Grainger net rental income grows, SSE flags strong operational performance

Stocks to watch

Private housing provider Grainger said net rental income rose 15% year on year in the four months to the end of January 2025, driven by strong demand and portfolio growth, and added that government plans to build more homes “further strengthens our outlook for the future”.

SSE said in an update on Wednesday that it expects full-year adjusted earnings per share to range between 154p and 163p, on the back of a strong operational performance despite variable weather conditions. The FTSE 100 power giant said renewable energy output rose 26% year-on-year in the first nine months of the financial year, driven by capacity additions and weather variations, while it progressed key infrastructure projects including the RIIO-T3 business plan for £22bn in grid investments. Strategic developments included advancing major renewable projects, securing a financial decision on the 208MW Strathy South wind farm, and committing to a 300MW biofuel power plant in Ireland to enhance energy security.

Pharma giant GSK missed forecasts slightly with its annual results, but raised its guidance for long-term growth. Sales in 2024 increased by 3% to £31.38bn, slightly short of the £32bn expected by analysts, while core earnings per share rose 3% to 159.3p, missing the 163.9p consensus estimate. However, due to progress in its late-stage drug pipeline, GSK has upped its 2031 sales outlook to more than £40bn, up from £38bn previously. The company also unveiled plans to buy back £2bn of stock over the next 18 months.

Newspaper round-up

Thames Water may need as much as £10bn in debt and equity investment to repair its finances, according to a representative of creditors hoping to lend the struggling utility another £3bn. London’s high court heard evidence on Tuesday that suggested the UK’s largest water company may need significantly more resources than the roughly £6.3bn it has previously indicated. – Guardian

Lawyers representing 3,500 claimants are preparing to sue the pharmaceutical firm Johnson & Johnson (J&J) over alleged links between talcum powder and cancer, in what is expected to be one of the largest pharmaceutical product group actions in English and Welsh legal history. They claim that thousands of women and some men contracted cancers after using J&J talcum powder products that had been contaminated with asbestos. – Guardian

An increase in the use of smart doorbells by wealthy households is partly to blame for the crisis plaguing Britain’s jobs market data, the UK’s chief statistician has said. Sir Ian Diamond told MPs that the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) struggles with unreliable jobs data were partly caused by people in “advantaged areas” with camera doorbells who were ignoring its interviewers. – Telegraph

Octopus Energy’s profits more than halved last year as it spent more money in its race to overtake British Gas as Britain’s largest household energy supplier. The supplier, which now serves almost 12.9m household accounts across the UK, said on Tuesday that pre-tax profits fell to £77.6m over the year to May 2024 from £283m the prior year. That was accompanied by a 1pc dip in turnover, which fell to £12.4bn. – Telegraph

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, reported lower-than-expected sales from its cloud computing business, stoking concerns about the payoff from its big bet on artificial intelligence. Revenue from the cloud computing business, which sells services to companies adopting AI technology, rose 30 per cent to $12 billion in the fourth quarter. – The Times

US close

Major indices closed higher on Tuesday as the effects of the new White House administration’s tariffs on a number of its closest trading partners continued to be digested.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.30% at 44,556.04, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.72% to 6,037.88 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 1.35% firmer at 19,654.02.

The Dow closed 134.13 points higher on Tuesday, reversing losses recorded in the previous session after Donald Trump signed an order to impose 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada, plus a 10% levy on China.

Sentiment got a boost late on Monday after Trump said the duty on Mexican goods would be paused for a month and later agreed to halt the implementation of tariffs against Canada for at least 30 days.

China, however, slapped tariffs of up to 15% on US imports of coal and liquefied natural gas and 10% higher duties on crude oil, farm equipment and selected cars, with effect from 10 February.