Coats holds full-year guidance, Britvic profits rise

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The FTSE 100 is expected to open 20 points higher on Wednesday, having closed up 1.03% on Tuesday at 7,452.84.

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Industrial thread maker Coats reported a rise in revenues and held full-year guidance, despite strengthening forex headwinds, and said demand had softened in the second half. The company on Wednesday said revenue grew 9% in the four months to October 31. Coats added that foreign exchange headwinds were greater than expected at the half year, with a 3-4% full year adjusted operating profit headwind increasing to 5% based on latest rates.

Drinks maker Britvic posted a rise in full-year profit and revenue on Wednesday, hailing solidly in both the retail and hospitality channels, which benefited from good weather over the summer and no lockdown restrictions. In the year to 30 September, adjusted earnings before interest and tax rose 16% to £206m on revenue of £1.6bn, up 15.5% on the same period a year earlier, with double-digit revenue growth across all its business units. Statutory pre-tax profit increased to £175.1m from £134.6m.

Glencore and Metals Acquisition Corp (MAC) said they had agreed to amend terms on the sale of the CSA copper mine in Australia. MAC will now get at least $775m in cash on deal close, with the potential for this to be scaled up to $875m depending on final private equity demand, plus a maximum of $100m in retained equity in the business by Glencore, with an option to scale back subject to MAC raising sufficient equity.

Newspaper round-up

The Glazer family has announced it is “commencing a process to explore strategic alternatives” for Manchester United, potentially bringing an end to its 17-year ownership of the club. On the day it was also confirmed that Cristiano Ronaldo had left Old Trafford by mutual consent, a statement from United on Tuesday night revealed plans to identify new investment that could lead to a potential sale. The club said the process led by their American owners will consider a number of options “including new investment into the club, a sale, or other transactions involving the company”. – Guardian

Customers of the energy supplier Ovo were left shocked and dismayed when they received bills of up to £49,000 because of data errors that led to vastly overinflated energy projections for some households. Julie Lines [not her real name] was told she owed £44,800 for two months’ supply to her one-bedroom flat. “I’d been asked to send photos of my meters in August as Ovo believed there was an issue,” she said. “I did so and my account went from £600 in credit to £19,000 in debt. Despite Ovo assuring me this was a mistake, the debt rose to over £44,000 in September.” – Guardian

Tens of thousands of British traders have been left out of pocket by the implosion of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, US bankruptcy proceedings have revealed. Some 8pc of FTX's users were based in the UK, a Delaware court heard, suggesting that 80,000 Britons may have lost money. FTX left around one million creditors, the vast majority of whom were unsecured users of the exchange. – Telegraph

Royal Mail has made an improved pay offer in a final effort to avoid 10 days of strike action by post men and women in the run-up to Christmas. The FTSE 250 company is understood to have offered a 9pc pay rise spread over 18 months, rather than two years, as previously tabled. Royal Mail's “best and final” offer to union leaders has also been sweetened by rowing back on its demand to force staff to work on Sundays. Meanwhile, “family-friendly” working hours are to be offered so that posties can finish in time to pick their children up from school. – Telegraph

One of America’s best-known computer makers last night became the latest big technology company to announce heavy job cuts. HP said it expected to reduce its 61,000 global workforce by about 4,000 to 6,000 by the end of 2025 financial year. – The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks closed higher early on Tuesday as market participants digested comments from a pair of central bankers.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.18% at 34,098.10, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.36% to 4,003.58 and 11,174.41, respectively.

The Dow closed 397.82 points higher on Tuesday, easily reversing losses recorded in the previous session.

China was in focus on Tuesday after the country reported its first Covid-related deaths on the mainland since May, sparking fears that it may reinstitute restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the virus and pushing investors away from growth stocks and into defensive sectors. China's three-week Covid case tally has topped 253,000 and the government stated the daily average is increasing.

Elsewhere, the Federal Reserve's Loretta Mester stated that lowering inflation remained the bank's primary goal but indicated that the Fed was ready to downshift from its 75 basis point rate hikes.