Intertek revenues rise in first four months, subdued market weighing on Bakkavor
London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open 47 points lower on Thursday, having closed up 0.07% at 7,334.19 on Wednesday.
Stocks to watch
Quality assurance provider Intertek said revenues were up 7.3% to £924.3m for the first four months of the year at actual currency rates, driven by broad-based organic growth, acquisitions and forex tailwinds. “Given a good start to the year, we expect good organic revenue growth at constant currency rates in each of our three divisions,” the company said in a trading statement.
United Utilities' annual profit rose as the water company's revenue increased in line with regulatory changes. Underlying operating profit for the year to the end of March rose to £684.8m from £645.1m as revenue rose to £1.82bn from £1.74bn. Pre-tax profit rose by £1m to £436.2m.
Bakkavor warned that it is feeling the heat from continued subdued consumer confidence and inflationary pressures, with the food manufacturer seeking further opportunities to increase operating efficiencies and optimise capacity after closing its loss-making Freshcook business. Despite UK market challenges, the company said results for the year to date remain on course to meet expectations.
Newspaper round-up
Three City banks, a German software business and Facebook pay their staff the most in the UK, according to a new survey, while staff working at Domino’s Pizza and the shop chains Footasylum and Schuh receive the lowest rewards. The Swiss investment bank Credit Suisse and the German software firm Sap topped the list of the UK’s highest-paying companies compiled by the job search and recruiting website Glassdoor. – Guardian
British Steel owner Greybull Capital is a private investment firm with a controversial record, founded by a group of wealthy heirs and run with the help of a former Lehman Brothers banker. It styles itself as a valiant rescuer of distressed businesses but has amassed a questionable roster of firms that it bought for a song only to walk away relatively unscathed after they eventually collapsed. – Guardian
More than one million surveillance cameras in the UK - including at airports and in NHS trusts - were built by a Chinese company the US is considering blacklisting over security fears. Hikvision is one of the biggest suppliers of CCTV cameras in the world. Estimates suggest there are more than 1.3m of the company's cameras installed throughout the UK, thought to make up as much as a quarter of all CCTV cameras in the country. – Telegraph
Amazon's shareholders have voted down a proposal to ban sales of its controversial Rekognition face-matching software to police forces. Activists and civil rights groups had been pushing a motion at the online shopping giant's annual shareholder meeting to prevent Rekognition from being sold to law enforcement clients until its board could be sure that there was no risk of violating human rights. - Telegraph
Sir Philip Green’s retail empire will close all Topshop stores in the United States as part of a proposed rescue package that faces opposition from landlords and the Pensions Regulator. Sir Philip, 67, had said previously that he wanted to build a “billion-dollar business in America”, but he is being forced to restructure his Arcadia group as sales fall sharply in its shops. – The Times
US close
US stocks closed lower on Wednesday, as the US' intensifying trade war with China overshadowed minutes from the Federal Reserve's policy meeting.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.39% lower at 25,776.61, while the S&P 500 was 0.28% weaker at 2,856.27 and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.45% softer at 7,750.84.
The Dow closed 100 points lower on Wednesday after Washington's decision to temporarily curb some sanctions against Chinese telecoms giant Huawei had provided some relief and boosted stocks in the previous session.
On Tuesday, tech shares managed to recoup some of their losses from the prior session, but the positive sentiment failed to make its way across to Asian markets overnight, which were little changed.
China's ambassador to the US said on Tuesday that Beijing was open to the idea of continuing trade talks, stating that it was Washington that was being indecisive.