FTSE 100 opened handily, climbing 39 points to 7,479 as the financial sector had a good morning.
Yesterday’s hawkish comments from the US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, which hinted at further interest rate hikes, has boosted banks such as NatWest and HSBC.
Gazprom’s UK supply arm is close to special administration as customers flee the firm following Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. The Russian state-owned gas producer will likely have its British operations placed under the taxpayer’s control.
American businesses were told to increase security on fears the Russian government would execute cyber-attacks. Putin’s country carried out attacks on Ukrainians prior to the invasion beginning.
Trustpilot reported doubled annual losses even though revenue jumped last year. One-off costs related to last March’s IPO pushed losses up to US$26.6mln.
Accesso Technology described 2021 as “simply outstanding” as it posted record numbers in 2021. The theme park queuing and ticketing software group grew revenues by 123% with earnings up by 346%.
Among the small caps, IQGeo Group made “substantial progress” in all regions last year with improved revenue growth. The group added it expects to break-even during full-year 2022.
Gore Street Energy Storage Fund intends to raise £750mln to take advantage of the growing opportunities in the industrial battery sector. It also proposed changes in its investment strategy to take advantage of more opportunities overseas.