Berkeley Group FY profits grow, JD Sports more than doubles annual profits

London pre-open

The FTSE 100 was being called to open 80.9 points lower ahead of the bell on Wednesday after closing 0.42% higher in the previous session at 7,152.05.

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Property developer and housebuilder Berkeley Group said on Wednesday that full-year pre-tax profits and earnings per share had both improved in the twelve months ended 30 April, reflecting the "stability" of its "uniquely long-term operating model" throughout an "exceptionally volatile" period.

Berkeley posted a 6.4% rise in pre-tax profits to £551.5m, a 23.1% surge in basic earnings per share to 417.8p, and a single percentage point increase in pre-tax return on equity to to 17.5%. Revenues were up 6.6% at £2.38bn on the sale of 3,760 homes, compared to 2,825 in the prior year.

UK retailer JD Sports Fashion said on Wednesday that it had more than doubled annual profits.

JD Sports posted pre-tax profits of £654.7m for the year ended 29 January, up from £324.0m a year earlier, driven by strong performances in the UK, Ireland and North America. The FTSE 100-listed group also added that earnings for the current year would be in line with expectations and was currently 5% ahead year-to-date.

Newspaper round-up

Annual pay growth stalled at 4% in May, leaving most workers with a rise in earnings worth less than half the 9% increase in prices. Figures from XpertHR, a pay and personnel data publisher, said employer pay deals for the three months to May failed to increase on April's median 4%, undermining concerns that workers would push for inflation-busting rises in earnings that could start a wage-price spiral. - Guardian

Britain's cost of living crisis is being made worse by Brexit dragging down the country's growth potential and costing workers hundreds of pounds a year in lost pay, new research claims. The Resolution Foundation thinktank and academics from the London School of Economics said the average worker in Britain was now on course to suffer more than £470 in lost pay each year by 2030 after rising living costs are taken into account, compared with a remain vote in 2016. - Guardian

The state pension and benefits are set to rise in line with double-digit inflation, despite the Government telling workers to accept a real terms pay cut. The Treasury on Tuesday confirmed that the pension "triple lock" will be reinstated after it was put on pause during the pandemic, taking the annual payout for retirees beyond £10,000 for the first time. - Telegraph

In the year just gone, FinnCap generated revenues of £52.4m — more than ten times the amount the business turned over in its first full year of operation. Sam Smith, the first and only woman to run a City stockbroker, is to leave FinnCap 24 years after she founded it. - The Times

Pendragon suffered a huge shareholder revolt over executive bonuses as almost two-thirds voted against the remuneration report at the car dealer's annual meeting. The scale of the revolt, the third in a row, was branded "hugely embarrassing" by one analyst as 65.51% of those who voted were against the directors' pay report. - The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks closed sharply higher on Tuesday as traders returned from the Juneteenth federal holiday in a more positive mood despite ongoing recessionary fears.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 2.15% at 30,530.25, while the S&P 500 was 2.45% firmer at 3,764.79, and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 2.51% stronger at 11,069.30.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com