Diageo sales rise in first half, growth slows at Unilever
London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open 18 points higher on Thursday, having closed up 1.58% at 6,941.63 on Wednesday.
Stocks to watch
Drinks giant Diageo said first half net sales rose 5.8% to £6.9bn with organic growth partially offset by unfavourable exchange. Reported operating profit (£2.4bn) was up 11.0%, driven by organic growth, while pre-tax profits were up to £2.6bn from £2.2bn.
Unilever churned out underlying sales growth at the bottom end of its guidance for 2018 after growth at the Marmite and Ben & Jerry's maker slowed in the fourth quarter. New boss Alan Jope, who took over from Paul Polman in November, expected market conditions in 2019 to "remain challenging" and anticipate underlying sales growth will be "in the lower half" of the group's medium-term 3-5% range.
BT Group updated the market on its trading for the third quarter on Thursday, with reported revenue falling 1% to £17.56bn. The FTSE 100 telecoms giant said underlying revenue was down 0.9% in the three months ended 31 December, as growth in its consumer business was offset by regulated price reductions for the Openreach network operation and declines in its enterprise businesses Adjusted EBITDA was broadly flat at £5.55bn, driven by revenue growth in the consumer business and restructuring related cost savings, offset by the revenue decline in Openreach and enterprise.
Newspaper round-up
Theresa May is preparing to entice Labour MPs to support her Brexit deal with a cash injection into deprived areas that supported Leave, including former mining communities. The prime minister’s allies believe that she needs the backing of about 20 Labour MPs for a modified agreement to offset the number of Tory rebels, even if she wins the support of the DUP. - The Times
The depth of the crisis facing Britain's car industry has been laid bare by vehicle production numbers that show the number of cars rolling out of UK plants plunging to a five-year low. The number of cars built in the UK last year declined by 9.1pc to 1.52m - the second consecutive fall and biggest annual decline since the industry was ravaged by the financial crisis a decade ago. - Telegraph
Broadcasters are facing a tipping point in the next five years where a faster decline in traditional viewing will make TV campaigns too expensive to be cost-effective for advertisers. A new report is forecasting an “inflection point” for UK TV where the decline in viewing already well-established among 16- to 34-year-olds will spread to other key demographics ultimately threatening TVs greatest selling point of mass-market reach for advertisers. - Guardian
US close
US stocks closed considerably higher on Wednesday following well-received quarterly numbers from tech giant Apple and chipmaker AMD.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.77% at 25,014.86, while the S&P 500 had moved ahead 1.55% to 2,681.05 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 2.20% to 7,183.08.
The Dow closed more than 430 points higher as two days of talks between US and Chinese delegates kicked off in Washington and the Fed made its latest rate announcement.
The Fed said it would be "patient" in future when determining what changes in monetary policy were needed to meet their objectives for growth and inflation, dropping the reference to a "gradual" pace of interest rate hikes.
The Federal Open Market Committee pointed to "global economic and financial developments" and "muted" inflation pressures as the justification for its change in bias.