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, DominosSticking with takeaways - Dominos pizza also has strong results out this morning.
Sales at the pizza delivery chain rose 17% in the first half of the year to £494.5m, helped by 30 new stores in the UK.
Takeaways during Euro 2016 - despite England being dumped out in the second round - have helped to keep the growth going over the summer.
Profits increased 21% in the 26 weeks to the end of June to £40.9m.
Image source, Just EatShares in takeaway delivery service Just Eat have shot up to their highest level since the firm listed on the stock market in 2014.
They're up nearly 7% to 516.5p this morning, valuing the company at £3.5bn.
It comes after Just Eat raised profit forecasts for the year following a 60% surge in first-half revenue to £172m.
Sales were boosted by its expansion into Italy, Brazil, Mexico and Spain. Just Eat says it's now the market leader in 12 of the 13 markets in which it operates.
Image source, Getty ImagesFrench outdoor advertising company JCDecaux plans to reduce investment in the UK in the wake of the Brexit vote. It is working on a project to install 1,000 84-inch screens across London bus shelters in major shopping areas but said on Thursday it will review now that number following the referendum vote.
"We have to make sure that our business is the right size for the demands of the customers," Jean-Charles Decaux said. "We will remain active in Britain, but a little less than if the vote had not been for Brexit."
JCDecaux shares fell 7.5% in Paris, making it the biggest faller on the Cac.
Reuters chief markets correspondent Jamie McGeever tweets:
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So how are investors reacting to the results out this morning? An hour into trading on the FTSE 100, Shell and Lloyds bank are among the biggest fallers.
Rolls-Royce, Anglo American and Sky are the three biggest winners. The share price movements of the companies with results out are:
Claire Osborne, energy analyst at uSwitch.com, said British Gas has benefited from low wholesale energy prices but is still failing to pass on the savings to customers.
Quote MessageBritish Gas is the only major supplier to have made three cuts to standard gas prices since the start of last year, so its standard variable tariff is the lowest among the big six. However, its best deal is still almost £290 a year more than the cheapest on the market so customers are likely to find better savings by switching to other providers. Energy suppliers big and small continue to eat away at British Gas's market share. The only way that British Gas can start to win back customers is by launching new, competitive deals."
Kevin Peachey
Personal finance reporter
Should we mourn 200 more lost bank branches? Do we need them when, collectively, we logged into banking apps 11 million times a day last year?
“Customers love the new technology,” says Anthony Browne, of the British Bankers’ Association.
Try telling that to millions of people who do not, or cannot, access the internet.
Try telling that to the small business owner who wants to cash in money daily, but lives in one of 1,500 communities (according to campaigners) that no longer have a single bank branch.
All this is being thrashed out in an independent review of an agreement aimed at minimising the impact of bank closures. There is a strong case for each side, and no easy solution.
Image source, Getty ImagesLaith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, says: "Lloyds still has a robust capital position, and while the Brexit vote has reduced its capacity to generate excess capital, it remains a strong bank. However lower capital generation impinges on the bank’s ability to return cash to shareholders. Lloyds has increased its interim dividend significantly, but if the Brexit axe is to fall anywhere it’s likely to be on the special dividend at the end of the year."
The Telegraph's Emily Gosden tweets a comment from Centrica chief executive Iain Conn:
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Image source, PAA few more details on why British Gas lost 399,000 customers in the first half of the year.
Parent company Centrica said the fall was due to more intense competition, with the number of residential suppliers rising from 25 to 40. British Gas also blamed many long-term customers' contracts coming to an end, as well as constraints on new offers.
However, British Gas went back to increasing its customer base in June, Centrica said, following the launch of a new fixed-price energy tariff.
Speaking of motors, car dealer Inchcape has warned that the Brexit vote is expected to slow growth in UK new car registrations in the coming months.
“Ahead of the EU referendum, the second quarter new vehicle market growth rate moderated to 1% from 5.1% in the first quarter,” it said. “We expect this moderation of the New Vehicle market to persist into the second half of 2016.”
