Kingfisher profit decline smaller than expected, TI Fluid Systems profit firmer

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 28 points lower on Wednesday, having closed up 0.34% at 7,314.00 on Tuesday.

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Profits at Kingfisher last year fell less than expected as the DIY retailer completed the third year of its five-year turnaround plan. The search for a new chief executive to take over from Véronique Laury has begun but a departure date has not yet been decided.

TI Fluid Systems reported revenue growth of 2.0% year-on-year at constant currency in its final results on Wednesday, with profit for the year growing by €24.9m to €140.1m. The FTSE 250 firm said that, having executed its hybrid electric vehicle and electric vehicle strategy, adjusted net income was up 14.1% to €155.2m with adjusted basic earnings per share standing at 29.9 euro cents. Its board proposed a final dividend of 5.94 cents per share.

Life sciences company OptiBiotix Health has entered into an exclusive agreement with DKSH International to distribute its ‘SlimBiome’ proprietary weight management technology in Italy and Spain. The AIM-traded firm said market exclusivity would linked to sales orders to maximise the financial return for both parties, providing some surety of income for OptiBiotix over the next three years.

Newspaper round-up

No-deal contingency plans to safeguard medicine imports are set to be triggered on Wednesday, despite the potential delay to Brexit, with approved suppliers told to book space on the government’s emergency ferry service. Although the prime minister is to request an extension to article 50 which would postpone Britain’s departure from the EU, Whitehall will enact plans to ensure the flow of critical supplies should Dover be gridlocked after 29 March. - Guardian

Stockpiling ahead of Brexit could cause shortages, the nation’s top economists have warned, as panic buying by families risks exhausting shops’ entire supplies of goods. Worries over access to foreign products after a ‘no deal’ Brexit has prompted some people to stock up on products such as toilet rolls and tinned food. - Telegraph

A £2bn British satellite communications company which is listed in the FTSE 250 has received a takeover approach from a consortium that includes one of its former owners. Inmarsat disclosed last night that it had received a bid at the end of January from a group that includes Apax Partners, the British private equity company that had owned the business before floating it in 2005. - The Times

US close

Wall Street trading wrapped up on a mixed note on Tuesday as investors eyed the start of the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting and digested conflicting trade reports.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.10% at 25,887.38, while the S&P 500 was 0.01% weaker at 2,832.57, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.12% firmer at 7,723.95.

The Dow closed 26 points lower on Tuesday, ending in its winning streak at four days as Federal Reserve policymakers convened for a two-day policy meeting.

Although no change in rates is expected, investors will keep a close eye on Wednesday's policy statement, with remarks from chairman Jerome Powell at his news conference being of particular note.

The Fed is widely expected to maintain the tone it adopted back in January when it abruptly put its rate-hike plan on pause.