Rotork finance chief to retire, AB Foods lifts guidance

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The FTSE 100 is expected to open 18 points higher on Tuesday, having closed up 0.25% on Monday at 7,496.87.

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Industrial valve manufacturer Rotork has announced that long-standing finance chief Jonathan Davies is to retire early next year. The company, which makes flow control solutions for the oil and gas, water, energy and industrial sectors, said in a statement on Tuesday that Davis, who has been finance director since 2010, will be replaced by Ben Peacock, currently vice president of finance and IT at Weir Group's minerals division.

UK conglomerate Associated British Foods lifted annual guidance again boosted by recovery at its Primark retail chain and strong performance from food operations. AB Foods said it now expected full-year adjusted operating profit to be "slightly better" than previous guidance, when it said earnings would be "moderately ahead" of 2021/22's £1.43bn. Primark like-for-like sales growth for the financial year is now tipped to be around 9%, with like-for-like sales likely to be around 7% in the second half. For the financial year as a whole, sales are forecast to be around 15% ahead year on year, it added.

Newspaper round-up

Jeremy Hunt has warned that the high pace of inflation in Britain will prevent pre-election tax cuts this autumn amid signals from the Bank of England that another rate rise to ease cost of living pressures is coming next week. Speaking in India, the chancellor said he would be wary of putting money into the pockets of consumers in his November package because of the danger that it would overstimulate the economy and make it more difficult for Threadneedle Street to bring inflation down. – Guardian

Resale of event tickets for profit should be outlawed, the managers of artists have said, as they called on ministers to reconsider a crackdown on touts and “rip-offs” on websites such as Viagogo and StubHub. Music industry figures, including those who work with Radiohead and Ed Sheeran, threw their weight behind proposals to curb “secondary ticketing” websites, which allow fans to resell seats they are unable to use but that are increasingly dominated by professional touts charging high prices at a huge mark-up. – Guardian

After a summer of bloodletting and soul searching, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is hoping to emerge from its time in the wilderness. The organisation, which was until earlier this year Britain’s premier corporate lobbying group, is planning to relaunch its flagship November event with what insiders have described as a “conference-lite” in London. – Telegraph

Buyers of the latest iPhones face having to pay £20 extra to charge the devices as Apple caves to EU rules. Apple is widely expected to change the charging port and cables on its phones for the first time in 11 years due to a European Union law requiring all phones to use the USB-C standard. – Telegraph

Thousands of high-value manufacturing jobs are at risk because Britain’s largest train assembly plant is due to run out of work by the end of the year after delays in the contract to build high-speed rolling stock for HS2. Ministers are being warned that if the factory, with a workforce of 2,000, is mothballed, 1,400 UK supply chain companies employing as many as 17,000 people also will be affected. – The Times

US close

Wall Street managed a positive close on Monday, aligning with the upward momentum seen in European markets, as investors positioned themselves ahead of a raft of significant economic data set to be unveiled later this week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced by 0.25%, settling at 34,663.72 points, while the S&P 500 climbed 0.67% to close at 4,487.46 points.

Looking even more bullish was the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite, which outperformed its counterparts as it jumped 1.14% to finish at 13,917.89 points.

On the currency front, dollar was unchanged against sterling, hovering at 79.94p, while it gained 0.01% against the common currency to trade at 93.03 euro cents.

The greenback saw a slight decline of 0.02% against the yen, meanwhile, changing hands at JPY 145.56.