DS Smith FY profits rise, EasyJet to acquire 56 Airbus A320neo planes

London pre-open

The FTSE 100 was being called to open 18.8 points firmer ahead of the bell on Tuesday after closing 1.50% higher in the previous session at 7,121.81

Stocks to watch

Packaging business DS Smith posted significantly improved full-year profits on Tuesday despite experiencing "another year of volatile trading conditions".

DS Smith posted a 21% year-on-year improvement in reported revenues to £7.24bn, partly driven by price increases implemented to offset significant cost inflation, pushing adjusted operating profits up by 23% to £616.0m and pre-tax profits ahead by 64% to £378.0m. The FTSE 100-listed group said statutory basic earnings per share had grown 53% to 20.4p and also hiked its full-year dividend per share by 24% to 15.0p.

Budget airline EasyJet said on Tuesday that it had struck a deal with Airbus for 56 A320neo family aircraft for delivery between 2026 and 2029.

EasyJet stated the purchase will almost complete an aircraft supply arrangement it struck with Airbus back in 2013.

Newspaper round-up

The energy price cap could reach nearly £3,000 in the Britain at the beginning of October, with the planned increase possibly being more than £1,000 according to a new forecast. It is expected to rise to £2,980.63 for the next period, which runs between October and December, after another spike in wholesale demand prices last week. – Guardian

For a company tipped to provide the NHS's new overarching data platform, it is appropriate that Palantir Technologies is named after an all-seeing orb. Palantir, which draws its name from the powerful crystal balls deployed in JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, is the favourite to win a £360.0m contract for the NHS's Federated Data Platform. Covering everything from individual patients' data to vaccination programmes, waiting lists, and medical trials, the FDP will aggregate data from multiple sources and different formats onto a single platform. – Guardian

The Bank of England must prop up the pound with a rapid increase in interest rates or risk a further surge in inflation, a senior policymaker has warned. Catherine Mann, a member of the Bank's rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee, said that Britain is falling behind the US after the Federal Reserve embarked on a vigorous round of rate increases. – Telegraph

The Government could be forced to pay a compensation bill as big as the entire defence budget if a legal challenge launched today over the rejigging of the retail prices index succeeds. Analysts estimate that the Treasury could in theory be forced to pay compensation of as much as £40.0bn to holders of index-linked government bonds tied to the RPI if the Government loses. – The Times

The owner of Britain's largest microchip manufacturer has rejected suggestions that it is controlled by China. The takeover of Newport Wafer Fab by Nexperia, a subsidiary of the Chinese smartphone maker Wingtech Technology, is the subject of a national security investigation which could potentially lead to the £63.0m takeover being unwound. – The Times

US close

The New York Stock exchange was closed for trading on Monday in observance of the Juneteenth federal holiday.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com