BAE Systems trading in line, Vodafone entering partnership with Accenture

London open

The FTSE 100 is expected to open 31 points higher on Monday, having closed down 1.28% on Friday at 7,360.55.

Stocks to watch

Security and aerospace giant BAE Systems said it is trading in line with expectations after a strong third quarter, with £10bn in orders booked since the half-year stage. "We are delivering another year of good sales and earnings growth, together with strong cash flow generation," said chief executive Charles Woodburn. The company said it is seeing continuing customer confidence in its ability to "deliver important capabilities at a time of heightening geopolitical risk".

Vodafone Group announced plans to establish a strategic partnership with Accenture on Monday. The firm said the collaboration would enhance its shared services unit, Vodafone Intelligent Solutions (VOIS), creating a more efficient organisation with high quality services and faster market deployment. Vodafone would maintain majority ownership, managerial control, and sourcing decisions, while Accenture would invest €150m for a minority stake in the partnership.

Newspaper round-up

The boss of Co-op is calling on the government to take more action to tackle retail crime amid a warning it has reached record levels as criminal gangs are operating “exempt from consequences”. Co-op said its latest data showed that of the nearly 3,000 occasions this year where security teams detained serious offenders in its stores, the police failed to show up almost four-fifths of the time, leading to a “dangerous pressure cooker” environment that puts store workers and communities at risk. – GuardianThe great property sell-off by landlords has continued across Great Britain this year, in particular in Scotland, where the buy-to-let bubble appears to have burst. As the property website Rightmove reported that new seller asking prices dropped by 1.7% or £6,088 last month to an average of £362,143, Hamptons revealed that landlords were on target to have bought the fewest number of homes since 2010 – once the period of the first Covid lockdown is discounted from the data. – Guardian

The billionaire owners of Asda have signed a multimillion-pound deal with Tesla to launch ultra-fast charging outlets for electric vehicles (EVs) across their petrol station empire. EG Group, owned by the brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa, has agreed a deal with Tesla to roll out the chargers across thousands of their sites in the UK and Europe. – Telegraph

The former boss of one of Britain’s best-known venture capital firms is preparing to make a City comeback after abruptly stepping down from the company he co-founded. Filings at Companies House show that Dominic Perks, who previously ran Hambro Perks, has set up a business called Lexham Capital Partners. It marks the first significant move by Perks, 46, since he left his eponymous venture capital business in April. – The Times

Leading proxy shareholder agencies have recommended investors in Victoria vote against accepting the royal carpet maker’s annual report and accounts at its meeting today. After accountants issued a qualified audit opinion and raised fraud risk concerns Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services have advised shareholders in the 128-year-old company to oppose the resolution. - The Times

US close

Stocks on Wall Street closed in the green on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.15% at 34,283.10.

The S&P 500 added 1.56% to 4,415.24, and the Nasdaq Composite was ahead 2.05% at 13,798.11.