Sainsbury's H1 profits fall despite revenue growth, Rolls-Royce maintains FY guidance

London pre-open

The FTSE 100 was called to open 42.3 points lower ahead of the bell on Thursday after closing 0.58% lower in the previous session at 7,144.14.

Stocks to watch

Supermarket chain Sainsbury's saw profits slump in the six months ended 17 September as cost of living pressures offset slightly improved revenues.

Sainsbury's said on Thursday that statutory pre-tax profits had sunk 29% year-on-year to £376.0m, despite reporting a 4.4% increase in interim group revenues. Earnings per share fell 27% to 12.3p.

Engine maker Rolls-Royce maintained its annual guidance on Thursday amid the continuing rebound in post-pandemic air travel, with air engine hours flown at 65% of 2019 levels.

"The recent volatility in interest rates and foreign exchange rates have not had a material impact on our underlying cash flows or full-year 2022 group guidance, which is unchanged," said Rolls Royce. The group also added that it had paid off £2.0bn in debt with proceeds from the sale of its ITP Aero unit.

Newspaper round-up

Drivers experienced a "severe shock" after the price of diesel shot up in October amid the fallout from the Opec+ oil cartel's decision to cut production, the RAC has said. The price of diesel rose by 10.0p a litre to 190.5p on average – the third worst monthly increase on record, behind previous increases this year, data from the motoring group showed. – Guardian

Glencore flew cash bribes to officials in Africa via private jet amid "endemic" corruption within the mining company, a London court has heard, in sentencing of the first ever UK corporate conviction on charges of bribing another person. Third-party agents used Glencore's money to bribe officials in Nigeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea and South Sudan, causing harms worth $128.0m, a sentencing hearing at Southwark crown court heard. – Guardian

Apollo Global Management acquired assets worth $1.1bn from British pension funds during the fire sale in the wake of September's mini-budget. The American investment group's Athene business raced to acquire collateralised loan obligations — securities backed by debt, also known as CLOs — as pension funds scrambled to raise cash. – The Times

A review into whether executives at Lloyds Banking Group covered up a fraud has been held up yet again, with a witness to the inquiry calling the series of delays an "ongoing scandal". Dame Linda Dobbs, who is leading an investigation into the bank's handling of the HBOS Reading scam, said yesterday that she had experienced "significant delays in concluding interviews with a number of important witnesses", which was having a "material impact" on the completion of her review. – The Times

The cost of capping Britain's energy bills is expected to be slashed by an expected 30% slide in gas prices this winter, as mild weather and full storage eases fears of shortages across Europe. City economists said the slump in gas prices in recent months will provide a £5.0bn boost to Chancellor Jeremy Hunt as he mulls options to help families with energy bills beyond next spring. – Telegraph

US close

Wall Street stocks closed well below the waterline on Wednesday, with investors digesting another 75-basis point rate hike from the Federal Reserve, while opening the door to some flexibility in future decisions.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.55% at 32,147.76, while the S&P 500 lost 2.54% to 3,759.69 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 3.36% lower at 10,524.80.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com