Marshalls interim revenues up 17% YOY, Balfour Beatty disposes of Purdue University asset

London pre-open

The FTSE 100 was being called to open 31.5 points lower ahead of the bell after ending the previous session at 7,196.59 - a mere 0.35 point increase.

Stocks to watch

Landscaping products manufacturer Marshalls delivered group revenues of £348.0m in the six months ended 30 June, up 17% year-on-year.

Marshalls said on Tuesday that its interim revenue growth was partly due to benefits stemming from its recent acquisition of Marley, which it said "traded strongly" in the first two full months of its' ownership. Like-for-like revenues were up 7%.

Infrastructure group Balfour Beatty has sold its 67% interest in Aspire at Discovery Park, the on-campus student accommodation at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.

Balfour Beatty said on Tuesday that Purdue Research Foundation will purchase the property for $150.0m, with the transaction expected to complete in August, with its share of net proceeds from the sale coming to $62.4m.

Newspaper round-up

Ministers have approved controversial plans to allow agency workers to replace striking workers, voting through the regulations on Monday night by 289 votes to 202. While the business minister, Jane Hunt, said the change, which was accelerated as a result of the ongoing rail strikes, was needed to remove the "outdated blanket ban" on using agency workers to cover official industrial action, critics say the measure is akin to a "scab charter". - Guardian

Klarna, the "buy now, pay later" fintech darling that was once Europe's most valuable private tech company, has seen its value slashed by 85% to less than $7.0bn in its latest round of fundraising. The company, which enjoyed stellar growth while also being criticised for potentially leading shoppers into unsustainable debt, announced the valuation after the conclusion of a difficult $800.0m funding round as investors continued to question the true worth of many tech businesses. - Guardian

A major microchip factory is to be built in France with taxpayer money as Emmanuel Macron scrambles to reduce dependence on Chinese imports. The facility is being constructed by STMicroelectronics and GlobalFoundries at an existing site in Crolles, near Grenoble, increasing its capacity from 10,000 to 22,000 wafers per week. - Telegraph

The City regulator has ordered bank boards to step in and improve the way struggling small business borrowers are handled after uncovering widespread mistreatment of companies across the banking industry. A Financial Conduct Authority review of 11 banks' handling of borrowers who are in financial difficulty, including those struggling to repay taxpayer-backed pandemic loans, found "repeated instances of poor customer outcomes and failures to treat customers fairly". - The Times

A pioneering workplace savings scheme for refuse collectors and other lower-paid workers in Britain has produced a remarkable level of take-up, which experts say could one day transform the way people save. Suez, the waste recovery and recycling group, has recorded a 66 times higher take-up rate compared with other employers by making its scheme opt-out rather than an opt-in. - The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks closed weaker on Monday as market participants prepped for the beginning of second-quarter earnings season.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.52% at 31,173.84, while the S&P 500 lost 1.15% to 3,854.43 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 2.26% weaker at 11,372.60.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com