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C&C Group trades below internal expectations, Babcock taps Harry Holt for CEO
By Iain Gilbert
Date: Friday 23 Jan 2026
(Sharecast News) - LONDON PRE-OPEN
The FTSE 100 was expected to open 4.4 points lower ahead of the bell on Friday, after wrapping up the previous session 0.12% firmer at 10,150.05.
STOCKS TO WATCH
Drinks maker C&C Group said on Friday that overall trading has been below internal expectations in FY26, with customer performance across November and early December impacted by weak consumer confidence associated with the UK Budget. While C&C said it had continued to make "strong progress" in its key objectives, it stated these actions were not sufficient to offset the combination of subdued market volumes, unfavourable category mix and competitive pricing dynamics across the market. Looking ahead, the FTSE 250-listed firm currently anticipates FY27 adjusted operating profits to be much the same as FY26, which were now projected to be between €70m-€73m, as it expects to see current macroeconomic and consumer headwinds continue into next year.
UK defence firm Babcock International said CEO David Lockwood would retire at the end of 2026 after almost five years in the job and be replaced by Harry Holt, currently head of the company's nuclear division. In a separate trading statement, Babcock said its performance through the third quarter had seen a continuation of the strong performance reported at the half year, with the group delivering good organic revenue growth and underlying operating margin progression. It added that delivery of its plans to jointly produce Arrowhead frigates under Indonesia's £4bn maritime partnership programme would provide upside to current expectations.
NEWSPAPER ROUND-UP
Donald Trump has sued JPMorgan Chase and its CEO, Jamie Dimon, for at least $5bn after accusing America's largest bank of "debanking" him. The US president alleged that the bank stopped offering him banking services in the wake of the Capitol riot on January 6. Earlier this month, he claimed it had "incorrectly and inappropriately" discriminated against him. - Guardian
The financial campaigner James Daley has launched a £1.5bn class action lawsuit against Apple over its mobile phone wallet, claiming the US tech company blocked competition and charged hidden fees that ultimately harmed 50m UK consumers. The lawsuit takes aim at Apple Pay, which they say has been the only contactless payment service available for iPhone users in Britain over the past decade. - Guardian
A £400m legal claim brought against the widow of Mike Lynch has been branded "disgraceful". Sir David Davis, the Conservative MP for for Goole and Pocklington, said a lawsuit filed by The Italian Sea Group (TISG), which built the doomed Bayesian superyacht, will "heap more pain on a woman who has already lost a husband and greatly beloved child". - Telegraph
Overworked staff were to blame for a timetabling blunder that left empty "ghost trains" running from Manchester to London, the head of Britain's rail regulator said. John Larkinson, the chief executive of the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), told MPs that the department was too "stretched" by its workload to consider every application to run trains. - Telegraph
The Serious Fraud Office has charged two people in its investigation into suspected fraud at Safe Hands Plans, the pre-paid funerals company whose collapse left 46,000 customers with a combined £75m shortfall. The SFO, which announced a criminal investigation in October 2023 into Safe Hands and SHP Capital Holdings, its parent company, said Richard Wells, 39, who is living in Spain, and Neil Debenham, 43, of Norwich, have both been charged with conspiracy to defraud. - The Times
Nigel Farage has reiterated a plan to scrap the interest payments the Bank of England pays to commercial banks on reserves built up during quantitative easing. The plan was included in Reform UK's 2024 manifesto. Quizzed on whether the party still planned the change, which has been described by banks as a tax, he said: "We are going to do it." - The Times
US CLOSE
US stocks put in strong gains again on Thursday on the back of easing geopolitical tensions, as markets continued to rebound after a heavy sell-off at the start of the week.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.63% at 49,384.01, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.55% to 6,313.35, and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.91% stronger at 23,436.02.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
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