Good morning from London where the FTSE 100 is off to a strong start following gains in the US and Asia. London’s blue-chip index is up at around 7,650 points as it stands, its highest level since 22 September.
The markets appear to have responded well to this morning’s GDP figures which show the UK grew by 0.2% in August after contracting in July.
This morning’s also seen an very a bullish update from Easyjet, which has it sights on the £1 billion profit barrier after reporting a record fourth quarter. The budget airline operator unveiled new medium-term targets alongside a trading update for the quarter ending September 30, as well as proposing a new shareholder returns policy.
There was also a trading update from cybersecurity specialists Darktrace, who say they’re holding to their guidance after reporting a strong start to the financial year and seeing signs of a pick-up in new business.
They’re expecting year-over-year annualised recurring revenue to grow between 21% and 23%. But the big winner this morning in share price terms was surely Wagamama owner The Restaurant Group – shares up by around a third after agreeing on a takeover bid from Apollo Global Management, valuing the company at 65p per share.