Barratt reports sharp fall in profit, Hilton Food in line after first half

Stocks to watch

House builder Barratt reported a sharp fall in annual profit, citing cost-of-living pressures, higher mortgage rates and limited consumer confidence. The company on Wednesday said pre-tax profit slumped to £170.5m from £705m, with completions down 18.6% to 14,000.

Hilton Foods reported a 3.2% increase in volume and a 1% rise in revenue on a like-for-like basis for the first half on Wednesday, although statutory revenue declined by 8.4%. Adjusted operating profit grew 23.2% on a like-for-like basis, supported by strong free cash flow and a reduction in net bank debt. The FTSE 250 company said it continued to experience strong retail volume growth, particularly in its core meat and seafood categories, and remained on track with expansion plans while maintaining a solid financial position for the full year.

Newspaper round-up

Spending on the UK live music sector and associated businesses has hit a record £6.1bn as a wave of huge acts from Elton John to Beyoncé cashed in on the pent-up demand to attend shows in person. Live, the federation representing Britain’s live music industry, revealed that the sector’s contribution to the UK economy topped £6bn for the first time last year, as fans denied live experiences in the Covid pandemic rushed to snap up tickets. – Guardian

Local authority leaders say they are having to drain their financial reserves to keep services afloat and avoid effective bankruptcy. A survey of the mid-tier group of English city councils, which includes Southampton, Hull, Sunderland and Norwich, found that many that had previously avoided financial difficulties during periods of austerity were close to running out of funds. – Guardian

Rachel Reeves’s top pick for investment minister has turned down the role just weeks before a key summit designed to woo international financiers. The Government has been left scrambling to find an alternative investment tsar after Benjamin Wegg-Prosser, chief executive of political advisory firm Global Counsel, declined the position for financial reasons. – Telegraph

Apple has warned Britain’s competition watchdog that its “flawed and insufficient” analysis of the iPhone maker’s dominance in the mobile browser market risks harming consumers and developers. The Silicon Valley tech group claimed the Competition and Markets Authority was using outdated information and “unsubstantiated assertions” from a developer “rather than objective evidence” in its investigation. – The Times

Nine new offshore wind farms were among the record number of projects agreed in the Labour government’s first renewable energy auction. The sixth annual auction round for state subsidies yielded 131 new green infrastructure projects. This was the highest yet, and up from 92 in the previous auction, according to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. – The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks closed firmly lower on Tuesday as traders returned from the Labor Day long weekend to fresh manufacturing data.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.51% at 40,936.93, while the S&P 500 lost 2.12% to 5,528.93 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 3.26% weaker at 17,136.30.

The Dow closed 626.15 points lower on Tuesday, more than reversing gains recorded in the previous session as the blue-chip index wrapped a fourth consecutive winning month.

Tuesday's primary focus was manufacturing PMI from both S&P Global and the Institute for Supply Management, with market participants hoping to gain further insight into the state of the US economy throughout August.

S&P Global revised its manufacturing PMI slightly lower to 47.9 in August, down from a preliminary reading of 48, continuing to show that the manufacturing sector has continued to deteriorate year-to-date.