FTSE 100 Live Thursday
- April borrowing tops forecast
- BT steps up full-fibre rollout
- Easyjet on course for record summer
Market update: FTSE 100 weakens, M&S and JD Sports Fashion rally
10:12 , Graeme EvansUnease over President Trump’s tax cutting plans and results-day selling of BT Group and easyJet today stalled the FTSE 100 index just short of a record high.
The top flight fell 0.6% after US markets slid on the prospect that Trump’s tax and spending bill will widen the US budget deficit by $3 billion over the next decade.
Wall Street futures are pointing to a steadier session later but the FTSE 100 index ended five sessions in positive territory with a decline of 55.68 points to 8730.78.
The jittery performance was also fuelled by figures showing a surprise contraction in Europe’s private sector activity. The equivalent PMI result for the UK fell for a second month in a row, although the rate of decline moderated on last month.
BT Group was one of the worst performing stocks, despite delivering annual results broadly in line with City expectations.
Revenues of £20.4 billion fell 2%, while adjusted earnings of £8.2 billion rose 1% thanks to £900 million of annualised cost savings.
BT also raised its target for the roll out of full fibre broadband by 20% to up to five million UK premises in the 2025/26 financial year.
UBS, which has a Sell recommendation, pointed out that the fourth quarter performance pointed to continued weak trends, with a 1% miss on underlying earnings.
The shares gave up some of their recent gains by falling 3% or 5.65p to 163.3p.
It was a similar story for easyJet after it recorded a loss of £394 million for the winter half year period, down from £350 million but a slight improvement when adjusted for the timing of Easter.
The Luton-based carrier reiterated its medium-term target of £1 billion profit, adding that it remains focused on “delivering another record summer”.
The shares fell 18.4p to 546.2p, having previously rallied from 427p in early April.
Other fallers included Imperial Brands and Whitbread after their shares were marked ex-dividend, leading to declines of about 2%.
On the risers board, the support of City analysts in the wake of yesterday’s annual results helped Marks & Spencer to rise 4.3p to 379p.
The improvement came as analysts at Jefferies switched to a Buy recommendation and 440p target while Barclays moved to 445p amid confidence that current cyber attack disruption won’t derail the resurgent retailer.
JD Sports Fashion also rallied in the aftermath of yesterday’s results, lifting 2.6p to 85.7p at the top of the FTSE 100.
Johnson Matthey provided the standout performance in the FTSE 250 index after it announced that £1.4 billion of the proceeds from today’s sale of its catalyst technologies division would be returned to shareholders.
It also pledged to grow annual cash returns from at least £130 million for 2025/26 to at least £200 million for 2026/27 and beyond.
Chief executive Liam Condon called the deal, which will leave the group to focus on its clean air and platinum group metals businesses, a significant milestone.
Other stronger stocks in the FTSE 250 included Mitchells & Butlers, with the pub chain up 5.5p to 281.5p after posting like-for-like sales growth of 4.3% in the 28 weeks to 12 April.
This accelerated to 6% over the most recent 10 weeks, while the All Bar One and Harvester owner also said it is on track for a full-year operating profit at the top end of current market expectations.
BT shares rally stalls on full-year results
09:34 , Graeme EvansBT shares are the worst performing in the FTSE 100 after annual results caused the telecoms giant to give up some of its recent gains.
The shares fell 3% or 5.65p to 163.3p, having been near 140p in late January.
UBS, which has a Sell recommendation, said the fourth quarter performance showed continued weak trends, including a 1% miss on underlying earnings.
The bank added: “While 2026 guidance was broadly in-line with consensus, line loss trends at Openreach continue to worsen and BT is accelerating its fibre rollout that will see capital expenditure higher for longer.
“We see the capex increase as a defensive move amid rising broadband competition and see a range of risks that are not reflected in guidance.”
Poundland owner plans to sell chain this summer
09:19 , Graeme EvansThe parent firm of Poundland has said it expects to sell the UK discount chain by the end of September.
Pepco Group, which has owned the brand since 2016, said it is still considering options for the “separation” of the 818-strong retail chain.
It is understood that a number of investment firms and private equity groups are among those to have tabled proposals to buy the business since it was put on the market earlier this year.
Johnson Matthey surges, Mitchells & Butlers higher on profit cheer
09:03 , Graeme EvansJohnson Matthey shares have surged by 30%, up 411p to 1800p after it announced £1.4 billion of the proceeds from today’s sale of its catalyst technologies division will be returned to shareholders.
It also pledged to grow annual cash returns from at least £130 million for 2025/26 to at least £200 million for 2026/27 and beyond.
Other stronger stocks in the FTSE 250 included Mitchells & Butlers, with the pub chain up 4.5p to 280.5p after posting like-for-like sales growth of 4.3% in the 28 weeks to 12 April.
This accelerated to 6% over the most recent 10 weeks, while the All Bar One and Harvester owner also said it is on track for a full-year operating profit at the top end of current market expectations.
At the bottom of the FTSE 250, Bloomsbury Publishing fell 15% or 98p to 553p despite reporting annual results in line with recently upgraded expectations.
It added that trading for 2025/26 should be in line with the current City consensus.
