Marshalls revenue and earnings fall in first half, Bharti Global acquires Altice's BT stake

Stocks to watch

Marshalls reported a 13% decline in revenue to £306.7m and a 19% drop in adjusted operating profit to £34m for its first half on Monday. The FTSE 250 company said that, despite challenging market conditions, it partially mitigated the impact through management actions and diversification, while maintaining an interim dividend of 2.6p. Its board said it was confident that the full-year results would align with previous expectations.

BT Group welcomed news that Bharti Global had acquired Altice UK's 24.5% stake in the telecoms carrier. "We welcome investors who recognise the long-term value of our business, and this scale of investment from Bharti Global is a great vote of confidence in the future of BT Group and our strategy," BT boss, Alison Kirkby said.

Newspaper round-up

The Bank of England is poised for a setback in the battle against high inflation this week amid expectations for a first increase in the headline rate this year, highlighting the pressure from the cost of living crisis. In a week of key updates from the British economy, official figures on Wednesday are expected to show inflation returned above the Bank’s 2% target in July, driven in part by fast-rising prices for air fares, package holidays and hotels. – Guardian

Consumers in England and Wales will see the amount of compensation they receive for poor customer service from their water supplier at least double under new government measures to crack down on failing utilities companies. Setting out tough new rules to support households and businesses, the government said minimum compensation payments would be doubled for highly disruptive incidents, including when the water supply is interrupted, or when appointments with customers are missed. – Guardian

Ed Miliband has been urged to intervene in a row over a mini nuclear power plant in Cumbria, amid fears a government quango is hoarding land needed for the project. Moorside, located near Sellafield, is one of six sites currently being assessed by Great British Nuclear (GBN) as it aims to roll out a new generation of reactors. However, MPs and businesses have warned the energy secretary that the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) is putting Moorside’s hopes of hosting the first small modular reactors (SMRs) in jeopardy. – Telegraph

More than 17,000 shops are at risk of closure over the next decade unless the Labour government overhauls the business rates regime, the boss of Sainsbury’s and the general secretary of the biggest retail union have warned. In an article for The Times, Simon Roberts, the chief executive of Sainsbury’s, and Paddy Lillis, the general secretary of the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers, say that tens of thousands of retail jobs could disappear because of a sharp rise in business rates bills. – The Times

The average pay for FTSE 100 bosses rose to a record of £4.2 million last year. According to an analysis of corporate pay deals by the High Pay Centre, Britain’s top bosses enjoyed an average bump from £4.1 million to £4.2 million in 2023, the highest on record. It makes a FTSE 100 chief executive’s earnings 120 times the wage of the average British worker. – The Times

US close

Stocks on Wall Street managed a positive finish on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.13% at 39,497.54.

The S&P 500 added 0.47% to 5,344.16, and the Nasdaq Composite closed ahead 0.51% at 16,745.30.