Lloyds full-year profits jump, Coca-Cola HBC buying Irish vending firm

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 40 points higher on Thursday, having closed down 0.73% on Wednesday at 7,662.51.

Stocks to watch

Lloyds Bank on Thursday reported a 57% jump in full-year profits on the back of higher interest rates and announced another £2bn share buyback. Pre-tax earnings at the lender for the year to December 31 were £7.5bn, although profits in the fourth quarter slipped 4% due to mortgage pricing and deposit mix headwinds. Net income rose 3% to £17.9bn. It also set aside £450m for the recently-announced review into motor finance.

Coca-Cola HBC, the Switzerland-based bottling partner of the Coca-Cola Company, has announced it is snapping up an Irish vending-machine business to "unlock profitable opportunities". The group said its Northern Ireland subsidiary has acquired 100% of BDS Vending Solutions, an established food and drink vending services business with around 2,000 vending machines, for an undisclosed sum.

WPP reported a 2.9% increase in reported revenue for the full year on Thursday, with like-for-like revenue up 3.2%. Despite challenges in the US market, there was a 0.3% growth in fourth quarter like-for-like revenue less pass-through costs, with strong performance in the UK and India offsetting declines in Germany and China. Additionally, the company reported solid new business performance, achieving $4.5bn in net new billings for the year and maintaining a disciplined cost control strategy, resulting in a proposed final dividend in line with its policy. Looking ahead, WPP said it was aiming for modest growth in like-for-like revenue, less pass-through costs and an improvement in headline operating profit margin for 2024.

Newspaper round-up

The government is set to impose new limits of as little as £2 a spin for online slot machines, the Guardian understands, in a move that could cost casino companies hundreds of millions of pounds. Ministers have been consulting on imposing a maximum stake for the digital casino-style games since publishing a white paper on gambling reform last year. – Guardian

Vauxhall’s owner, Stellantis, will make electric vans at its factory in Luton from 2025, helping to secure the future of 1,500 UK jobs at the plant. The Luton factory will produce medium-sized electric vans for the Vauxhall, Citroën, Peugeot and Fiat Professional brands, Stellantis announced on Thursday. – Guardian

Taxpayers will be forced to pay millions of pounds to sacked staff at The Body Shop as administrators oversee a drastic restructuring of the collapsed chain. Employees at the company have been told to make claims through the government-backed redundancy payments service if they are laid off. This is funded using National Insurance contributions. – Telegraph

Nvidia Corporation forecast first-quarter revenue above estimates last night, banking on huge demand for its industry-leading artificial intelligence chips and improving supply chain dynamics. The company, based in Santa Clara, California, estimated current-quarter revenue of $24 billion, plus or minus 2 percent, compared with expectations of $22.2 billion. – The Times

Investment bankers made an “unrealistic” and “inappropriate” $1 billion cash demand on the Frasers Group partly out of snobbery towards the retailer’s owner Mike Ashley, a court has been told. Lawyers told a High Court judge on Wednesday that senior executives at Morgan Stanley wanted the group off its books because Ashley — the former owner of Newcastle United FC — was viewed as an “upstart”. – The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks delivered a mixed performance on Wednesday as attention turned to earnings from chipmaker Nvidia and minutes from the FOMC's latest policy meeting.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.13% at 38,612.24, as was the S&P 500 at 4,981.81, while the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.32% weaker at 15,580.87.

The Dow closed 48.44 points higher on Wednesday, taking a small bite out of losses recorded in the previous session.

In focus on Wednesday, chipmaker Nvidia posted record quarterly numbers after the close, with revenues surging 265% on the back of a booming artificial intelligence unit.

Concerns regarding the group's high valuation continued to grow in the lead-up to its earnings announcement.