EDF board approves Hinkley nuclear plant project
Ford reports lower quarterly profit
FTSE 100 slips 0.3% to 6,732 points
Oracle agrees to buy NetSuite in $9.3bn deal
Centrica profits fall as customers depart
Lloyds Banking Group speeds up job cuts and branch closures
Thomas Cook and Countrywide warn on profits
BT and Sky report higher profits
Image source, Getty ImagesShares in Sports Direct have soared more than 13% to 292p after the troubled retailer announced a buyback plan.
It will spend almost £90m buying close to 30 million shares - about 5% of the company's share capital.
The stock has fallen almost two thirds since early December, hit by Brexit and negative publicity on working practices.
Business producer Ben King tweets:
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Image source, Getty ImagesA spot of EDF news from Le Monde: it reports that the French utility plans to sell a 49% stake in its high-voltage power grid unit RTE to state-owned French bank Caisse des Depots for as much as €7bn.
The plan is set to be presented to EDF's board on Thursday afternoon where it's expected to approve the Hinkley Point nuclear power station project in Somerset.
The sale could be part of a plan to offload €10bn of assets, as EDF looks to bolster its balance sheet and raise funds for new nuclear plants in France as well as the UK.
EDF declined to comment.
Image source, Getty ImagesPinewood Studios - where the Harry Potter and Star Wars films were shot - could be sold to a property company for £323m under a proposed deal announced today. Pinewood said it had reached agreement on key terms of a possible cash offer from Venus Grafton, part of the PW Real Estate Fund.
Pinewood appointed Rothschild in February to prepare a possible sale of the company. The "tightly held" shareholder register has stifled liquidity and has prevented the company from listing on the main market, the group said.
Shareholders would get 560p in cash plus a final dividend of 3.2p a share, according to the terms of the draft deal. Pinewood Group said it would recommend a firm offer to shareholders.
Business Live page reader Andrew Illingworth, a former Lloyds Bank employee, joins in the debate about Lloyds' decision to cut 3,000 jobs and close 200 branches. He responds to an earlier post:
Quote MessageFirst the comments from Ronald Olden: "the purpose of a business is to make money for its shareholders, not to provide routine ... services for people". Is this really where we have got to, the belief that a business is there just for the sake of its shareholders? I then read on to learn that Lloyds was "was slashing 3,000 jobs thanks to the post-Brexit uncertainty". Lloyds is slashing jobs because the role of internet banking has meant there is no longer much requirement for branch banking. It is also partly due to lack of profitability caused by the low-interest rates, which in turn are a result of the 2008 crash that was exacerbated by the greed of bankers. And also because Lloyds Bank is most appallingly badly managed. I know - I worked there. I voted strongly (a bold X) to Remain. But we now have to live for and support the future, blaming everything on Brexit does not help anyone."
Image source, Getty ImagesThe blue-chip index is still 0.2% lower at 6,735 points, with Shell, Lloyds and Smith & Nephew leading the fallers.
That's despite a 13.6% rise in Rolls-Royce and chunky gains for miners including Anglo American.
Elizabeth Anderson, business editor at the i newspaper, tweets this handy graph of house price growth over the past few decades:
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Image source, PASimon Pegg at the premiere of Star Trek: Beyond at the Empire in Leicester Square
Cineworld has bought five cinemas, including the Empire Leicester Square multiplex, for £94m. The nine-screen West End multiplex often hosts gala premieres and also boasts an IMAX screen.
The deal includes a further three multiplexes in Basildon, Hemel Hempstead and Poole, all of which have an IMAX screen, and a four-screen cinema in Bromley, London.
The sale is further evidence that there's still life in the silver screen - for more on the subject have a read of this recent feature on how cinemas are striking back against home entertainment.
It's been such a busy reporting day that we have not quite got around two FTSE 100 constituents until now.
Shares in Smith & Nephew, external, Europe's biggest maker of artificial knees and hips, are one of the biggest fallers on the FTSE today - 4.4% lower - following weak demand in China that offset good growth in its global sports medicine joint repair business.
First-half revenue rose 2% to $2.32bn (£1.76bn), while pre-tax profit slipped $28m to $453m.
Smith & Nephew is worth £11bn - quite impressive, but not quite in the same league as drug maker AstraZeneca, external - its market cap is some £60bn.
Its second-quarter profits are down 22% following poor sales of its blockbuster cholesterol drug Crestor in the wake of a generic alternative coming on to the market in the United States. Pre-tax profits fell 21% to $2.67bn.
Chief executive Pascal Soriot says the figures were in line with expectations "reflecting the near-term patent expiry challenges".
Victoria Derbyshire
Jenifer Baxter of the Institute of Mechnical Engineers has been on Victoria Derbyshire talking about the proposed nuclear power station at Hinkley Point.
