Smurfit Kappa earnings up YTD, Wizz Air delivers better-than-expected Q3 results

London pre-open

The FTSE 100 was called to open 16.2 points higher ahead of the bell on Wednesday after closing 1.29% higher in the previous session at 7,186.16.

Stocks to watch

Product packaging company Smurfit Kappa said on Wednesday that both revenues and profits were up year-to-date, leading the group to now expect to see full-year underlying earnings of approximately €2.3bn.

Smurfit Kappa said revenues were up 33% year-on-year at €9.72bn, while pre-tax profits were 77% higher at €1.14bn and underlying earnings grew 43% to €1.76bn in the nine months ended 30 September.

Hungary-based budget airline Wizz Air produced a better-than-expected second quarter to help interim profits soar by a third.

Wizz said on Wednesday that revenues per available seat kilometre improved from -10% during the first quarter to a rise of 11% in the three months ended 30 September, boosting core profit to €218.0m for the half year.

Newspaper round-up

Elon Musk has indicated that a verified account on Twitter in the future could cost $8 a month, despite facing a user backlash over proposals to charge for the feature. The new owner of Twitter described the current system for allocating blue check marks – which verify a user as a trustworthy source – as "bullshit" in a Twitter post to his more than 110.0m followers on Tuesday. – Guardian

The founder of Octopus Energy has said taxpayers need to benefit from the "upside" of emergency government bailout deals, after snapping up stricken former rival Bulb. Greg Jackson's Octopus bought Bulb out of government-handled special administration last weekend and is set to take control of the company later this month, a year after it collapsed. - Guardian

Britain's work-from-home boom has passed its peak, according to new data that reveals bosses are ditching remote job adverts and hauling employees back into the office. The jobs site LinkedIn said that remote adverts declined for a fifth straight month in September as power shifts back to employers, mirroring trends in Europe and the US. – Telegraph

Frasers is at the heart of a scrum for ownership of the Wasps rugby stadium in Coventry, as part of Mike Ashley's plan to make the city his new stronghold. Insiders said last night that Frasers is intensifying efforts to acquire the 32,609-seater Coventry Building Society Arena, which filed notice of its intention to appoint administrators two weeks ago. – Telegraph

A quarter of over-50s who suffered from ill health were forced to leave their jobs as a result, research shows. 24% of people whose work had been affected by a health condition went into early retirement and a further 19% reduced their working hours, according to a nationally representative poll of 2,035 over-50s by YouGov. – The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks were in the red at the close of trading on Tuesday as the Federal Reserve kicked off its two-day policy meeting in Washington DC.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.24% at 32,653.20, while the S&P 500 lost 0.41% to 3,856.10 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.89% weaker at 10,890.85.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com