AO World expecting solid earnings, Euromoney ends year in good position

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 99 points lower on Friday, having closed down 0.31% on Thursday at 7,086.42.

Stocks to watch

Online electrical retailer AO World said it expected adjusted core earnings to be £35m - £50m, driven by the peak Christmas trading period and despite the severe shortage of delivery drivers in the UK. The company said group revenues for the six months to September 30 grew 5% year on year and 66% on a two year basis. In the UK, revenues rose 6%, year on year, impacted by the nationwide shortage of delivery drivers and ongoing disruption in the global supply chain. In Germany, revenues rose 3% despite the competitive online market. On a two-year basis they were up 63% and 84% respectively.

Business information provider Euromoney said on Friday that adjusted profit before tax for the full year ended 30 September was expected to be “significantly ahead” of analyst expectations, before the impact of IAS 38. The FTSE 250 company said that reflected continuing strong growth in subscriptions in pricing, data and market intelligence, people intelligence, and the continuing turnaround in asset management.

Newspaper round-up

Nearly half of all independently owned petrol stations in the UK were still dry or out of one type of fuel on Thursday, as motorists continued to panic buy and soldiers stood by to drive tankers to help with the refuelling effort amid a lack of HGV drivers. The Petrol Retailers Association said drivers were continuing to buy fuel faster than it could be restocked, despite the insistence from chief secretary to the Treasury, Simon Clarke, that the situation was “back under control”. - Guardian

Hospitality and tourism bosses are pleading with the government to permanently lower the VAT rate on businesses in their sectors to help safeguard thousands of jobs. The appeal comes as the tax’s rate for pubs, restaurants, holiday accommodation and admission to certain attractions rises on Friday to 12.5%, following a temporary cut to just 5% that was introduced in July 2020 to help businesses struggling in the pandemic. - Guardian

Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin rocket company has been accused of fostering a "toxic" culture in which senior executives are alleged to have sexually harassed staff and in one instance “physically groping” a female employee. An open letter, claiming to represent the views of 21 current and former Blue Origin employees, alleged that “numerous” senior executives have been known to be “consistently inappropriate with women”. - Telegraph

European lorry drivers recruited to help prevent Christmas shortages are being offered salaries of up to a fifth more than their British counterparts. Retail industry insiders say the higher salaries are required to attract EU drivers to the UK for such a short period of time, with the 5,000 temporary visas issued by the Government set to expire on Christmas Eve. - Telegraph

Sir Howard Davies, one of the most senior figures in the City, has expressed support for a ban on cryptocurrency trading, arguing it should come with a warning saying “Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here” — the inscription over hell’s gates, according to Dante. Sir Howard, who chairs NatWest Group and is a former deputy governor of the Bank of England and former chairman of the Financial Services Authority, said he was “very hostile” to crypto, adding that it was regarded as the biggest worry within NatWest. - The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks were in the red at the close on Thursday, as major indices wrapped up a losing month in negative territory.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.59% at 33,843.92, as the S&P 500 lost 1.19% at 4,307.54, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.44% weaker at 14,448.58.

The Dow closed 546.8 points lower on Thursday, wiping out the gains it made on Wednesday.

Sentiment got a boost after a majority of the US House of Representatives voted to approve a measure put forward by the Senate, to prevent a partial government shutdown as the new fiscal year begins on Friday.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said earlier the chamber had struck a deal to bypass a government shutdown, stating he would organise a vote on a stopgap measure to keep the government running into early December.