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MEP Molly Scott Cato argues that renewable energy is preferable to nuclear.
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Image source, PALloyds Banking Group share price is down about 4% today after it revealed further cost cutting plans.
The state-owned bank has lost a third of its value in the last 12 months, making its less likely the government will cash out its remaining stake any time soon.
"Former Chancellor George Osborne had planned to sell-off the remaining public holding in Lloyds when the share price was around the 70-80p mark, but recent declines to the low 50s suggest that this will have to be put on the back burner once more until the share price can sustain a higher level,” said David Cheetham, market analyst at XTB.com.
Image source, Rolls-RoyceAero engine giant Rolls-Royce is flying high, with shares rising 18% so far this morning.
It's by far the biggest winner on the FTSE 100 after posting first-half profit of £104m and saying it's on course to meet its forecasts for the rest of the year.
"Sometimes just meeting expectations is good enough, and that has proved the case today with Rolls shares soaring as the company announced it is trading in line with its most recent guidance," said George Salmon, an analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
Image source, AFP/Getty ImagesIt's not just the UK that's got a flurry of results today. Some of France's biggest firms have given updates, and they've fared pretty well.
Dairy group Danone posted a better-than-forecast increase in first-half operating profit. It's one of the biggest winners on France’s CAC 40 index after its shares rose by about 2%.
French oil major Total is also among the top gainers, up 1.6%, after meeting its cost saving target ahead of schedule. Total's strong results were in sharp contrast to British rival Shell which blamed the weaker oil price for a heavy fall in profits.
Carmaker Renault, meanwhile, saw profit at its core automotive division increase by a whopping 65%.
The carmaker is benefiting from a product offensive that has seen all major model lines updated, analysts say.
Investors weren’t impressed however. The share price fell 2.9%, the top French loser, as it struggled to cut costs.
Image source, Getty ImagesInteresting counterpoint on the Lloyds branch closures from Business Live reader Ronald Olden:
Quote MessageLloyds Bank should be cutting far more branches and staff than this. The purpose of a business is to make money for its shareholders, not to provide routine over-the-counter banking services for people who can't (or more likely won't) use the internet. There is no evidence that Lloyds, is losing any profitable business from these closures. If it were they wouldn't close the branches. Anyone who wants another banking service but can't use the internet can just use the phone. Lloyds and all the other banks are overmanned and there are far too many bank branches. They shouldn't be kept open to satisfy a few self-indulgent customers who can't be bothered to check out the alternatives."
Connor Campbell of Spreadex says the FTSE 100 is struggling for direction amid the flurry of results today.
"The most headline-grabbing update was arguably Lloyds, which fell nearly 4% as it announced it was slashing 3,000 jobs thanks to the post-Brexit uncertainty. Elsewhere Smith & Nephew dropped 4% as it revealed an 18% plunge in first half net profit, while Royal Dutch Shell followed BP’s lead from earlier in the week to post a wince-worthy 72% slide in second quarter profits thanks to the continued weakness of oil and gas prices. This not only sent Shell 4% lower, but pushed the rest of its sector into the red as well.
"It wasn’t all doom and gloom, however. Sky jumped 4% following a 7% increase in adjusted full year revenue to £11.9bn. In stark contrast to the oil sector the miners also had a good morning, led by a 6% surge from Anglo American. This left the FTSE almost flat on the day, the index rendered inert by the sheer number of companies reporting."
Business reporter Joe Miller is still on the Lloyds conference call:
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Image source, Getty ImagesRide-hailing services such as Uber and its Chinese rival Didi Chuxing will be breathing a sigh of relief today after the Chinese government announced rules to regulate the booming market.
The regulations will require such services to sign labour contracts with drivers, transport vice-minister Liu Xiaoming said, but nothing regarded as too onerous.
Indeed, Uber has welcome the announcement, which Zhen Liu, senior vice-president of corporate strategy in China, said sent a clear message of support for ride-sharing and the benefits it offers passengers, drivers and cities.
"This is a welcome step ... we look forward to working with policymakers around the country to put these regulations into practice," he added.
Didi Chuxing also welcomed the new regulaton and said that it will make an "earnest effort" to comply. The rules take effect on 1 November.
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Our esteemed colleague Joe Miller is hanging on the telephone, so we don't have to:
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Image source, Getty ImagesAdidas "flew off the starting blocks in 2016", according to the sportswear giant's chief executive Herbert Hainer, putting in an "outstanding performance".
Group revenues for the three months to June rose 17% compared with the same period last year to a record €4.78bn (£4bn). The German company also raised its profit forecast for the full year.
Adidas recorded particularly strong sales growth in North America, Greater China and Western Europe.