Grafton posts record profits, GPE pre-lets space to Inmarsat

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open seven points higher on Wednesday, having closed up 0.24% on Tuesday at 7,125.78.

Stocks to watch

Building materials group Grafton on Wednesday reported record profits and reinstated its dividend after a strong performance from its Woodies business in Ireland. The company said adjusted pre-tax profits soared 340% to £148.6m on revenues up 46.1% to £1.02bn. A dividend of 8.5p a share was declared.

Great Portland Estates has pre-let 121,800 square feet at 50 Finsbury Square to telecommunications company Inmarsat Global. The group said its refurbishment would extend the office floor plates within the existing envelope of the building, create a large reception as well as improve the retail, leisure and amenity offer. Practical completion was scheduled for late 2022.

Newspaper round-up

The takeaway company Just Eat is planning to open a customer service site in north-east England, which will employ 1,500 people as it brings jobs back from India and Bulgaria. The business said that it would invest £100m in the region over the next five years, with staff working partly from home and partly from its new Sunderland-based office. - Guardian

Several UK energy suppliers have said they will raise the price of their standard gas and electricity tariffs to the maximum limit set by the energy regulator for the coming winter. Ofgem’s price cap will climb to its highest level since it was introduced in early 2019 owing to a surge in global gas market prices. The regulator said that for 11 million households who pay by direct debit, energy bills would increase from an average of £1,138 a year to £1,277 from October. - Guardian

Amazon is paying new warehouse recruits a £1,000 bonus in an effort to win workers amid a mounting UK hiring crisis. The US tech giant is advertising for "urgently needed" warehouse staff for its sites across the UK, including Darlington, Dartford, Swansea, Redditch and Coventry. Amazon is the latest company to introduce new joiner bonuses as UK companies struggle with staff shortages caused by a combination of Brexit, the coronavirus and self-isolation rules. - Telegraph

Lord Rose of Monewden, the former boss of Marks & Spencer, has been lined up as chairman of Asda as it searches for a replacement chief executive. Rose, 72, is being considered by the Issa brothers, owners of Asda, after the abrupt departure this month of Roger Burnley as chief executive. Rose is already chairman of EG Group, the brothers’ petrol station business, after it moved to allay concerns about its corporate governance earlier this year. - The Times

Sales of Tesla electric cars topped £1 billion in Britain last year. The latest filings at Companies House of Tesla Motors Ltd, the UK distributor, show revenues for 2020 of £1.14 billion. On that it reported a pre-tax profit of £14.5 million, up from £5.1 million in 2019 when revenues were £559 million. It paid tax of £2.7 million in 2020. - The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks closed higher on Tuesday as vaccine headlines helped markets start the week on a high note.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.09% at 35,366.26, while the S&P 500 was 0.15% stronger at 4,486.23 and the Nasdaq Composite saw off the session 0.52% firmer at 15,019.80.

The Dow Jones closed 30.55 points higher on Tuesday, modestly extending yesterday's rally as news that US regulators had granted full approval for Pfizer and BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccine continued to boost sentiment.

Market participants were also still patiently awaiting the Jackson Hole symposium later in the week, expected to be a market-moving event, with central bankers predicted to outline future plans for tapering monetary stimulus after the Federal Reserve started discussions aimed at pulling back its $120.0bn a month bond-buying program by the end of 2021.

On the macro front, new home sales in the US edged past analysts' forecasts in July, according to the Department of Commerce, which revealed new home sales rose 1.0% month-on-month to hit an annual rate of 708,000 - ahead of expectations for a print of 700,000.