Halma names Steve Gunning as CFO, Beazley gross premiums rise 22%

London pre-open

The FTSE 100 was called to open 28.7 points higher ahead of the bell on Friday after closing out the previous session 1.08% higher at 7,375.34.

Stocks to watch

Safety equipment company Halma named Steve Gunning as chief financial officer designate on Friday, succeeding current CFO Marc Ronchetti.

Gunning will join Halma on 16 January, while Ronchetti will take over from Andrew Williams as chief executive in April. Prior to joining Halma, Gunning was most recently CFO of British Airways parent International Airlines Group.

Insurer Beazley reported a 22% rise in gross premiums for the first nine months of the year on Friday and said initial estimated losses from Hurricane Ian would be roughly $120.0m.

Beazley added that its previous guidance for a combined ratio of somewhere in the high 80s remained in place.

Newspaper round-up

As Elon Musk's ownership of Twitter entered its third week, and following mass layoffs, the billionaire laid bare a delicate financial future for the social media platform, amid an exodus of top privacy and security executives. Yoel Roth, the head of safety and integrity who had been deputised to publicly address concerns advertisers and users had about the platform, is reportedly the latest to leave the company. – Guardian

Labour has accused the government of being "highly irresponsible" in sidelining a crucial piece of energy legislation, arguing that Britain is "losing the race" to create green jobs. The energy security bill was published in July with the aim of boosting domestic, low-carbon power supplies and bringing down energy costs. – Guardian

Jeremy Hunt is plotting a stealth tax raid on small businesses that will force thousands more to pay VAT as he scrambles to balance the country's books. The Chancellor is preparing to hold the threshold at which businesses must register to pay VAT at £85,000 of turnover until 2026, instead of raising it in line with inflation. – Telegraph

Male crew at British Airways will be allowed to wear make-up and "man buns" in the flag-carrier's latest attempt to foster an "inclusive" environment. The company said it wanted workers to be the "most authentic version of themselves" as it relaxed uniform guidelines, telling staff to be "be bold, be proud, be yourself". – Telegraph

The Bank of England is to start trying to sell more than £19.0bn of long-dated government bonds it bought in order to calm a panic in the gilts market. It said it would do so in "a timely but orderly way" from November 29. – The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks surged through to the close on Thursday after October's consumer inflation reading came in much cooler than expected.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 3.7% at 33,715.37, while the S&P 500 added 5.54% to 3,956.37 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 7.35% firmer at 11,114.15.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com