Market Pulse
Wizz Air's interim profit flies high as traffic increases
Budget airline Wizz Air posted an increase in interim profit, driven higher by an increase in the number of passengers it carried in the period.
WPP acquires digital ad buyer Essence
WPP has further strengthened its hand in digital media by acquiring a majority stake in one of the world’s largest independent buyers of digital advertisement, London-based Essence Digital.
SABMiller and AB InBev extend takeover deadline
London-listed brewer SABMiller has secured another deadline extension from the Takeover Panel for Anheuser-Busch InBev to make a formal offer to the company, as the two look to iron out the details and get shareholder backing for the £68bn deal.
Persimmon expects strong trading for remainder of 2015
Housebuilding group Persimmon said it expected strong trading to continue throughout the remainder of 2015, as the UK housing market improved in the second half of the year.
Glencore optimistic on cutting debt as quarterly production rises
Commodities giant Glencore reported “significant progress” on plans to cut net debt to the low $20bns by the end of 2016 and increased output from its mines generally in line with estimates.
Legal & General lifts net cash 14% and plans cost savings
Insurer Legal & General posted a 14% rise in net cash generation for the first nine months of the year as it said it is ahead of its target to deliver £80m of operating cost savings this year.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: HMRC, VW, Burberry, Tesco
MPs have lambasted HM Revenue & Customs over its customer service, raising fears that its “unacceptable” performance is having an adverse impact on the collection of tax revenues. Meg Hillier, chair of the public accounts committee said: “It beggars belief that, having made disappointing progress on tax evasion and avoidance, the taxman also seems incapable of running a satisfactory service for people trying to pay their fair share. ” – Financial Times .
Marks & Spencer's first-half mixed as food outweighs weak womenswear
Marks and Spencer Group has increased underlying profits in the first half of the year as strong food counterbalanced weak clothing sales.
London pre-open: Stocks seen higher on positive US cues, data in focus
London stocks are expected to open higher on Wednesday, taking their cue from a positive US session, ahead of a raft of important data releases.
US close: Stocks close higher as investors weigh US factory orders data
US stocks ended higher as a weaker-than-expected report on factory orders made the case for an interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve this year seem less likely.