Tesco lifts FY guidance, Pennon names new CEO
By Iain Gilbert
Date: Thursday 02 Oct 2025
(Sharecast News) - LONDON PRE-OPEN
The FTSE 100 was expected to open 34.3 points higher ahead of the bell on Thursday, after wrapping up the previous session 1.03% stronger at 9,446.43.
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Tesco lifted its full-year guidance on Thursday, after a strong first half, fuelled by warm summer weather in the UK. Group sales, excluding VAT and fuel, rose 5.1% in the 26 weeks to 23 August, to £33.05bn, while group adjusted operating profits increased 1.5% to £1.67bn.
Water utility firm Pennon announced the appointment of Keith Haslett as chief executive officer on Thursday, succeeding Susan Davy, who has served as CEO since 2020. Haslett has been the CEO of Affinity Water since January 2023 and was expected to join Pennon during 2026, following his notice period.
Real estate investment trust Workspace has completed the sale of its Morie Street asset in Wandsworth and exchanged contracts on the sale of Castle Lane in Victoria for a combined total of £22.4m. Workspace said on Thursday that the aggregate sale price was 3% below the March 2025 valuation and at a net initial yield of 4.3%.
Iconic bootmaker Dr Martens said that it has entered the UAE for the first time through a distribution partnership agreement with Beside Group, and expanded its presence in Latin America by partnering with Crosby.
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Pilots and cabin crew at European airlines feel increasingly under pressure to work long hours and hide signs of tiredness at the expense of safety, according to a major study. Cost-cutting and profit chasing at airlines has "systemically weakened" safety, and many exhausted employees feel too intimidated to challenge management decisions, the research by Ghent University in Belgium found. - Guardian
The UK government has renewed its confrontation with Apple over access to customer data by demanding a backdoor into the tech company's cloud storage service - targeting British users only. The Home Office had previously sought access to data on Apple's advanced data protection service uploaded by any user around the world, triggering a clash with the White House. - Guardian
Sir David Beckham is in line for a $34m payout after advertising tie-ups with the likes of Stella Artois and Hugo Boss delivered a record year for his brand. DRJB Holdings, the holding company that oversees the former footballer's separate brand and TV production business, paid dividends of $75.7m to shareholders, including Sir David, according to newly filed accounts. - Telegraph
Donald Trump has been temporarily defeated in his bid to dismiss a leading Federal Reserve official amid an ongoing battle over central bank independence. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court said Fed governor Lisa Cook could keep her job for now and deferred a decision on her status until January 2026 so it could spend more time hearing legal evidence on the matter. - Telegraph
The world's second-largest coffee chain after Starbucks has received a bid from the private equity house behind Gail's and Pizza Express. The special situations division of Bain Capital, an American investment firm with $185bn of assets under management, has submitted a first-round offer for Costa Coffee, understood to be in the region of between £1.5bn and £2bn, after Coca-Cola put the UK's biggest coffee chain up for sale. - The Times
US CLOSE
Major indices closed higher on Wednesday as market participants remained hopeful that the Federal government shutdown would be brief.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.09% at 46,441.10, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.34% to 6,711.20 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.42% firmer at 22,755.16.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
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