The FTSE 100 rose 1.4 percent in midday trading to close at an intraday high of 8,474.71.
Among the companies with reports and trading updates today are Metro Bank, HSBC, Taylor Wimpey, IQE, GSK and Rio Tinto. Read the Business Live blog from Wednesday 31 July below.
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Taylor Wimpey considers scheduling overhaul as peak interest rates hit profits
Taylor Wimpey expects to build about 10,000 homes this year, thanks to a recovery in the second half of the year after high interest rates depressed demand and profits in the first half of the year.
The FTSE 250 housebuilder reported a 22.6 per cent fall in operating profit to £182.3m for the six months to 30 June, with sales falling 7 per cent and the number of homes completed falling around 7.7 per cent to 4,728.
Taylor Wimpey blamed the delay in rate cuts and relatively high mortgage rates.
Metro Bank targets profit recovery after cost cutting
Metro Bank expects to return to profitability in the fourth quarter of the year, after narrowing losses in the first half of the year.
The lender posted an underlying pre-tax loss of £26.8m for the first six months of the year, down from a loss of £33m in the second half of 2023. In the first half of 2023, the company reported a profit of £16.1m.
The bank said the loss was caused by a lower net interest margin (the difference between the interest banks earn on loans and the interest they pay to borrow) of 1.64 percent, compared to 1.85 percent in the second half of last year.
HSBC boss Noel Quinn pulls back with $3 billion buyback and big dividend
HSBC is to buy back an additional $3 billion of shares from investors after the lender’s first-half profit beat expectations, boosted by growth in its wealth division.
The FTSE 100-listed lender’s pre-tax profit fell 0.4 percent to $21.6 billion in the first half of the year, but beat analysts’ estimates of $20.5 billion.
The $3 billion share buyback program follows a $5 billion share buyback program announced earlier this year, bringing the total value of share buybacks to $18 billion during the four-year tenure of outgoing CEO Noel Quinn.
FTSE 100 nears all-time high
The FTSE 100 rose 1.4 percent in midday trading to close at an intraday high of 8,474.71.
The rally comes amid broadly weaker equity markets and growing expectations that the Bank of England will cut its base rate by 25 basis points to 5 percent.
Stocks in the energy and mining sectors led the gains, while strong corporate updates from the likes of HSBC also boosted the index.
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