WH Smith FY results seen in line with upgraded guidance, Barratt Developments annual profits rise

London pre-open

The FTSE 100 was being called to open 45.5 points lower after closing out the previous session 0.18% firmer at 7,300.44.

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Retailer WH Smith said on Wednesday that it had continued to see a "strong performance" from its travel unit in the second half, with group revenue coming in "comfortably in excess" of pre-Covid levels.

WH Smith stated that despite ongoing disruptions, its travel businesses had continued to benefit from the recent recovery in passenger numbers across all of its key travel markets and highlighted that it now expects its full-year results to be in line with recently upgraded expectations.

Barratt Developments posted a rise in full-year profit and revenue on Wednesday as completions recovered to pre-pandemic levels.

In the year to 30 June, adjusted pre-tax profit grew 14.7% to £1.05bn, with revenues up 9.5% at £5.27bn, as completions increased 3.9% to 17,908. The housebuilder said it had "made excellent progress in a year of strong housing demand".

Newspaper round-up

It is an award-winning pioneer in the fast-growing cybersecurity industry, boasting veterans of the spy community and the British political establishment on its payroll. It is also the subject of admiring glances from a deep-pocketed US private equity house pondering a takeover that could lead to payouts worth £200.0m for its management team. But there are clouds hanging over Darktrace, in the shape of analysts' criticism of its business model and concerns about its workplace culture, not to mention an escalating legal battle over a multi-billion pound fraud. – Guardian

A trial over Elon Musk’s bid to end his $44.0bn deal for Twitter should be delayed by several weeks to allow him to investigate a whistleblower's claims about security on the social media platform, Musk's lawyer told a judge on Tuesday. "Doesn’t justice demand a few weeks to look into this?" said Musk's lawyer, Alex Spiro, at a hearing in Wilmington, Delaware. – Guardian

Russia is hunting for Western semiconductors built by the Chinese-backed owner of Welsh factory Newport Wafer Fab as it seeks to restock critical high-tech components for its war machine. Ukrainian intelligence has warned Vladimir Putin's regime is desperately seeking chip technology built by European and American companies, Politico reported. – Telegraph

Workers will suffer a real-terms fall of £2,000 in the value of their wages by the end of this year and energy prices could hit nearly £7,000 in 2023 without government intervention, PwC has warned. In its latest economic outlook, the Big Four professional services group has predicted that the economy will tip into recession this year as people face a double hit to their incomes from higher inflation and rapidly rising energy bills. – The Times

Rising profits prompted an outbreak of profit-taking at EnQuest after the North Sea's largest independent operator was boosted by higher oil prices and increased production. EnQuest, an oil and gas producer focused on the North Sea and Malaysia, said its pre-tax profits in the six months to the end of June had more than trebled to $182.6m from $49.1m in the previous year. The average oil price per barrel in the period was $89.90, compared with $62.80 in the first half of last year. – The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks closed weaker on Tuesday as traders returned from the Labor Day long weekend to rising bond yields and fears that the Federal Reserve's attempts to aggressively tighten monetary policy could put more pressure on the US economy.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.55% at 31,145.30, while the S&P 500 lost 0.41% to 3,908.19, and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.74% weaker at 11,544.91.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com