QinetiQ secures £150m UK contract, BP warns of weaker trading result

Stocks to watch

QinetiQ announced the securing of a three-year contract worth up to £150m with Defence Digital on Friday, to provide engineering and programme management for the UK's next-generation tactical military communications. The FTSE 250 company said the contract would enhance the British Army's front-line decision-making capabilities with around 100 experts from QinetiQ and its partners to support the Ministry of Defence in delivering the solution.

BP followed sector rival Shell and said it expected third-quarter realised refining margins would hit operating profit by $0.4 - $0.6bn and warned its oil trading result would be weak as it felt the impact of lower crude prices. Upstream production in the third quarter was now expected to be broadly flat compared to the prior quarter, with production broadly flat in oil production & operations and in gas & low carbon energy, the company said in a trading statement on Friday.

Housebuilder Bellway is appointing the former chief financial officer of competitor Cairn Homes as its new CFO. Shane Doherty, a chartered accountant who left Cairn after four years in April, was previously the CFO at Morgan McKinley and European Finance Director at Flutter Entertainment. He will be replacing group finance director Keith Adey, who announced his retirement in May, on 1 December.

Newspaper round-up

The leaders of the world’s biggest green energy companies have promised more than £24bn of new private investment across Great Britain ahead of a meeting with the prime minister on Friday. Keir Starmer is expected to meet the green energy bosses on the sidelines of the first Council of Nations and Regions in Edinburgh to discuss the multibillion-pound projects just days before the government’s international investment summit next week. – Guardian

Britain must prepare for the widespread use of road pricing to make up a £35bn shortfall in tax revenues from the transition to electric vehicles, the country’s top infrastructure adviser has said. Sir John Armitt, the chair of the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC), said it was time for a “proper public debate” about the future funding of the road network and other critical projects. – Guardian

Fears of a Labour tax raid have prompted entrepreneurs to speed up plans to sell their businesses ahead of a looming capital gains increase, according to new research. Three in 10 business owners with a turnover of at least £5m said they had accelerated plans to sell their companies in the past year, according to wealth manager Evelyn Partners. – Telegraph

Employers will be required by law to allow unionised staff to take part in diversity programmes during working hours as part of Angela Rayner’s sweeping overhaul of workers’ rights. The extra powers mean that so-called diversity pilgrims who work full-time on union duties can legally take time off for equality training or relevant preparation work while having any necessary accommodation costs covered. – Telegraph

The owner of Scottish Power will set out plans to double its multi billion-pound investment in Britain over the next five years, in one of the first of several deals expected to be announced as international business leaders arrive in London next week. Iberdrola, the Spanish energy group, will spend £24 billion on upgrading the high-voltage cables needed to transport power around the country and on building more wind farms, making Britain its largest destination for investment in the world. – The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks were in the red at the end of trading on Thursday as market participants digested September's hotter-than-expected consumer price index.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.14% at 42,454.12, while the S&P 500 lost 0.21% at 5,780.05 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.05% weaker at 18,282.05.

The Dow closed 57.88 points lower on Thursday, taking only a small bite out of solid gains recorded in the previous session.

Thursday's primary focus was the US consumer price index, which rose by more than expected in September, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Consumer prices climbed by 0.2% on a month-on-month basis in September, more than the 0.1% increase expected by economists, while the closely watched "core" price index, which strips out volatile food and energy costs, also came in hotter than the 3.2% expected by analysts at 3.3%.