Barclays launches £500m buyback as profits rise, Relx reiterates FY outlook following strong YTD performance

STOCKS TO WATCH

Barclays reported a rise in third-quarter profit on Thursday as it announced a £500m share buyback. In the three months to the end of September, pre-tax profits grew 12% to £2.3bn, while earnings per share were 18% higher year-on-year at 12.3p. Barclays' return on tangible equity rose to 11.7% in Q3 from 10.6% in the same period a year earlier, and the bank said it was on track to deliver a RoTE greater than 12% in 2026. Chief executive CS Venkatakrishnan said: "With one quarter to go before the end of our original three-year plan, we have either achieved or are on track to achieve all of our 2026 group targets. We are confident in and committed to the 2028 targets that we laid out earlier in the year."

Information and analytics firm Relx said on Thursday that trading remained strong through the first nine months of 2026, with underlying revenues up 7% and continued momentum across its higher-value analytics and decision tool businesses. The FTSE 100-listed firm also reaffirmed its full‑year outlook for another year of solid revenues, adjusted operating profits and earnings per share growth.

NEWSPAPER ROUND-UP

AI companies have told ministers they have 12 months to head off public opposition to datacentres in the UK or risk US-style protests that could threaten their construction. Successive dry summers and rising energy bills are increasing public scrutiny of plans for the huge computer warehouses that are used to train and run AI models, says a submission to the Labour government from a group including the AI infrastructure companies Nvidia, Microsoft and Cisco. – Guardian

As part of a £1bn investment plan, Waitrose has chosen Cricklewood in north London as the location for its first supermarket in eight years. The upmarket grocer will open the store on Thursday and another supermarket in Hale Barns, Greater Manchester, next month. It also plans four smaller stores next year, including a supermarket in Oakham, Rutland, and three convenience stores in Bedminster (Bristol), Chalk Farm (London) and Springstead Village (Cambridge). – Guardian

Andy Burnham has asked ministers to draw up plans to remove standing charges from gas bills. The Prime Minister told the Commons on Wednesday that he had asked John Healey, the Chancellor, and Miatta Fahnbulleh, the Energy Secretary, to examine the proposals and "report back at the earliest opportunity". Standing charges are fixed daily amounts added to electricity and gas bills, regardless of how much energy customers use. The average UK standing charge for gas is around 30p per day, or £103.32 a year. – Telegraph

Police froze several bank accounts linked to a British shadow bank which collapsed amid claims of a £1.3bn fraud, it has been revealed. The City of London Police, which polices the Square Mile, secured freezing orders against a number of bank accounts related to Market Financial Solutions. Paresh Raja, the founder of MFS, allegedly received more than £400m from "funds managed by MFS" to "personal bank accounts" in the UK, Monaco, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates, according to a separate lawsuit. – Telegraph

Banks contributed almost £48bn in taxes to the Treasury this year — a record — and are paying far more in London than other financial centres, according to an industry association as it made a last-ditch attempt to avert a further increase in next week's budget. Taxes borne directly by lenders operating in Britain generated an estimated £25.7bn in receipts in the year to March, while they collected a further £22.1bn on behalf of the Exchequer in employment taxes and other levies, according to the latest annual analysis commissioned by UK Finance and undertaken by PwC. – The Times

Meta Platforms increased its annual capital spending forecast on Wednesday and said it would introduce a new class of non-voting stock to help fund its costly artificial intelligence investments. The new shares will have an effective date in January 2027 and will not impact chief executive Mark Zuckerberg's voting control. "The creation of the Class C common stock will continue the founder-led model that has driven the company’s success since its inception," Meta said in a statement. – The Times

US CLOSE

Major indices posted solid gains on Wednesday as investors awaited key earnings updates from some heavyweight tech names, while chip and AI shares were bolstered by strong quarterly results and M&A speculation from SpaceX.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.69% higher at 52,856.09, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.58% to 7,757.17 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 1.05% firmer at 26,702.86.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com