SSE reports rise in interim profit, Glencore strikes deal to sell Ernest Henry

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 29 points lower on Wednesday, having closed down 0.34% at 7,326.97 on Tuesday.

Stocks to watch

Energy company SSE on Wednesday reported a rise in interim profit as its gas storage operation helped to offset a fall in renewables earnings. Adjusted pre-tax profits increased 30% to £174.2m. SSE said it had made a strong start to the second half of the year, with renewables volumes above plan in October, and thermal and hydro plants in particular achieving strong prices in the market. Subject to normal weather, plant availability and similar levels of commodity prices over the coming winter months, SSE said it expected to report full year adjusted earnings per share at a level which is at least in line with consensus of analysts' forecasts of 83p.

Glencore said on Wednesday that it has entered into a binding agreement with Evolution Mining for the sale and purchase of its 100% interest in Ernest Henry Mining - the owner of the Ernest Henry copper-gold mine in Queensland, Australia. The FTSE 100 miner said it would receive AUD 1bn (£0.54bn), consisting of AUD 800m on the closing and a further AUD 200m 12 months later. It said Evolution would assume full ownership and operational control of the copper-gold mine, and would enter into a copper concentrate offtake agreement and separate ore tolling agreement with Glencore.

British Land swung to a positive total return in the first half as earnings increased and provisions fell. Total accounting return for the six months to the end of September was 6.1% compared with -10.3% a year earlier. Post-tax profit under the IFRS accounting standard was £370m compared with a £730m loss a year earlier. Underlying profit rose 12.1% to £120m.

Newspaper round-up

JPMorgan has sued Tesla for $162.2m, accusing Elon Musk’s electric car company of “flagrantly” breaching a 2014 contract relating to stock trading options that Tesla sold to the bank. The options, or warrants, give the holder the right to buy a company’s stock at a set “strike” price and date. The suit, filed in a Manhattan federal court, centres on a dispute over how JPMorgan repriced its Tesla warrants as a result of Musk’s notorious 2018 tweet that he was considering taking the carmaker private. - Guardian

British tax officials have ramped up efforts to claw back £1bn from fraudulent or incorrect furlough payouts, after opening up tens of thousands of investigations against companies. According to figures disclosed under freedom of information laws, HM Revenue and Customs has stepped up the number of investigations into potentially fraudulent pandemic support claims over the past eight months, with more than 26,500 interventions launched by officials since the spring. - Guardian

The gas-rich Gulf state of Qatar is poised to invest up to £100m in Rolls-Royce's plan to develop a new generation of mini nuclear reactors that are far cheaper and faster to build than traditional designs. Qatar will join billionaire French oil dynasty the Perrodo family, which made its fortune from the private oil company Perenco, and US nuclear giant Exelon Generation as Roll-Royce’s partners in the project. - Telegraph

The bosses of LV= face government pressure over their £530 million deal to sell the mutual insurer to an American private equity firm after Kwasi Kwarteng urged them to reveal the fees that City firms will earn from the takeover. The business secretary said it was “absolutely right” that customers of LV= should have “transparent data” about the sums that would be paid to the bankers, lawyers and lobbyists who are working on the sale of the 178-year-old mutual to Bain Capital. - The Times

A plan by the Dutch government to try to persuade Royal Dutch Shell to retain its Netherlands headquarters by scrapping a dividend tax has been abandoned after failing to garner enough support. Opposition Dutch MPs are, however, seeking to revive alternative plans to impose an “exit tax” that could run to billions of pounds in an attempt to deter Shell from leaving by punitive means. - The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks closed higher on Tuesday as market participants digested last month's all-important retail sales report.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.15% at 36,142.22, while the S&P 500 was 0.39% firmer at 4,700.90 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.76% stronger at 15,973.25.

The Dow closed 54.77 points higher on Tuesday, reversing modest losses recorded in the previous session.

Tuesday's primary focus was October retail sales data, which revealed US retail sales grew at a quicker than expected pace last month, driven by an early start to holiday shopping.

The value of overall retail purchases increased 1.7% month-on-month to $638.2bn in October, following an upwardly revised 0.8% increase in September for the sharpest increase seen in seven months, according to the Commerce Department. Excluding gas and motor vehicles, sales jumped 1.4% in October. Economists were expecting sales to have jumped by 1.5% last month.