Banks and builders are leading the FTSE 100 higher.

Lloyds is up almost 4% after the bank posted is best profits for 10 years. That has helped lift Barclays and RBS, both up more than 1%.

Barratt Developments is 3.4% ahead after the housebuilder posted solid half-year profits and said it was returning more money to shareholders. Miners are among the biggest fallers, led by a 2.3% fall for Anglo American.

The FTSE 100 is up 0.27% at 7,294 points.

Outside the top flight, FTSE 250-listed Serco is down 15% after the outsourcing firm posted a fall in profits.

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The EU referendum took the wind out of UK interim results for recruitment specialist Hays.

The company said operating profit for its UK and Ireland division fell by 29% for the six months to the end of December. Net fees declined by 10%.

Hays chief executive Alistair Cox, said: "In the UK, after a marked step-down immediately after the EU Referendum, markets quickly stabilised and we saw early signs of improvement towards the end of the half in the private sector recruitment market, which have continued into the start of the second half."

Overall, pre-tax profits grew by 17% to £96.2m on fees which rose to £465.5m from £396.9m. Hays reported record profits in Germany as well as strong growth in Australia and New Zealand.

But it said Asia was "mixed" as "banking markets remained tough". Hays shares opened more than 1% down.

Investors like those Lloyds bank profit figures. Shares have opened up 4% to 69.4p after it reported the best profit in a decade.

The government now holds less than 5% in the bank compared with the 43% it owned when it bailed out the lender to the tune of £20.5bn during the financial crisis.

Weir Group, a maker of pipes and valves for energy and mining industries, reported a 22% fall in full-year pre-tax profits, hurt by a weak US oil and natural gas market.

The Scottish company said its pre-tax profit fell to £170m for 2016, from £219m in 2015. 

Weir's full-year order input fell by 8% to £1.86bn, while revenues fell 11% to £1.85bn.

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Lloyds' annual pre-tax profit is the best since 2006, and today its chief executive, Antonio Horta-Osorio was upbeat about the future.

He said: "Given our UK focus, our performance is inextricably linked to the health of the UK economy which has been more resilient than the market expected post referendum, with GDP growth of 2% in 2016."

He added: "The UK's decision to leave the European Union means the exact nature of our relationship with Europe going forward remains unclear and the economic outlook is uncertain.

"However, the recovery in recent years with low unemployment, reduced levels of household and corporate indebtedness and increased house prices means the UK is well positioned."  

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It might not be as big as Lloyds, but Metro Bank also seems to be doing well. 

One of the newer entrants to the industry, Metro saw asset growth jump 64% in 2016 year-on-year to £10bn. There was record deposit growth of £7.9bn, up 56%, and record lending growth of £5.8bn, up 66%.

There was an underlying pre-tax loss, which exclude such things as the cost of its listing on the London stock market last year, of £11.7m. This was down from a £46.6m loss the year before.

However, Metro made an underlying profit in the final three months of 2016 of £1.5m.

Vernon Hill, chairman and founder of Metro, said in a statement, external "The response of the British public to Metro Bank has exceeded our expectations. Our goal is to create a legendary, emotional brand by creating FANS who join our brand, remain loyal and bring their friends.

"I'm very proud of the bank's success over the past 12 months, and my thanks go to our colleagues, investors and FANS who are Metro Bank. I am confident that this is just the beginning, the best is yet to come."

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Lloyds is "almost back to being a boring bank", according to Professor Peter Hahn of the London Institute of Banking and Finance. But he adds: "We're not quite there yet."

So far, Lloyds has paid out £17bn linked to the PPI scandal and in today's full-year results the provision has fallen from £4bn to £1bn. However, total conduct charges for 2016 reached £2.1bn.

Professor Hahn says the question that shareholders will have is, are there "other conduct issues coming up" or are banks now done with "paying for the past".

Five airlines that fly into Europe have been told they must pay compensation to passengers for delays.

American, Etihad, Emirates, Singapore and Turkish Airlines will have to obey European laws or be taken to court.

All had told the Civil Aviation Authority that they did not pay compensation when their delays meant passengers missed a connecting flight.

But compensation is in fact due if passengers arrive at their final destination more than three hours late.

Richard Moriarty, Director of Consumers and Markets at the CAA, said he was disappointed at the airlines' stance.

"Airlines' first responsibility should be looking after their passengers, not finding ways in which they can prevent passengers upholding their rights."

You can read more about the CAA's move here.

