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Taylor Wimpey warns on FY profits as earnings miss forecasts, Oxford Instruments reiterates FY guidance
By Iain Gilbert
Date: Thursday 15 Jan 2026
(Sharecast News) - LONDON PRE-OPEN
The FTSE 100 was expected to open 43.8 points higher ahead of the bell on Thursday, after wrapping up the previous session 0.46% firmer at 10,184.35.
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Annual profits at Taylor Wimpey look set to narrowly miss expectations, the housebuilder confirmed on Thursday. Updating on trading on the year to 31 December, the FTSE 250 firm said UK home completions, excluding joint ventures, were in the middle of its guidance range at 10,614, up from 9,972 a year earlier. However, operating profits were slated to come in around £420m, up on last year's £416.2m but below the £424m forecast.
Manufacturing and research company Oxford Instruments reaffirmed its full‑year guidance on Thursday, with adjusted operating profits expected to be in line with market forecasts. Oxford Instruments reported further progress in its imaging and analysis division, where order intake rose 2.4% on an organic constant currency basis.
Pub group Mitchells and Butlers said first quarter like-for-like sales grew to 4.5%, driven by a strong Christmas period. The All Bar One and Harvester owner also said LFL sales from Christmas Eve to New Year's Day rose 10.5%.
Homewares retailer Dunelm expects full-year profits to come in at the lower end of market forecasts as a result of a "challenging environment" in the first half, in which sales growth slowed significantly towards the end of 2025. Sales totalled £498m over the second quarter, up just 1.6% year-on-year, held back by particularly high levels of competitive activity in both digital marketing and discounting around Black Friday and December. As a result, full-year pre-tax profits were now expected to be at the bottom end of its £214m-227m consensus range.
NEWSPAPER ROUND-UP
South East Water could lose its operating licence after residents across Kent and Sussex faced up to a week without water. The environment secretary, Emma Reynolds, has called for the regulator to review the company's operating licence. If it were to lose it, the company would fall into a special administration regime until a new buyer was found. If the regulator, Ofwat, decides the company has breached its licence but decides not to revoke it, penalties include a fine of 10% of the company's annual turnover. Ofwat in 2024 decided Thames Water was in breach of its licence but decided to avoid forcing it into special measures and instead insisted on a turnaround plan. - Guardian
Six people have been arrested as part of a £300m fraud investigation into a British social housing landlord set up to provide accommodation for rough sleepers. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) raided seven sites on Wednesday as part of fresh bribery and fraud enquiries into the past management of Home REIT, which owned 12,000 beds across dozens of properties rented out to homeless charities. - Telegraph
Asda has bowed to union pressure over a sick-pay crackdown after watering down plans for tougher disciplinary rules. The troubled supermarket has told staff it will no longer double the time it takes to reset their absence records after the new rules were deemed "far too harsh" by workers. - Telegraph
Nearly half of carbuyers interested in going electric are rethinking their plans after the government announced a per-mile charging for such cars, research from AutoTrader has revealed. Nathan Coe, the chief executive of the vehicle buying and selling platform, said the decision by Rachel Reeves to bring in a 3p per mile-travelled tax on electric vehicles from 2028 was "incoherent and inconsistent" with government policy of promoting EVs. - The Times
A Mayfair club founded by Charles Dickens has swung to a loss of close to £4m as it struggles with inflationary pressures and a writedown tied to its private health clinic. The Arts Club on Dover Street in central London has reported swinging from a pre-tax profit of £360,540 to a loss before tax of £3.8m as it booked an impairment charge on a loan issued to the clinic it launched in partnership with Lanserhof, an Austrian luxury wellness group. - The Times
US CLOSE
Major indices closed lower on Wednesday as traders digested another round of bank earnings and some more key inflation numbers.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.09% at 49,149.63, while the S&P 500 shed 0.53% to 6,926.60, and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 1.00% softer at 23,471.75.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
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