Bellway completions rise 14.3pc, Entain posts better-than-expected H1 performance
By Iain Gilbert
Date: Tuesday 12 Aug 2025
(Sharecast News) - LONDON PRE-OPEN
The FTSE 100 was expected to open 12.8 points higher ahead of the bell on Tuesday after wrapping up the previous session 0.37% higher at 9,129.71.
STOCKS TO WATCH
UK house builder Bellway said total completions in the year to July 31 rose 14.3% to 8,749 homes at an overall average selling price of around £316,000, compared with £307,909 a year ago, both slightly ahead of previous guidance. Bellway said on Tuesday that it now expects to maintain "broadly flat" average outlet numbers for fiscal 2026 and forecast growth in volume output to around 9,200 homes and higher cash generation for shareholder returns.
Entain reported a better-than-expected H1 performance on Tuesday, with strong momentum across its UK, US, and Brazilian operations prompting an upgrade to FY guidance. The FTSE 100-listed group said total net gaming revenues rose 7% year-on-year to £2.63bn, while underlying earnings climbed 11% to £583m. UK and Ireland online operations led the charge with 21% growth, reflecting market share recovery and enhanced customer engagement.
NEWSPAPER ROUND-UP
Donald Trump has flagged allowing Nvidia to sell chips in China that are more advanced than currently allowed, in another "deal" that would loosen export restrictions despite deep-seated fears in Washington that Beijing could harness US tech to harm national security. At a briefing on Monday, Trump was questioned over recent revelations that he had struck an unprecedented deal with Nvidia and AMD to grant them export licenses to sell previously banned chips to China, in return for the companies giving the US government 15% of the sales revenue. The US president defended the deal, which analysts have likened to a "shakedown" payment, or unconstitutional export taxes, before adding that he was expecting further negotiations over another, more advanced Nvidia chip. - Guardian
Some couples applying for a Santander mortgage will see the maximum they can borrow increase by £130,000 overnight after the bank loosened its lending rules. Santander is the latest in a line of lenders to allow some borrowers to access bigger mortgages after intervention by the City regulator and new guidelines from the Bank of England designed to help more people onto the housing ladder. - Guardian
Ministers have vowed to speed up crucial nuclear projects as part of a plan to transform Britain into a green energy superpower. A new independent task force commissioned by the Government called for a "radical reset" of nuclear regulations this week, taking aim at the current system which it said was "unnecessarily slow, inefficient and costly". In its first report, the taskforce said overly complex and expensive red tape was holding up crucial infrastructure projects and increasing the cost of the UK's nuclear deterrent. - Telegraph
The head of Mercedes-Benz has delivered an apocalyptic message on the future of the European car industry caught up in Chinese competition, Trump's trade war tariffs, weak demand for luxury vehicles and regulatory diktats that carmakers stop making petrol and diesel vehicles by 2035. Ola Kallenius, chief executive, said the outlook for carmakers was worse than a perfect storm. - The Times
President Trump has extended a deadline for higher tariffs on Chinese goods by 90 days, a White House official said on Monday. Tariffs on China were due to return to triple-digit rates on Tuesday, in a move that threatened to cause turmoil for global supply chains. However, the president has allowed for further negotiations and a potential meeting with China's President Xi after signing an executive order. The order prevents US tariffs on Chinese goods from rising to 145%. - The Times
US CLOSE
Major indices closed lower on Monday as market participants looked ahead to key inflation data due out later in the week.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.45% at 43,975.09, while the S&P 500 shed 0.25% to 6,373.45 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.30% weaker at 21,385.40.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
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