Brickability FY EBITDA rises, Lok'nStore same store revenues up

Stocks to watch

Construction materials group Brickability now expects to report full-year adjusted underlying earnings of at least £47.0m, ahead of current market expectations of £44.7m.

Brickability said on Monday that its underlying earnings beat was a result of its continued "strong performance" across all of its business divisions.

Self-storage company Lok'nStore said on Monday that same-store revenues, prices per square foot and move-ins had all risen in the six months ended 31 January.

Lok'nStore stated same-store revenues were up 10% year-on-year, while prices per square foot rose 9.2% and move-in had increased 13.5%. However, the firm did note that it had seen some cost pressure, specifically in the areas of business rates and energy.

Newspaper round-up

Britain's biggest telecoms providers are preparing to launch inflation-busting price increases for broadband and mobile contracts this spring, hitting consumers with a combined bill worth £600.0m more than if these deals had matched the cost of living. BT, EE, Vodafone, Virgin Media, O2 and TalkTalk are to increase bills for tens of millions of customers under "mid-contract price rises" from April and May. – Guardian

NatWest is set to reveal its largest annual profit since the 2008 financial crisis amid speculation that the taxpayer-backed bank will ramp up the size of its bonus pool just as consumers struggle with the cost of living crisis. The banking group, which is still 45% state-owned, is expected to report £5.1bn in pre-tax profits for 2022 when it reveals annual results on Friday, according to City analysts. – Guardian

A million more Britons will start paying tax on their savings this year as a result of a stealth raid by the Treasury and higher interest rates, analysis for the Telegraph shows. Ten straight Bank of England rate rises from 0.1% to 4.0% have boosted earnings on thousands of savings accounts after years of dismal returns. However, a £1,000 tax-free allowance on savings interest that was designed to spare most people from the taxman has not been increased in line with inflation since it was introduced in 2016. – Telegraph

More gas and electricity suppliers could go bust because soaring numbers of households are unable to pay their bills, the industry body has warned. Emma Pinchbeck, chief executive of Energy UK, urged the government to scrap April's 20% in energy bills, saying that otherwise "millions more households will fall into debt", with "disastrous" consequences for consumers and companies. – The Times

The tycoon considering a bid for Manchester United has raised €3.5bn via his Ineos business to build the greenest chemical cracker in Europe. Sir Jim Ratcliffe has landed finance from 21 commercial banks for the project located in Antwerp, Belgium. – The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks turned in a mixed performance on Friday as an up and down week for stocks drew to a close.

At the close, the Dow Jones was up 0.50% at 33,869.27 and the S&P 500 advanced 0.22% at 4,090.46, while the S&P 500 fell 0.61% to 11,718.12.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com