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UK consumer confidence plunged last month as worries over the global economy and Brexit grow.

GfK’s Consumer Confidence Index decreased four points to zero in February. Four of the measures used to calculate the Index saw decreases this month, most notably peoples’ view on the general economic situation.

The measure for the general economic situation of the UK during the last 12 months decreased seven points this month to -10, while expectations for the general economic situation over the next 12 months have decreased seven points to -12 – now 15 points lower than this time last year.

Conversely, the index measuring changes in personal finances during the last 12 months has increased by one point this month to +5. Views of personal finances over the next twelve months only dropped one point to +8, which is nine points higher than this time last year.

Joe Staton, head of market dynamics at GfK, said: “While faith in our own personal financial situation continues to remain strong for the year ahead, we are clearly worried about the general economic situation for the country. Despite the positive impact of continued low interest rates and subdued inflation on our day-to-day household budgets, the feeble outlook for growth and a variety of economic uncertainties since the start of the year has depressed our New Year optimism.”

Morning update

Irish banana importer Fyffes (FFY) has revealed strong growth for the year to 31 December 2015. Total revenues, including the Group’s share of its joint ventures, amounted to €1.22bn an increase of 12.1%. Group revenue, excluding Fyffes’ share of its joint ventures, was 15.6% up to €985m. Excluding the positive translation impact of the weaker euro on US dollar and sterling denominated sales, underlying revenue growth in 2015 was 7% driven by organic volume growth in the Group’s banana and melon categories.

Fyffess also saw its seventh consecutive year of earnings growth, with adjusted EBITA €5.7m (14.2%) higher at €45.8m. Group adjusted EBITA has now grown by more than 200% over the past seven years, with compound annual growth of 17%. Adjusted EBITDA was 16.4% higher year on year.

Chairman David McCann said: “Fyffes has delivered another important step up in earnings in 2015. The Group is focused on consolidating at this higher level of earnings. The initial target EBITA for 2016 is in the range €42m-€48m. Fyffes is pursuing necessary increases in selling prices in all markets in response to the continuing strength of the US dollar against the euro and sterling. The Group is also focused on continuing to grow its business and is actively pursuing a number of attractive acquisition opportunities.”

Last night Kraft Heinz reported its first full-year results as a merged company, beating the market’s fourth quarter earnings expectations. The company said it saw net sales increase by 155% after the merger to US$7.1bn, though this translates to an organic net sales decrease of 3.1%. Q4 operating income was up 266% to US$1.3bn. Adjusted EBITDA grew 20.3% on a constant currency basis, including an approximate 4.5 percentage point benefit from a 53rd week of shipments

Kraft Heinz CEO Bernardo Hees said: “The important integration work and financial results we delivered in 2015 set a solid base on which we can drive sustainable growth across our global business. We are working to implement proven management methodologies, remove inefficient spending and streamline our organization, while investing in our brands and innovation to drive long-term profitable growth. We believe that all of this positions Kraft Heinz for a strong performance in 2016 and beyond.”

Finally, African agriculture company Agriterra has reported a group’s loss from continuing operations was $2.80m for the six months to 30 November. This represents a 38% decrease compared to the loss from continuing operations of $4.57m in the same period in 2014. The decrease principally reflects the strong performance of the grain division. However, the company said the period saw a challenging macro-economic environment develop across the world, including our regions of operations, with resource based Sub-Saharan African economies experiencing sizeable devaluations in their local currencies against the strengthening US dollar.

The FTSE 100 has carried on from where it left off yesterday as the more positive mood sweeping the City has sent the index another 1.1% higher to 6,084.1pts this morning.

The supermarkets are among the strong early risers, with Tesco (TSCO) up another 2% to 184.2p, Sainsbury’s (SBRY) up 1.1% to 252.8p and Morrisons (MRW) up 1% to 188.7p.

Fyffes is up 1.2% to 105.7p after its results this morning and Kraft Heinz closed in the US last night 2.7% up to $74.96.

Yesterday in the City

The FTSE 100 surged back through the 6,000 point barrier yesterday as a strong banking rally drove the market back up 2.5% to 6,012.8pts.

Grocery and fmcg firms weren’t the primary beneficiaries of the gains, but most companies were on the up yesterday.

Notably, Ocado (OCDO) leapt 5.3% during the day to 278.8p, while Tesco (TSCO) also rose 2.2% to 180.6p and Morrisons (MRW) was up 1.6% to 186.8p.

In the FTSE 100, other fmcg gains were seen by Unilever (ULVR), up 2.2% to 3,104p, and Imperial Brands (IMT), up 1.9% to 3,787p.

British American Tobacco (BATS) rose 1.1% to 3,877.5p yesterday after the market was initially unimpressed by its full-year results that were heavily hit by currency movements. In Belgium ABInBev dropped 1.7% to €102 after its own annual results, which German consumer goods firm Henkel was 0.1% down to € 95.20 after its market update.

Other movers in the UK included McColl’s (MCLS) up 3.6% to 145p, Conviviality (CVR), up 1.9% to 210p, Hilton Food Group (HFG), up 2.8% to 519p and Tate & Lyle (TATE), up 2.6% to 581.5p.

Fyffes (FFY) was down 1.7% to 104.5p ahead of this morning’s results.

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