Tesco FY profits seen at lower end of guidance, Sureserve completes £5.4m contract with DIO

London pre-open

The FTSE 100 was being called to open 28.7 points lower ahead of the bell on Wednesday after closing out the previous session 2.57% higher at 7,086.46.

Stocks to watch

Grocery retailer Tesco warned on Wednesday that current year profits will be at the lower end of guidance as "significant uncertainties" persisted during the cost-of-living crisis.

Tesco expects full-year retail adjusted operating profits of between £2.4bn and £2.5bn and said profits fell 65% to £413.0m in the six months ended 27 August.

Asset and energy support services group Sureserve has successfully wrapped up a £5.4m contract with the Defence Infrastructure Organisation to supply the UK Ministry of Defence with solar photovoltaic technology.

Sureserve said on Wednesday that its CorEnergy subsidiary, acquired by the group in December 2021, had won the contract after bidding via an Aaron Services framework.

Newspaper round-up

Liz Truss's intervention to freeze energy prices for households for two years is expected to cost the government £89.0bn, according to the first major costing of the policy by the sector's leading consultancy. The analysis from Cornwall Insight, seen exclusively by the Guardian, shows the prime minister's plan to tackle the cost of living crisis could cost as much as £140.0bn in a worst-case scenario. – Guardian

Elon Musk has offered to complete his proposed $44.0bn (£38.0bn) acquisition of Twitter in a dramatic U-turn on his decision to walk away from the deal. Lawyers for Musk confirmed in a court filing on Tuesday that the world's richest man is prepared to push ahead with the transaction on the agreed terms following months of legal drama. – Guardian

Crispin Odey has made returns of almost 200% so far this year as market turmoil and a slump in the pound boosted gains at his hedge fund. The Tory donor, who was a vocal backer of the Brexit campaign, last week declared that government bonds were "the gift that keeps on giving" after prices plunged. He has previously bet that the pound would slide against the dollar, while also shorting gilts. – Telegraph

The Bank of England chose not to buy any bonds yesterday under its emergency two-week operation to calm gilt markets, turning down offers from traders looking to sell £2.2bn of debt. Having bought only £22.0m of UK government bonds on Monday, the latest lack of intervention suggests that the Bank has so far succeeded in halting a dramatic sell-off without having to spend anywhere near what it had originally set aside. – The Times

Shares in GB Group dropped to a one-month low after the American private equity group GTCR said it would not proceed with a potential takeover bid. The company, one of the world's biggest providers of fraud prevention software, confirmed that talks with Chicago-based GTCR had ended because an agreement "could not be reached on terms". – The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks closed higher on Tuesday, extending solid gains recorded in the first session of Q4.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 2.80% at 30,316.32, while the S&P 500 was 3.06% firmer at 3,790.93 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 3.34% stronger at 11,176.41.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com