BT and easyJet suffer results-day falls, FTSE 100 lower
08:23 , Graeme EvansThe shares of easyJet and BT have fallen in the wake of their results, down 4% or 20.2p to 544.4p and 3% or 5p to 164.25p respectively.
On easyJet, IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp said: “It still expects it will hit full year forecasts, but there was little to excite investors in this morning’s update after a near 40% bounce from April’s lows.”
The FTSE 100 index is 37.87 points lower at 8748.68, with Kingfisher and Whitbread among those down by 2% after their shares were marked ex-dividend.
Marks & Spencer rose 6.9p to 381.6p and JD Sports Fashion lifted 1.8p to 84.9p in the aftermath of yesterday’s annual results.
Johnson Matthey strikes £1.8bn “milestone” deal
07:53 , Graeme EvansJohnson Matthey today announced an agreement to sell its Catalyst Technologies business to Honeywell International for £1.8 billion.
About £1.4 billion is expected to be returned to shareholders once the deal completes in the first half of next year.
The disposal will leave Johnson to focus on its clean air and platinum group metals businesses, which it said operated “in large and durable addressable markets” with attractive long-term prospects.
Chief executive Liam Condon called the deal a “significant milestone in the history of Johnson Matthey”.
He added: “We will now fundamentally re-shape Johnson Matthey into a more focused and leaner business.”
The catalyst technologies business provides solutions for customers to decarbonise and increase the yield and efficiency of their chemical processes. End markets include traditional fuels, fertilisers, food ingredients, wood products and paint.
The announcement was made alongside annual results showing a 5% drop in operating profit to £389 million. The figure was 5% higher excluding divestments and at constant FX rates.
Johnson said it is committed to growing annual cash returns to shareholders from at least £130 million for 2025/26 to at least £200 million for 2026/27 and beyond.
Rio Tinto chief executive to step down
07:37 , Graeme EvansRio Tinto today announced that chief executive Jakob Stausholm is to step down later this year.
He joined the mining giant in 2018 as chief financial officer before taking the top job in January 2021.
Rio Tinto chair Dominic Barton said: "Under Jakob's leadership, Rio Tinto has restored trust with key stakeholders, aligned our portfolio with the commodities where demand growth is strongest, built a diverse and talented management team, and set a compelling growth trajectory.”
The company said Stausholm will leave at the conclusion of a succession process, which is already underway.
Easyjet loss widens, braced for record summer
07:32 , Graeme EvansLow-cost airline easyJet today said it remains on track to meet expectations after half-year results today showed a loss of £394 million for the winter period.
The figure compares with £350 million the year before but showed a slight improvement when adjusted for the timing of Easter.
The Luton-based carrier reiterated its medium-term target of £1 billion profit, adding that it remains focused on “delivering another record summer”.
Forward bookings for the current quarter are 80% sold, representing a 0.5 percentage point increase on a year earlier. The holidays division expects 25% customer growth year-on-year.
The company said investment in capacity has driven productivity and utilisation benefits, giving it a platform to reduce winter losses and further grow its profitable summer period.
BT boosts broadband rollout target, revenues down 2%
07:20 , Graeme EvansBT today boosted its target for the roll-out of full fibre broadband by 20% to up to five million UK premises in the 2025/26 financial year.
The network now reaches more than 18 million homes and businesses, with the company on track to meet its target of 25 million by the end of 2026.
Today’s annual results showed that revenues of £20.4 billion fell 2%, mainly due to challenging trading conditions in its global businesses and weaker handset trading in Consumer.
Adjusted earnings of £8.2 billion rose 1%, driven by £900 million of annualised cost savings.
For 2026, the company expects revenues of about £20 billion and adjusted earnings of £8.2-£8.3 billion.
The final dividend of 5.76p a share is up from 5.69p the year before, lifting the total for 2024./25 by 2% to 8.16p a share.
Public sector borrowing tops forecasts
07:07 , Graeme EvansThe UK government today recorded the fourth-highest April borrowing figure since monthly records began in 1993.
The figure of £20.2 billion was £1 billion higher than a year earlier and compared with City forecasts near to £18 billion.
The Office for National Statistics also revised its estimate for borrowing in the financial year to March to £148.3 billion.
This is £3.7 billion lower than the initial estimate published last month and £11 billion more than the £137.3 billion forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility.
Capital Economics said: “April’s public finances figures showed that despite the boost from the rise in employers’ National Insurance Contributions, the fiscal year got off to a poor start.
“This raises the chances that if the Chancellor wishes to stick to her fiscal rules, more tax hikes in the Autumn Budget will be required.”
FTSE 100 seen lower after US slide, Bitcoin record
07:00 , Graeme EvansWall Street selling due to fears over the impact of President Trump’s budget plans on the US debt mountain is set to mean a weaker session in London.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.9%, the S&P 500 index by 1.6% and the Nasdaq Composite by 1.4%.
The FTSE 100 index, which yesterday rose 5.34 points to close at 8786.46, is seen opening about 0.6% lower in response to the US weakness.
Asia markets are also in the red, with the Nikkei 225 and the Hang Seng index down by just under 1%.
Cryptocurrency Bitcoin, meanwhile, is in record territory at more than $111,000.
