Taylor Wimpey maintains full-year guidance, Rentokil makes positive start to year

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 27 points higher on Thursday, having closed up 0.52% on Wednesday at 6,895.29.

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House builder Taylor Wimpey said current trading was in line with expectations as it maintained annual guidance and reported an increased order book despite the latest Covid lockdown. The company on Thursday said its sales rate for the year to April 18 was 1.00 against 0.90 in the equivalent period last year. Its order book stood at around £2.8bn, representing 10,995 homes against £2.66bn a year ago.

Rentokil Initial reported a good start to the year on Thursday, growing group ongoing revenue by 15.4% at constant currency to £711.3m in its first quarter. The FTSE 100 pest control and hygiene company said 9.4% of that was organic and 6% was from acquisitions. It said that despite the uncertain Covid-19 outlook in some parts of the world, it still expected 2021 to be a “year of transition” with its core services building momentum, and disinfection volumes and prices reducing materially from the start of the second quarter.

Informa swung to a £1.14bn pretax loss in the year to the end of December from a £319m profit a year earlier as revenue fell 42.5% to £1.66bn and the group wrote down £593m of assets because of Covid-19. Adjusted operating profit fell to £267.8m from £933.1m. The events and information group predicted revenue in 2021 would be at least £1.7bn.

Newspaper round-up

Britain is set for its sharpest economic growth since 1988 this year as the easing of Covid-19 restrictions encourages consumers to start spending, according to a monthly survey of independent economists by the Treasury. City analysts have upgraded their GDP projections for 2021 amid signs that households are itching to get out and spend the “accidental” savings they have built up during lockdown. - The Times

Ireland’s finance minister has signalled the country will resist attempts to rebalance the global tax system if they affect Dublin’s ability to undercut its rivals. Under new tax proposals led by the US, Ireland could lose 20% of its tax revenues, according to Paschal Donohoe. - Guardian

Sanjeev Gupta’s business empire is being sued over a flagship £100m deal that made him one of Britain’s biggest steel magnates. A commercial court claim has been filed against Mr Gupta’s GFG Alliance of companies by fellow steel firm Tata. The case relates to alleged missed ­payments linked to the sale of Tata’s Rotherham-based speciality steel division to Mr Gupta in 2017, sources said. - Telegraph

A multibillion-pound takeover of a FTSE 250 temporary power supplier was thrown into doubt last night after the company’s biggest shareholder indicated that it intended to oppose it. Liontrust Asset Management, which holds a 12 per cent stake in Aggreko, has decided to vote against the £2.3 billion deal, according to Sky News. If confirmed, the decision could cast doubt on the company’s 880p-a-share acquisition by a consortium comprising TDR Capital, the private equity firm, and I Squared Capital, an infrastructure investor. - The Times

A slower than anticipated global vaccine rollout and wider failure to get Covid under control will cost airlines $10bn (£7.2bn) more than previously predicted, according to the organisation that represents global airlines. The warning from the International Air Transport Association came as Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary warned on Wednesday there would be “seismic” cut in capacity across the industry due to the pandemic, including up to 25% fewer flights in Europe. O’Leary said travel from the UK to the EU would become more expensive and cumbersome as a result of Brexit, while leisure travel would not return to normal until 2023. - Guardian

US close

Wall Street stocks were in the green at the closing bell on Wednesday, with all three main indices enjoying a positive session.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were both up 0.93%, at 34,137.31 and 4,173.42 respectively, while the Nasdaq Composite was 1.19% firmer at 13,950.22.

The Dow closed 316.01 points higher, reclaiming some of the losses recorded in the previous session.

On the macro front, total mortgage applications surged 8.6% week-on-week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, marking the first overall increase in weekly applications since the tail end of February.

The increase was mostly driven by a drop in the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances to 3.20% from 3.27%.