Just Eat ends year ahead of targets, Meggitt signs deal with Pratt & Whitney

Stocks to watch

GlaxoSmithKline said chairman Sir Philip Hampton was stepping down and the board had started the process to find a successor. “Following the announcement of our deal with Pfizer and the intended separation of the new consumer business, I believe this is the right moment to step down and allow a new chair to oversee this process through to its conclusion over the next few years and to lead the board into this next phase for GSK."

Just Eat said full year results were going to be ahead of revenue and profit targets but that chief executive Peter Plumb is leaving the online takeaway food marketplace little over a year after he started. The FTSE 250 company, which Plumb joined after nine years as boss of Moneysupermarket in September 2017, said chief customer officer Peter Duffy would step in as interim CEO with immediate effect and that the search for a permanent replacement has begun.

Aerospace engineer Meggitt on Monday said it had signed a $750m (£582.6m) 10 year deal with Pratt & Whitney to continue the supply of advanced composite components for the F119 and F135 engines which power the F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II aircraft.

William Hill updated the market on its trading for the unaudited 53 weeks ended 1 January on Monday, reporting that its full-year adjusted operating profit for 2018 from continuing operations was expected to be around £234m - 15% lower than 2017. The FTSE 250 bookmaker said that would fall in line with guidance, which was for operating profit to be between £225m and £245m. It said underlying operating profit increased 4% year-on-year, excluding the impact of enhanced customer due diligence measures in online and US expansion costs.

Newspaper round-up

Theresa May halted the cross-party approach to Brexit last night as she told her cabinet that she would focus on securing changes from Brussels designed to win over rebel Conservatives and the DUP. The prime minister used an evening conference call to announce that she would seek changes to the backstop, the Northern Ireland insurance policy to avoid a hard border, or its removal despite repeated refusals by the European Union to budge on the issue. - The Times

Three-quarters of UK warehouse owners say their space is full to capacity and storage costs have soared by up to 25% in the past three months after a surge in Brexit-related inquiries. The UK Warehousing Association (UKWA), whose 750 members have more than 9.3m sq metres (100m sq ft) of space nationwide, said there was a shortage of space close to major cities for stockpiling goods in case of holdups at ports after a no-deal exit from the EU. - Guardian

Retail tycoon Mike Ashley is hoping to further his grip on the UK's battered high street by weighing up a rescue of Britain's 97-year-old music chain HMV. The Sports Direct founder, who has recently snapped up House of Fraser as well as the remnants of Evans Cycles, has held "serious" talks with key executives about buying the business out of administration. - Telegraph

US close

US stocks went into the long holiday weekend higher, amid hopes of improving relations between the US and China, even as the latest batch of economic data showed that US consumer sentiment was quickly souring.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 1.38% or 336.25 points to 24,706.35, while the S&P 500 rose 1.32% or 34.75 points to reach 2,670.71 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.03% or 72.76 points to 7,157.23.

In parallel, the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note was higher by three basis points to 2.78%.

Sentiment was boosted by a report overnight that the US might consider easing some trade tariffs against China, followed in quick succession by details of the offer that Beijing put on the table at the start of the month.