BUSINESS LIVE: CPI flatlines at 6.7%; Barratt warns of 'uncertain' outlook; Whitbread profits soar

Just before close, the FTSE 100 was 1.06% down at 7,594.12.

Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 was 1.54% lower at 17,416.68.

(PA) – A record number of companies have shared their environmental impact with a global climate platform in the wake of unprecedented temperatures this year.

The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a non-profit organisation to which companies can voluntarily disclose information on their climate performance, said 1,800 UK companies, including 94% of the FTSE 100, have shared this data in 2023.

This comes as a 25% increase since 2022 as the trend towards corporate transparency continues to grow, the CDP said.

UK companies sharing their data for the first time this year included The Body Shop, The City of London Corporation, Highland Spring and Hollywood Bowl Group.

However, the CPD criticised Southern Water, Boohoo.com, Clarion Housing Group and Eddie Stobart Logistics, saying they were among the 735 who did not share their impact with the platform despite requests from investors or buyers to do so.

More widely, the project also saw a record 23,293 companies globally disclosing their impact to the CDP in 2023, including listed companies worth over two thirds of market capitalisation.

Energy firms have been ordered to improve customer service by regulator Ofgem, especially for vulnerable customers in debt.

The new rules, which take place from December 14, require energy firms to contact customers if they miss two monthly or one quarterly payment.

Swedish electric lorry start-up Volta Trucks will file for bankruptcy after having problems with its battery supplier, putting 600 British jobs at risk.

The EV firm is filing for bankruptcy in Sweden and said on Tuesday it will ‘shortly file for administration in England’, after the group was negatively impacted by the bankruptcy of its battery supplier, Proterra.

Motor retailer AutoNation has pulled out of the race to acquire Stratstone and Evans Halshaw owner Pendragon.

The Florida-based company set up a three-way bidding war when it pitched a 32 pence per share takeover offer for one of Britain’s few remaining listed car dealers three weeks ago.

The owner of LADbible is set to acquire a US-based Betches Media, expanding its footprint in women’s publications.

LBG Media will pay an initial $24million (£19.6million) for the brand, but the deal could be worth as much as $54million (£44million) in total.

Taxpayers would have earned an additional 6.7 per cent tax-free next April were it not for the freeze in tax bands, leaving workers thousands of pounds out of pocket, analysis shows.

A leaked document outlining Microsoft‘s pay guidance has revealed how the firm’s top employees can earn millions of dollars per year.

The top band in the leaked document – used by hiring managers to decide how much to offer new hires – had a base salary of up to $361,500, an on-hire bonus of up to $1.2 million, and an annual stock award of up to $945,000.

Housebuilder shares fell on Wednesday after Barratt Developments warned its annual outlook remained ‘uncertain’ in a challenging period for the housing market.

Britain’s largest housebuilder built 9,221 homes this year as of 8 October, down about 31 per cent year-on-year, and Barratt said it expects its ‘highly selective approach to land’ will continue into next year.

Premier Inn’s parent company has launched another £300million share buyback after first-half profits rose by a quarter on bumper demand.

FTSE 100-listed Whitbread’s statutory profits rose to £293million for the six months ending August, from £234million in the equivalent period last year.

Pressure is mounting on Beyonce’s former manager as he tries to convince shareholders that he is still hitting the right note with the song fund he founded.

Hipgnosis Songs Fund – which Merck Mercuriadis set up in 2018 – offers investors the chance to make money from the royalties of tracks by famous artists.

BT is set to pocket more than £1 billion selling off copper from its Digital Voice programme as it switches the country to digital phone lines, Money Mail can reveal.

Angry customers are now demanding the money is used to lower their bills.

The financial services sector is still run by an ‘old boys’ network’ that allows sexual harassment and misogyny to go unchecked, MPs heard yesterday.

Speaking as the Treasury committee launched its sexism in the City inquiry, fund management grandee Baroness Morrissey, said sexism was ‘endemic’ across the financial services industry.

