it of going back on previous guidance. FDA Commissioner Marty Makary in an interview with CNBC’s Becky Quick last week seemingly criticized UniQure’s gene therapy for Huntington’s disease. Makary didn’t name UniQure but described its treatment.
UniQure then accused the FDA of reversing its stance that the company’s clinical trial data would be sufficient to seek approval. UniQure’s study used an outside database to measure how patients with Huntington’s disease might decline without treatment, known as an external control. UniQure has said it wouldn’t be feasible to run a true randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled study, considered the gold standard, because it wouldn’t be ethical to make people undergo a sham hours-long brain surgery.
The FDA official said the agency “never agreed to accept this distorted comparison” and the FDA “never makes such assurances.” Instead, the “FDA will always say, ‘Well, we have to see the data when we get it.'”
UniQure didn’t immediately comment.
The company’s stock rose more than 10% on Thursday and has fallen 58% this year as of Thursday afternoon.
Business
US mortgage rates rise to 6% after three-week slide as oil-driven bond yields climb – The Times of India
The average long-term US mortgage rate edged higher this week, ending a three-week decline as bond yields rose amid oil-price pressures linked to the war with Iran.The benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage rate increased to 6% from 5.98% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said on Thursday. A year ago, the average rate stood at 6.63%, AP reported.The modest uptick breaks a three-week slide in borrowing costs, with mortgage rates having hovered close to the 6% mark for most of this year. Last week’s average had marked the first time the rate dipped below 6% since September 2022, reaching its lowest level in nearly three and a half years.Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, including the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate policy, investor expectations about inflation and economic growth, and movements in the bond market.They typically track the direction of the 10-year US Treasury yield, which lenders use as a benchmark for pricing home loans.The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 4.14% at midday Thursday, up from around 4% a week earlier.Treasury yields have moved higher in recent days as rising oil prices added fresh inflation concerns, potentially complicating the Federal Reserve’s plans to cut interest rates.
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