NatWest Q1 profits surge, Pearson on track for annual guidance

London open

The FTSE 100 was called to open 27 points higher at 7,858.

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Education publisher Pearson said it was on track to meet annual guidance and announced a £300m share buyback to start in the second half of the year as total group sales rose 2%. The company added that it would also deliver £120m of cost efficiencies this year.

UK bank NatWest held guidance as it reported surging first-quarter profit driven by higher interest rates. The lender posted operating profit before tax of £1.8bn for the three months to March, compared with £1.2bn a year earlier.

Net interest margin - the difference between interest rates on loans and savings - increased to 3.27% from 2.45%.

Newspaper round-up

HMV is to return to its former flagship store on London’s Oxford Street after a four-year absence. It is expected to reopen towards the end of this year, in time for Christmas. The store was empty for an extended period after the music and entertainment company vacated the site in 2019, before most recently becoming home to one of the many American candy stores that popped up on Oxford Street during the pandemic. – Guardian

The protracted Manchester United takeover saga should move a step closer to resolution over the next 24 hours with bidders being told to submit their third and best offer for the club by 10pm BST on Friday. The expectation is that the Glazer family – with the help of the Raine Group, the banking firm charged with brokering the sale – will then choose a preferred bidder next week. – Guardian

Amazon shares jumped on Thursday after the online retail giant bucked a global inflation crisis to post its best profit in more than a year. The online retail giant said sales had climbed by 9pc in the first quarter of the year to $127.4bn (£102bn), above the company’s own financial forecasts. – Telegraph

Business confidence reached its highest level since May last year as bosses become more optimistic about the wider economy, a new survey has found. Confidence reached 33 per cent on the monthly index this month, up from 32 per cent in March, the latest monthly sentiment index by Lloyds Bank showed. – The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks were in the green early on Thursday as market participants thumbed over a number of big-name earnings reports and digested Q1 GDP data.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.57% at 33,826.16, while the S&P 500 advanced 1.96% to 4,135.35, and the Nasdaq Composite finished 2.43% firmer at 12,142.24.