FTSE 100 made a nervy start ahead of the expected hike in heating bills and interest rates later today.
London’s blue-chip index was up 9 at 7,592 in early deals.
Ofgem is expected to confirm a 50% rise in the energy price cap taking household bills near to £2,000 annually. The government may offer a £200 rebate per home to offset some of the extra cost.
Shell’s annual profits surged to US$17bn compared with a US$20bn loss in 2020. This has prompted Labour to restate its call for a windfall tax on North Sea energy firms to help support struggling consumers.
Facebook parent Meta shed US$200bn, or 23% in value during after hours trading on disappointing financial results. Analysts were stunned by the first ever reduction in daily usage of the social media giant’s platform.
Ryanair and British Airways are the worst short-haul airlines according to Which?, the consumer rights organisation, scoring extremely poorly on handling customer refunds and airline disruptions. A survey questioned more than 1,300 passengers on flight experience and 1,100 about how an airline dealt with disruptions.
Among the small caps, Creo Medical expects revenues for the year just gone to come in ahead of forecasts and added that it ‘continues to deliver’ on its build, buy and partner strategy. The company, which is focused on the emerging field of surgical endoscopy, said sales for the 12 months to December would be around £25mln.
Caracal Gold meanwhile is accelerating its operational plan at its flagship Kilimapesa gold mine in Kenya. The decision follows the successful completion of the first two phases of development.