The comments came as Inchcape, which operates globally selling marques including BMW, Jaguar, Mercedes and Porsche, reported an 8% rise in half-year profits to £165m.
Image source, Getty ImagesQuite a lot of corporate action over on the continent today too, which we will get to as soon as we can. But one we thought you might like to know now: Volkswagen says second quarter profits fell 57% to €1.15bn (£967m) following almost €2.5bn of special items - mostly related to the diesel emissions scandal.
"Further enormous feats of strength will be needed to contain the high costs of the diesel question," finance director Frank Witter said.
By the way, VW sold 5.12 million vehicles globally in the first six months of the year, putting it ahead of Toyota's 4.99 million. The emissions scandal doesn't seem to have deterred too many car buyers, in other words.
Radio 4 Moneybox presenter Paul Lewis tweets:
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Image source, Getty ImagesMerlin, which runs tourist attractions such as Madame Tussauds and Legoland, said its results this year should benefit from the drop in the pound.
The world's second-largest visitor attractions group behind Walt Disney generates more than 70% of profit outside the UK and so is set to get a boost from the slide in sterling.
Merlin reported a 5% rise in revenue to £573m in the first half of the year, while pretax profit was 1% higher at £50m.
However, shares are down 2.8% in early trading at 461p.
5 live presenter Adam Parsons tweets:
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The FTSE 100 is down 11 points at 6,738 at the open, with Lloyds Banking Group falling 1.7%.
The FTSE 250 is off 0.1% at 17,246 points, with Countrywide down more than 4% following its profit warning. Thomas Cook, however, is slightly higher.
Image source, PAJet engine maker Rolls-Royce has posted an 80% drop in first-half profit, although that has come in ahead of analyst expectations.
Rolls-Royce, which is in turnaround mode after a string of profit warnings, said underlying pretax profit was £104m for the first six months of the year. Analysts had expected a £12m loss.
However, the engineering company has some complicated accounting to wade through. Rolls made a reported pre-tax loss of £2.1bn due to the slide in sterling as it trades mainly in dollars, but has most of its costs in pounds.
Speaking of the property market, Countrywide - the UK’s biggest lettings and estate agents - has issued a profit warning after commercial and London residential transactions stalled in the wake of the Brexit vote.
“This period of uncertainty will inevitably impact the level of transactional activity in the second half of the year and, although it is too early to quantify accurately, we will not meet last year’s result," said cheif executive Alison Platt.
Pre-tax profit for the the six months to June was £21.7m, down from £28.9m in the same period last year.
“In the run up to the [EU referendum vote] we saw a slowdown in our retail and London residential businesses and, since the EU referendum result this has become more marked in London, the South East and expensive prime markets,” Countrywide said.
UK house prices rose at their fastest annual pace in four months in July, Nationwide said, although those figures may not yet reflect any impact from the Brexit vote.
"The outlook for the housing market remains unusually uncertain and it may take several months for the underlying trends in the market to become evident," said Nationwide economist Robert Gardner.
Prices jumped 5.2% on an annual basis in July, slightly higher than a 5.1% rise in June and better than the 4.5% increase expected by economists.
Image source, Getty ImagesThomas Cook cut its annual profit target as the Brexit-induced collapse in sterling, terror attacks in Europe and a failed coup in Turkey led to lower demand from holiday makers.
The travel operator now expects operating profit of £300m, compared with the guidance given in May of between £310m and £335m.
Chief executive Peter Fankhauser said: "While Brexit has had no noticeable impact on our bookings so far, it has added to a general sense of uncertainty - for our business and our customers alike.
"Since the half year, we've taken action to further reduce our capacity to Turkey and increased sales of holidays to other areas, including the Western Mediterranean and long-haul destinations such as the USA. Growth to smaller destinations such as Bulgaria (pictured) and Cuba is also strong."