Berkeley sees full year at top end of views; BT hires new finance director

London’s FTSE 100 is seen starting six points lower than Thursday’s close at 6,195.

Stocks to watch

FTSE 100-listed house builder Berkeley Group said it expects current year results will be at the top end of expectations, after absorbing approximately £25m.

Berkeley added it remains on course to deliver £2bn of pre-tax profit in aggregate over the three years culminating in 2017/18.

"Reservations are approximately 4% lower than in 2014/15 due to a change in mix of product and the strength of the forward sales secured in recent years," Berkeley said.

"In spite of global macro uncertainty, including the impending UK European Referendum, underlying demand has remained strong. Transaction levels at the upper end of the housing market have been affected by the significant increase in transaction taxes over the last 18 months which will have consequential effects on both social mobility and the supply of new homes."

BT Group announced the appointment of Simon Lowth as group finance director on Friday, also assigning him as executive board director.

Lowth was being hired to replace the FTSE 100 firm's current finance director, Tony Chanmugam, following a handover period. Chanmugan was moving within BT to focus on the integration of acquisition EE.

The company said Lowth was one of the UK's most respected CFOs, having held the position at BG Group, AstraZeneca and ScottishPower in the last 11 years. He was due to join the company on 4 July.

In the press

Investors expect Sainsbury’s to offer as much as £1.5bn for Argos on Friday, as the supermarket considers trumping a rival South African bid for the catalogue shop ahead of a 5pm deadline. Sainsbury’s and Steinhoff International have been set a timescale by the takeover panel to announce a firm intention to bid for Home Retail Group, the parent of Argos, or walk away. – Guardian

The French government has promised a financial bailout for cash-strapped energy group EDF so that it can proceed with the £18bn plan to build the first nuclear reactors in Britain for 20 years. France’s economics minister, Emmanuel Macron, said it would be a mistake for the 85% state-owned company not to build a new Hinkley Point C power plant in Somerset and he would ensure it happened. – Guardian

Oil prices rose to their highest this year, breaking through the $40 barrier, as investors bet that markets were starting to rebalance after a production freeze led by Russia and Saudi Arabia. The price of a barrel of Brent crude rose to $41.46 in New York last night, an increase of about 50 per cent from its 12-year low of $27 in January. West Texas Intermediate, the benchmark US contract, also hit a high for this year at $40.20, exceeding $40 for the first time since December. – The Times

Neil Woodford has called for Glaxo-SmithKline to replace Sir Andrew Witty with an outsider after the company announced his departure as chief executive yesterday. Sir Andrew will leave Britain’s biggest pharmaceuticals group next March, by which time he will have been in the role for nine years. – The Times

US close

US stocks closed on the front foot on Thursday as oil prices jumped and investors continued to weigh the Federal Reserve's policy announcement.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.90%, the S&P 500 increased 0.66% and the Nasdaq gained 0.23%.

The US oil benchmark reached above the $40 mark for the first time this year as the dollar weakened after the Federal Reserve scaled back its expectations for the number of interest rate hikes this year.