Tate & Lyle Q4 revenues rise, BAT announces £2.0bn share buyback

London pre-open

The FTSE 100 was being called to open 64.7 points lower ahead of the bell on Friday after seeing out the previous session 0.38% higher at 7,672.40.

Stocks to watch

High-performance polymers group Victrex said on Friday that it had made "a solid start" to 2022, with first-quarter group revenues up 9% year-on-year at £74.6m and group sales volume 16% higher at 1,025 tonnes.

Across its end-markets, Victrex said its electronics, energy and industrial, medical and value added reseller units saw "good year year-on-year growth". However, its automotive division's performance was modestly down year-on-year, reflecting current challenges in the industry.

Food products group Tate & Lyle reported a rise in revenues in the final three months of 2021 as it reiterated guidance and said it remained on track to create two businesses by the end of March.

Tate & Lyle, which effectively broke itself up last July with the £1.3bn sale of its primary products business, said on Friday that its continuing operations were now expected to be stronger. Food and beverages revenue rose 19%, while new products sales soared 54%.

British American Tobacco said it will buy back £2.0bn of shares as it reported higher annual profits and hiked its full-year dividend payment.

BAT posted an operating profit for the year ended 31 December of £10.23bn, up from £9.96bn a year earlier, as revenues dipped 0.4% to £25.68bn. The company also increased its dividend by 1% to 217.8p a share and said it would buy back £2.0bn of shares starting on 14 February and ending no later than 31 December.

Newspaper round-up

HM Revenue & Customs has been accused by an influential group of MPs of "ignorance and inaction" on recouping £6.0bn of fraudulent Covid-19 support payments, drawing an angry backlash from the tax authority. The public accounts committee, which monitors state spending, issued a litany of criticisms of HMRC, warning that money surrendered to fraudsters would ultimately add to the cost of living crisis engulfing Britain. - Guardian

The Biden administration has unveiled a plan to award nearly $5.0bn over five years to build thousands of electric vehicle charging stations. The nationwide network of electric vehicle charging stations would place new or upgraded ones every 50 miles along interstate highways as part of the administration's plan to spur widespread adoption of zero-emission cars. - Guardian

Andrew Bailey has warned Brussels against "seeking to fragment the international system" after commissioners vowed to cut off access to the City's £80.0trn clearing market. The Governor of the Bank of England urged the European Union not to end Continental banks' access to London in 2025, saying any attempt to snatch business away from the Square Mile would go against the two sides' "shared deep commitment to open markets". - Telegraph

The UK will be forced to import almost three-quarters of its gas by 2030 as North Sea reserves are depleted, according to analysis of official forecasts. Some 70% of Britain's gas is forecast to come from abroad by 2030, figures show, rising to 80% a decade later and 85% by 2050. - Telegraph

The only company to frack for shale gas in Britain has been ordered to plug and abandon its wells, more than two years after causing earth tremors that led to a ban on the process. Cuadrilla Resources said that it would mobilise a rig to seal the two wells at Preston New Road in Lancashire with cement and would remove the pipework and valves from the site, after instructions from the Oil and Gas Authority, the regulator. A battery to store electricity could be built at the location instead, under plans from AJ Lucas, Cuadrilla's Australian parent company. - The Times

Four out five bosses expect their companies to continue to allow staff to work from home for at least part of the week, according to a survey. 79% of leaders polled by the Institute of Directors plan to adopt remote working in the long term. - The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks ended the session in the red on Thursday after data showed consumer prices advanced at their fastest clip since February 1982.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day down 1.47% at 35,241.59, while the S&P 500 lost 1.81% to 4,504.08 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 2.1% weaker at 14,185.64.