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Lloyds raised its total bonus payments to staff to £392.9m from a previous £353.7m following the rise in pre-tax profits.

Chairman Lord Blackwell said in a statement, external: "We believe in offering fair reward where colleagues are rewarded for performance aligned to the long-term sustainable success of the business, our commitment to rebuilding trust and changing the culture of the group."

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Profit at Lloyds was bolstered by lower charges linked to the industry-wide payment protection insurance (PPI) scandal.

The bank paid £1bn in PPI provisions in 2016 compared with £4bn in the previous year.

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Britain's biggest housebuilder says things are going so well it is raising and extending its special dividend plan.

Barratt Developments has just reported an 8.8% rise in pre-tax profits, to £321m, for the last six months of 2016. The company said completions outside London were the highest for nine years.

Barratt, which has a big presence in London - where the property market is slowing - said completions in the capital were in line with its expectations.

Says chief executive David Thomas in a statement, external: "With a record forward order book, strong consumer demand and a positive lending backdrop, we remain confident in our outlook for the full year. Our confidence in the business going forward is reflected in the improved and extended Capital Return Plan."  

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Lloyds Banking Group's annual pre-tax profits rose to £4.2bn from £1.6bn in the previous year. 

Underlying income edged down to £7.9bn compared with £8.1bn in 2015.

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Airbus's A400M military plane programme has been beset with problems for some time.

Germany is the biggest customer for A400M planes after agreeing to buy 53 aircraft.

However, there have been issues with gearboxes and fuselage cracks and most recently a A400M carrying Germany's Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen (above) to Lithuania broke down on the tarmac. 

And there was also a crash in Spain during a test flight in which four crew died.

BBC Radio 4

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There was much talk on Tuesday, alongside the HSBC results, about whether Brexit will prompt a City of London banking exodus - a sort of Jenga tower, with the pieces slowly being removed.

So, in the interest of balance, here's what the chief investment officer at St Jame's Place, Chris Ralph, told the Today programme earlier.

"It doesn't look like that all," he says. "There is an interconnection between investment banking, the lawyers, fund management, and all the associated services. We are not seeing any unravelling.

"I'm still seeing fund management companies, investment banks, still very committed to building their business in London. London's prospects are still very bright," he says.

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Toshiba shares soared 18.5% on Wednesday, outpacing the broader market where the benchmark Nikkei 225 was flat. 

Investors snapped up shares on expectations it will soon sell off a stake in its prized microchip business, after the company announced a $28m (£22.5m) sale of its medical finance unit, external to Canon. 

The Japanese firm has been looking at ways to raise cash, after revealing it is looking at a $3.4bn loss for the year to March 2017. That is mainly due to a $6.3bn writedown at its US nuclear business. 

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Today's results from Airbus are the first since it began simplifying the company by combining its European plane-making business with the parent company, previously known as EADS.

Despite taking a new 1bn-euro charge on its A400M military aircraft programme - taking total charges to 2.2bn euros - it said it has managed a "ramp-up" of A350 production with 49 aircraft delivered last year.

It also said that its helicopter division "was good despite a difficult market environment".   

Overall "adjusted" operating income fell 4% to 3.9bn euros. Analysts had forecast a 7.3% drop in full-year operating profit. 

Looking ahead, Airbus said: "Airbus expects the world economy and air traffic to grow in line with prevailing independent forecasts, which assume no major disruptions."

BBC Radio 5 live

Across the BBC we are looking at the relationship between business and disability as part of a week called Disability Works. We are asking how big business can get a slice of the estimated £249bn disabled people bring to the economy.

Wake up to Money has been talking to Tracey Proudlock, founder and chief executive of Proudlock Associates, a design consultancy specialising in disability access.

She's a big fan of having things like plants and water features in the workplace, she tells the show. "Touch, smell and sounds are good for way-finding."

She's also not impressed with the argument that it is impractical to re-configure many old buildings to improve disability access. "There is so much potential in London's heritage buildings," she says.

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Profits slumped at aerospace group Airbus during 2016. 

The aircraft manufacturer has just reported a 63% fall in net income to 995m euros. Revenue edged up 3% to 66.5bn euros.

Chief executive Tom Enders said: “We have delivered on the commitments that we gave a year ago and achieved our guidance and objectives, with one exception, the A400M, where we had to take another significant charge totalling 2.2bn euros in 2016.

"De-risking the programme and strengthening programme execution are our top priorities for this aircraft in 2017," he said.