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, AFP/Getty ImagesBroadcaster Sky reports a 7% increase in sales to £12bn, and a 12% jump in operating profit to £1.56bn.
Chief executive Jeremy Darroch tells the BBC he's "really pleased" with the results, with 800,000 customers added in Europe.
In the UK, Sky added 300,000 customers, as it continues to push into broadband. On average UK customers spend a whopping £400 a year with Sky, he reveals.
5 live presenter Adam Parsons tweets:
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British American Tobacco - the world's second-largest tobacco company with brands that include Lucky Strike and Pall Mall - reported a 6% rise in sales, external for the six months to 30 June, helped by volume increases and higher prices.
Adjusted profit rose 1.8% to £2.5bn at constant rates.
Shell's net profit fell by 71% to $1.175bn for the second quarter compared to the same period a year ago. A sharp fall in the price of oil this year has played a large part in that.
Profits were "hurt by decline in oil and gas prices", Shell says, as well as costs related to its $49bn takeover of oil exploration firm BG Group.
Diageo said like-for-like sales rose 2.8% in the year to 30 June, returning to growth after two flat years marred by issues including a slowdown in emerging markets and a shift in US consumer tastes from vodka to bourbon.
The maker of Johnnie Walker Scotch whisky, Smirnoff vodka and Guinness beer expects sales to rise at a "mid-single-digit" rate this year.
Image source, Getty ImagesLloyds Banking Group has more than doubled its pre-tax profits to £2.5bn for the half year to 30 June. In the same period last year, the lender made £1.2bn.
However, chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio warned that he expects a "deceleration of growth" following the UK's decision to leave the EU. Almost 10% of Lloyds is still owned by UK taxpayers following a bailout at the height of the financial crisis.
Revenues soared 35% at telecoms giant BT in the first quarter to £5.77bn following strong growth in its broadband and TV units.
Pre-tax profit in the three months to 30 June increased 13% to £717m.
Broadband and TV revenue was up 21%. Revenue from EE, the mobile network acquired earlier this year, was £1.2bn.
Lloyds Banking Group is cutting 3,000 jobs and closing 200 branches as the lender braces for a cut in interest rates following the Brexit vote.
Centrica says adjusted operating profit for the UK Home division - British Gas to you and me - fell 6% to £635m in the first half.
The number of UK home customer accounts fell by 3% or 399,000 in the first half of 2016, which included the impact of a significant roll-off of long-term fixed contracts in the first quarter.
British Gas returned to account growth in June after cutting gas prices by 5% and offering a new "attractive fixed-price product" in the second quarter.
We've got a cascade of company results coming out in the next couple of minutes. These are the FTSE 100 firms who will be reporting...
We'll be working through those as fast as we can, so stay with us here for the results frenzy.
Today Programme
BBC Radio 4
The FTSE 250 - which is seen as a better barometer of UK businesses than the more globally focused FTSE 100 - is pretty much back at the level it was before the Brexit result.
When market fears were heightened after the referendum result, the FTSE 250 took a hit, says Nandini Ramakrishnan, global market strategist at JP Morgan Asset Management. It's since stabilised - but she thinks that might not last.
When Article 50 is invoked - the starting gun for formal Brexit talks with the EU - "then we should see more volatility in the 250, which we find a more vulnerable index", Ms Ramakrishnan tells Today.
The FTSE 100, on the other hand, is going to benefit from the low pound and outperform the 250, she predicts, given that its constituents make 75% of their revenues outside the UK.
BBC Breakfast
Ben Thompson is Breakfast's business presenter today:
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On the subject of the SABMiller deal, Today business presenter Dominic O'Connell adds:
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Today Programme
BBC Radio 4
Image source, Getty ImagesThe £50bn takeover of one of the world's biggest brewers is under threat.
AB InBev, the owner of Budweiser, agreed last year to buy SABMiller, the FTSE 100 brewer that counts Peroni and Grolsch among its beers. However, the Brexit vote has now threatened the deal.
One of the risks is that SAB's shares - along with other UK-listed peers - have risen following the referendum result.
"In our view it's pretty clear that SAB Miller is a much more valuable asset," said Adam Montanaro, an analyst at Aberdeen Asset Management, one of SAB's biggest shareholders.
The second is that the deal involves a major cash element in sterling. Since the Brexit vote, the pound has fallen about 10% against other big currencies, leaving shareholders demanding more money.
Mr Montanaro says the whole structure of the offer for SAB now needs to be reassessed.
Image source, Getty ImagesCredit Suisse has posted a surprise 170m Swiss franc ($172m, £130m) net profit for the three months to 30 June, confounding analysts' expectations for a third consecutive quarter in the red. Even the most optimistic forecast had been for a loss, with the average analyst estimate coming in at a 192m franc loss.
"We remain cautious in our outlook for the second half of 2016 in view of the uncertainty created by significant geopolitical and macro-economic concerns, reinforced a few weeks ago by the outcome of the UK referendum," said chief executive Tidjane Thiam (pictured).
He is restructuring Switzerland's second-biggest bank to focus the business towards wealth management and away from investment banking.
BBC Radio 5 Live
Image source, PANick Butler, a visiting professor at King’s College London, has been on Wake Up to Money to talk about Hinkley Point.
The EDF board is expected to give the go-ahead later to the £18bn project, but he says the technology the French energy giant plans to use for the new nuclear power station has not been proven and the same electricity could be provided more cheaply by renewables.
He hopes the government will not go ahead with the huge project and likens it to getting to the altar and suddenly realising the proposed union just isn't right: “It’s now hard to step back, but given the scale we ought to take a pause.”
Chris Johnston
Business reporter
Welcome to a huge day for corporate news as companies clear the decks ahead of the summer break, with results from Lloyds Banking Group, BT, Sky, Centrica, Rolls-Royce, Diageo and more.
Apologies for the slightly late start to Business Live today - technical gremlins beyond our control.
As always get in touch at bizlivepage@bbc.co.uk or follow me on Twitter at @cajuk, external.