Softcat H1 profits beat expectations, Kingfisher Q1 sales drop

London pre-open

The FTSE 100 was being called to open just 5.7 points higher ahead of the bell on Tuesday after closing out the previous session 0.51% firmer at 7,442.39.

Stocks to watch

Computer support and services provider Softcat said on Tuesday that its full-year outturn was now expected to be ahead of previous estimates after interim profits grew ahead of expectations in the six months ended 31 January.

Softcat stated first-half gross profits were up 11.7% at £150.2m, while operating profits were 12.4% higher at £64.1m. Earnings per share were up 12.4% at 26.2p each. Interim revenues grew 22.6% to £770.9m and gross invoiced income shot up 33% to £1.15bn.

B&Q owner Kingfisher said first-quarter sales had dropped 8.1% on Tuesday as it reported 2021-22 profits that were up by a third year-on-year.

Kingfisher posted a pre-tax profit of £1.0bn on sales of £13.1bn, up 6.8%, and said it was "comfortable" with the current consensus of sell-side analyst expectations for 2022-23 adjusted profit before tax of £769.0m.

Newspaper round-up

Boris Johnson has told nuclear industry bosses that the government wants the UK to get 25% of its electricity from nuclear power, in a move that would signal a significant shift in the country's energy mix. Johnson on Monday met executives from major nuclear utilities and technology companies including the UK's Rolls-Royce, France's EDF, and the US' Westinghouse and Bechtel to discuss ways of helping to speed up the development of new nuclear power stations. - Guardian

The Dubai-based owner of P&O Ferries is expected to benefit from at least £50.0m of UK taxpayer support as part of the government's freeport programme, raising questions over its role in the scheme after the sacking of 800 workers. DP World, the Emirati logistics giant behind P&O, runs the UK's second- and third-biggest shipping terminals at Southampton and London Gateway – locations among the first 12 freeports in the UK to be picked by the government last year as a flagship part of its levelling-up agenda. - Guardian

A Civil Aviation Authority board member has been forced to quit after breaching conflict of interest rules by holding "a few thousand pounds" worth of shares in the owner of British Airways. Garry Copeland, a former British Airways director of engineering, has stepped down after being hired as a non-executive last September to help the CAA deliver on "its strategic safety objectives". - Telegraph

The boss of one of Britain's biggest motor dealers will be expected to explain why he rejected a £400.0m takeover attempt by one of its largest shareholders when he delivers full-year results today. Shares in Pendragon jumped by more than 20% yesterday after it emerged at the weekend that Hedin Group had tabled a 28.0p-a-share offer for the London-listed dealership weeks ago. - Telegraph

US close

Wall Street stocks closed lower on Monday as market participants monitored the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and the crash of a passenger plane in China.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.58% at 34,552.99, while the S&P 500 was 0.04% softer at 4,461.18 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.40% weaker at 13,838.46.