National Grid performance ‘in line’ with trading expectations
National Grid has told shareholders it has performed “in line” with expectations for the past six months.
The electricity and gas distribution firm, however, added that it expects a greater contribution to its earnings per share in the new half-year.
The London-listed company said it met its financial guidance over the first six months of its financial year, to September 30.
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Oil stocks limit FTSE 100 recovery, Royal Mail owner up 4.5%
Pressure on oil stocks BP and Shell has limited the upside of an improved session for London’s FTSE 100 index, which is 13.98 points higher at 7426.43.
BP shares fell 3% yesterday and are down another 6.75p to 492.7p after a 5% slide in the price of Brent Crude over the past 24 hours. Shell retreated 26.5p to 2495p.
Other popular stocks on the fallers board included GSK and insurer Aviva after their shares declined 1%.
Tesco led the risers board with a post-results gain of 5.3p to 276p and Imperial Brands rebounded 24p to 1604p after announcing plans for a £1.1 billion buyback of shares.
Reckitt Benckiser also added 82p to 5826p after analysts at JPMorgan placed the consumer goods group on “positive catalyst watch”.
The FTSE 250 index improved 57.17 points to 17,550.07, led by a rise of 7% or 22.8p to 359.4p for ventilation business Volution after its annual results included a 9.6% dividend hike. Royal Mail owner IDS also jumped 4.5% or 10.9p to 252.5p.
More trouble at Metro Bank
METRO Bank shares crashed 25% this morning as the City digested the latest blow to the lender – a plan to raise £600 million to show up its shaky finances.
The company had promised to change the face of banking when it launched in the UK in 2010, with new branches and a consumer friendly face.
It worked at first, until an accounting error saw it miscategorise loans that saw CEO Craig Donaldson ousted.
Metro has asked Morgan Stanley to work on a capital raising deal for £250 million in fresh equity and £350 million in debt.
The bank said: “As previously stated, Metro Bank continues to consider how best to optimise its capital resources to allow it to take advantage of the deposit and asset origination platform that has been built.”
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Ofcom refers UK cloud market to CMA for investigation
Media watchdog Ofcom has referred its study into the cloud market to the competition regulator after it uncovered features that could limit competition.
Ofcom said it was concerned about high egress fees charged by cloud providers as well as interoperability barriers that have been artificially raised to make it difficult to switch providers. As much as 80% of the cloud market is dominated by two providers, Amazon and Microsoft, Ofcom said.
Fergal Farragher, Ofcom’s Director responsible for the market study, said: “The cloud is the foundation of our digital economy and has transformed the way companies run and grow their businesses.
“Some UK businesses have told us they’re concerned about it being too difficult to switch or mix and match cloud provider, and it’s not clear that competition is working well.”
Imperial Brands ups investor payout by £1.1 billion a day after Sunak smoking ban announcement
Imperial Brands, announced plans to pay £1.1 billion more to investors just hours after Rishi Sunak pledged to ban smoking by raising the age limit on cigarettes by one year every year.
The policy means children aged 14 or under at the moment will never legally be able to buy tobacco.
The maker of Lambert & Butler and Winston cigarettes did not make any reference to the ban in its trading update this morning,
But it announced a £1.1 billion capital return via a share buyback in 2024, up 10% from 2023. It said trading was in line with expectations, helped by “strong tobacco pricing,”
Unite Students boss to exit
Unite Students boss Richard Smith has become the latest FTSE 100 boss to exit, after seven years in charge.
Smith will leave on 31 December, “to pursue his personal interest in supporting the education and development of young people, including understanding issues that affect mental health”.
He leaves the student landlord in strong shape, with its properties all but full for 2023-24. Unite has repeatedly said the exit of many HMO landlords from the sector means there is limited supply of student housing, which has led to its properties filling up more quickly than usual.
Today, Unite said it expects to see rental income grow by at least 5% next year, following the strong demand this year.
Joe Lister, currently Unite’s chief financial officer, will take over as CEO. Investment director Michael Burt will become CFO.
Richard Huntingford, Chair of Unite, said: “On behalf of the Board, I would like to extend our sincere thanks to Richard and acknowledge his significant achievements over the last eight years as CEO. He has been a driving force behind our successful strategy of aligning to the best universities where demand is highest and building Unite into a purpose-led, responsible business.
“As a result, we have seen significant and stable growth and are today an established provider of choice for the UK higher education sector with over 60 valuable university partnerships.”
FTSE 100 seen higher, Brent Crude at $86 a barrel
A recovery for US markets should mean the FTSE 100 index finds positive territory this morning after the blue-chip benchmark’s fall of 0.8% yesterday.
Wall Street’s stronger session came after weaker-than-expected private sector employment figures eased concerns about the potential for higher US interest rates.
The Nasdaq Composite closed 1.3% higher and the S&P 500 index rose by 0.8% as traders responded to a stabilisation of the 10-year bond yield after this week’s surge to a post-2007 high.
The US turnaround means a potential end to this week’s poor run for the FTSE 100 index, which CMC Markets expects will open 32 points at 7444.
London’s top flight underperformed European markets yesterday after a fall in commodity prices weighed on the benchmark’s large number of energy and mining stocks.
Brent Crude today traded at $86.42, having fallen by 5% yesterday when figures showing weak US demand contributed to oil’s worst session of the year.
Recap: Yesterday’s top stories
Good morning. Here’s a summary of our top stories from yesterday:
