Iron ore production falls at BHP, Land Securities launches new flexible working brand

Stocks to watch

Global mining giant BHP on Tuesday said its second quarter iron ore production fell 6% percent and reported a $600m negative impact due to production disruptions at copper and iron ore operations. Unplanned production outages at Olympic Dam, Spence and Western Australia Iron Ore would impact productivity, BHP said, adding it would revise guidance at its results on February 19.

The flexible office sector is about to get even more crowded, as Land Securities has launched a new business, called Myo, to compete with the likes of US-based WeWork, and domestic players IWG and Workspace. Operating as a standalone brand, Myo will in April begin offering flexible leases of customisable office space, with the first location being the group's 36,000 square feet building at 123 Victoria Street, London.

EasyJet updated the market on its trading for the quarter ended 31 December on Tuesday, saying it delivered a “good performance”, with robust customer demand driving passenger and ancillary revenue, which was in line with expectations. The FTSE 100 low-cost airline said total revenue in the first quarter increased by 13.7% to £1.296bn, with passenger revenue rising by 12.2% to £1.025bn and ancillary revenue improving 19.9% to £271m. Positive revenue performance was offset, as the board expected, by the impact from the prior year's one-off revenue benefits, the dilutive impact of flying at Berlin Tegel, and new accounting standards delaying the recognition of revenue.

Newspaper round-up

Up to 40 members of the government will resign next week if Conservative MPs are banned from voting for a plan to stop a no-deal Brexit, No 10 has been told. Amber Rudd, the work and pensions secretary, has demanded that all Tory MPs are allowed a free vote on plans that would clear the path for extending Article 50 - the mechanism by which Britain leaves the European Union. - The Times

North-east England would suffer the biggest decline in economic output of any UK region by the middle of the 2030s if the country leaves the EU without a deal, according to an analysis of government figures by Britain’s leading business lobby group. The Confederation of British Industry said the region could be among the hardest hit by a no-deal Brexit in less than 70 days’ time given the high percentage of exports of goods to the EU compared with other parts of the country. - Guardian

Lenders to Patisserie Valerie fear multi million-pound loans will be almost completely wiped out by the potential collapse of Luke Johnson's troubled bakery chain. HSBC and Barclays have no security over Patisserie Valerie's assets, meaning that if is forced into insolvency by an accounting scandal, loans of almost £10m will rank no higher than suppliers and other creditors. - Telegraph

US close

Markets were closed stateside on Monday for the Martin Luther King Day federal holiday, having closed in positive territory on Friday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished the final session of the week up 2.06% at 24,706.35, the S&P 500 added 1.32% to 2,670.71, and the Nasdaq 100 was ahead 0.98% to 6,784.61.