Ashtead delivers record FY performance, FirstGroup FY adjusted operating profits rise

London pre-open

The FTSE 100 was being called to open 58.2 points higher ahead of the bell on Tuesday after closing 1.53% points lower at 7,205.81 in the previous session.

Stocks to watch

Equipment rental company Ashtead said on Tuesday that it had delivered a record full-year, with both revenue and profits up following a solid fourth-quarter showing.

Ashtead said full-year revenues were up 19% at $7.96bn, with annual rental revenues 24% stronger at $7.23bn. Underlying earnings were 18% higher over the twelve months ended 30 April at $3.60bn, while operating profits were up 30% at $1.94bn and adjusted pre-tax profits rose 38% to $1.82bn.

Rail and bus operator FirstGroup, which last week rejected a £1.23bn takeover approach, reported a jump in full-year adjusted operating profits as travel continued to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.

FirstGroup posted profits of £226.0m for the twelve months 26 March, compared with £220.0m a year ago, despite seeing revenues fall to £5.5bn from £6.8bn, reflecting the sale of its First Student, First Transit, and Greyhound bus services.

Newspaper round-up

Victims of one of Britain's biggest banking frauds will each be offered £3.0m compensation packages, according to a source familiar with the proposed deal expected to be announced later this week. Halifax Bank of Scotland – which is now part of Lloyds Banking Group – was involved in a major fraud at its Reading branch in the early 2000s. - Guardian

The UK government is close to striking a deal to keep a coal-fired power station in Nottinghamshire open longer than planned as ministers attempt to shore up Britain's energy supplies. UK officials are in negotiations with the French energy company EDF over plans to extend the operations of the West Burton A power station near Retford. - Guardian

Shell is pursuing a significant expansion of its business supplying electricity to UK households amid intense volatility in energy markets. The FTSE 100 company wants to supply clean power to five million households and electric car drivers by 2030, up from about 1.5m today, as part of plans to diversify away from oil and gas. - Telegraph

British Airways is facing a summer of strikes after ground and cabin staff backed industrial action in a dispute over pay. Unite, which represents 16,000 BA workers, won a 97% majority in a ballot for potential industrial action after claiming the airline reneged on a pay deal. The union, the UK's second-largest, is also balloting 500 check-in staff on strikes that could be staged in July when demand is expected to surge. - Telegraph

More than one in every five pounds paid so far by taxpayers to cover bank losses on failed pandemic loans relates to credit issued to suspected fraudsters. New figures show that by the end of March, the government had settled £351.0m of claims on the state guarantee to lenders who issued credit under the emergency bounce back loan scheme, £72.0m of which banks had marked as potentially fraudulent. - The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks closed sharply lower on Monday as last month's hotter-than-expected CPI reading and expectations of a Federal Reserve rate hike later in the week remained in focus.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 2.79% at 30,516.74, while the S&P 500 was 3.88% weaker at 3,749.63 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 4.68% softer at 10,809.23.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com