If you thought electric vehicles (EVs) were expensive now, a post-Brexit trade rule set to be introduced in months will send the average price of a battery-powered car rocketing by an average of £3,400, the automotive industry body has warned.

EV makers will likely pass on additional costs incurred as a result of new ‘rule of origin’ tariffs due from 1 January because the most valuable part of these cars – the batteries – are not sourced domestically.

Goldman Sachs’s boss yesterday admitted that ‘with hindsight you’ll do certain things differently’ as the Wall Street giant reported a sharp fall in quarterly earnings.

Profits fell by 36 per cent to £1.54billion in the third quarter partly thanks to an ill-fated foray into consumer banking.

The pound fell yesterday after figures showing a slowdown in wage growth boosted expectations that the Bank of England will not need to raise interest rates next month.

Sterling dipped by nearly a cent to as low as $1.2132 after the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said average earnings grew by 7.8 per cent in the three months to August.

Marcus Brookes, chief investment officer at Quilter Investors:

‘Clearly the UK is not winning any races with this trajectory as inflation still remains incredibly elevated and much more so than peers. With geopolitical tensions rising, energy and petrol prices are once again on the way up and inflationary pressures risk hitting an economy that has gone through a painful cost of living crisis.

‘For now, the higher for longer interest rate narrative will continue to persist.

‘However, while wages are now rising faster than prices, for many the pain is yet to be truly felt and the Bank of England is in a difficult position. It paused on raising interest rates at its last meeting, but this reading means we are likely to see at least another rate rise.

‘The question becomes when they have done enough, but with inflation taking so long to come back down to more palatable levels that is a difficult question to answer and risks policy misstep.

‘We think the Bank of England has done enough and will be led by external factors, such as the Federal Reserve, but they will not want to appear to be doing nothing, especially when inflation remains so high.

“This elevated period of inflation and interest rates also makes the economic pain and potential recession more likely in 2024.’

George Lagarias, chief economist at Mazars:

‘Inflation comes in waves. The picture from the data is unfortunately a simple one. As food and goods prices begin to fall, energy prices are rising again.

‘This is a sign that the second wave of inflation is subsiding, but the third wave is ahead of us. The swiftly rising tensions in the Middle East are exacerbating the situation.

‘Would a de-escalation of hostilities help? Absolutely. A quick end to oil price speculation could, all other things being equal, stop the third inflation wave at the onset and allow prices to normalise.’

Premier Inn owner Whitbread has posted a 44 per cent rise in half-year profits, driven by strong demand and resilient spending at its pubs and restaurants.

Adjusted profit before tax rose to £391million for the first half of the year, up from £272million, giving the Brewers Fayre owner the financial space to announce a £300million share buyback programme.

Dominic Paul, Whitbread CEO, said: ‘The Group is in excellent shape, trading well and has significant growth potential, both in the UK and Germany.

‘Based on our strong performance to-date and an encouraging forward booked position, we remain optimistic about the full year outlook and look forward with confidence as reflected by our increased interim dividend and further planned share buy-back.’

Barratt Developments has warned its trading outlook is ‘uncertain’ in the wake of a challenging mortgage market.

Britains biggest housebuilder refrained from providing any annual profit forecast and said it will focus on driving revenue through multi-unit sales to the private rental and affordable housing sectors, besides doling out incentives to customers to boost sales.

The group said: ‘Our focus during FY24 will remain driving revenue through targeted use of incentives, whilst continuing to manage build activity and control our cost base.

‘This will be supported by our highly selective approach to land buying whilst continuing to lead the industry on sustainability.

‘We continue to expect to deliver total home completions of between 13,250 and 14,250 homes in FY24, including c. 650 home completions from our JVs and c. 750 completions for the private rental sector. All other guidance from our FY23 results on 6 September 2023 also remains unchanged.’

Consumer price inflation was unchanged at 6.7 per cent in September, higher than forecasts of 6.6 per cent and leaving the Bank of England with food for thought at its November meeting after it opted to pause interest rate hikes in September.