Barratt says demand for homes 'strong', Pearson sales slide amid pandemic
By Josh White
Date: Wednesday 14 Oct 2020
(Sharecast News) - London open
The FTSE 100 is expected to open 31 points higher on Wednesday, having closed down 0.53% on Tuesday, at 5,969.71.
Stocks to watch
Housebuilder Barratt said it continued to see strong demand for homes after the easing of coronavirus lockdown measures in June with an increase in its sales rate from 1 July to 11 October. The company on Wednesday reported a 24% rise in home completions to 4,032 with total forward sales of 15,135 homes compared with 12,963 last year at a value of £3.64bn versus £3.07bn in 2019. "Our sales rate in the period was 0.87 net private reservations per active outlet per average week, up 20.8% on last year," Barratt said.
Pearson reported a 14% decline in group sales in its first nine months on Wednesday, which it said reflected the continuing impact of Covid-19 and test centre and school closures in its global assessment and international operations, and expected declines in the North American courseware business. The FTSE 100 education publisher did see an accelerated shift to digital in US higher education courseware, however, with digital registrations including ebooks up by 9%, while print and bundle units sold into US colleges was down 32%. It said it remained on track to deliver an outturn broadly in line with market expectations for the year.
Newspaper round-up
The parent company of Odeon has warned that the lack of new blockbusters fuelling record low movie-going could mean it will run out of cash as soon as the end of the year. Shares in US-listed AMC Theatres, the world's largest operator of cinemas, plunged 12% in early trading as rattled investors reacted to a warning that it will need to raise a significant amount of cash to keep operating if the dire conditions persist. - Guardian
HS2's costs have risen by another £800m, the government has admitted, barely a month after the official start of construction of the high-speed rail network. The reshaping of Euston station is likely to cost at least £400m more than planned, while the discovery of more asbestos than expected in demolitions along the line of the route has added around another £400m. - Guardian
Rishi Sunak must bury the hatchet with Sadiq Khan and finalise a £5.7bn bailout of London's debt-ridden transport network to stave off disaster, some of the capital's biggest companies have said. The Chancellor needs to urgently reach an agreement with the London Mayor over the future of Transport for London (TfL) or face the capital grinding to a halt, according to a slew of executives including the bosses of British Land, Canary Wharf Group and Heathrow airport. - Telegraph
Metro Bank has become the latest lender to stop opening new accounts for businesses, despite the Bank of England calling for credit to keep flowing. Metro suspended openings because of a deluge in demand from businesses seeking government-backed bounce back loans, for which borrowers must have a current account. - The Times
The World Trade Organisation has ruled that the European Union can retaliate against the United States over its support for Boeing, the aircraft maker, in the latest twist of the world's largest corporate trade dispute. Brussels can now legally impose tariffs on American goods worth $4 billion, although it emphasised yesterday that its "strong preference" was to end a 16-year transatlantic trade battle over illegal subsidies for Boeing and Airbus, the European manufacturer. - The Times
US close
US stocks closed lower on Tuesday as market participants digested some key corporate earnings and news of a pause in Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine study.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.55% at 28,679.81, while the S&P 500 was 0.63% weaker at 3,511.93 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.10% softer at 11,863.90.
The Dow closed 157.71 points lower on Tuesday, cutting into gains recorded in the previous session as stimulus talks remained in focus.
Tuesday's main focus was the beginning of third-quarter earnings season, with several major US banks being the first cabs off the rank.
Investment manager Blackrock saw assets under management hit a new record in the third quarter of the year as a broad stock market rally helped the firm top both revenue and profit guidance, while banking giant Citigroup posted its largest quarterly profit of the Covid-19 pandemic as trading bonds afforded the firm another windfall.
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