Market Live Email
Bellway posts 'robust first half performance', Bytes Technology FY earnings seen in line with expectations
By Iain Gilbert
Date: Tuesday 24 Mar 2026
(Sharecast News) - LONDON PRE-OPEN
The FTSE 100 was expected to open 21.2 points higher ahead of the bell on Tuesday, after wrapping up the previous session 0.24% weaker at 9,894.15.
STOCKS TO WATCH
Bytes Technology said on Tuesday that annual earnings would be in line with expectations after its performance strengthened in the second half, but expected 2027 operating profits to be broadly flat on the back of higher costs after the completion of strategic projects. In a trading update for the 12 months ended 28 February, Bytes added that gross invoiced income growth was in double digits, with gross profit of £167m and operating profit of £62m.
Housebuilder Bellway posted a "robust first half performance" on Tuesday, with both total housing completions average selling prices increasing. Bellway said completions were up 2.7% at 4,702 homes, while average selling prices rose to £322,180. Underlying operating profits grew 1.5% to £159.0m, though Bellway also noted that operating margins had slightly decreased to 10.5%.
B&Q-owner Kingfisher forecast further growth on Tuesday, despite a "mixed" consumer environment, as it posted a jump in full-year profits. Kingfisher, which also owns Screwfix in the UK and Castorama and Brico Depot on the continent, saw sales edge up 0.2% in the year ended 31 January to £12.9bn on a constant currency basis. Underlying sales, however, which strip out the impact of acquisitions and disposals, improved 1.4%, driven by a strong performance in the UK, while adjusted pre-tax profits jumped 6% at £560m.
NEWSPAPER ROUND-UP
The UK government has dismissed a warning from an energy trade body that failing to produce more homegrown North Sea oil and gas will leave the UK increasingly reliant on imports at a time of rising global instability. The industry group, Offshore Energies UK, has said the UK "urgently" needs a greater supply of domestically produced energy or consumers will be left "more exposed to global volatility and higher emissions". - Guardian
English and Welsh winemakers have reported a sharp rise in production, after the hot, dry summer in 2025 and an increase in vineyard planting resulted in the third-largest UK harvest. The equivalent of 16.5m bottles were produced across the UK last year - or 124,377 hectolitres - according to figures from the wine regulator, the Food Standards Agency. - Guardian
EasyJet will slow hiring after warning that the Middle East crisis could push up air fares by the summer. The low-cost carrier plans to leave vacant posts unfilled for longer while flight frequencies could be reduced on some weaker routes to preserve cash. - Telegraph
Farmers across Britain are being hit with fuel rationing as supplies of diesel become squeezed. Some wholesalers of "red diesel", which is used to power tractors and other farm machinery, have begun imposing limits on the amount farmers can buy, The Telegraph has been told. - Telegraph
The chairman of Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust has expressed frustration with a senior official at the Financial Conduct Authority after the regulator failed to initiate immediate rule changes to counter the activist hedge fund Saba Capital. Jonathan Simpson-Dent said the authority's "lack of a stance" on investment trusts would encourage other activists like Saba to target other UK trusts, gradually "grinding down" opposition in order to take control. More trusts would disappear, he said. - The Times
US CLOSE
Major indices closed higher on Monday, rebounding from their lowest levels of the year, while oil prices slid amid hopes that the US and Iran could soon agree on an end to the war.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.38% at 46,208.47, while the S&P 500 advanced 1.15% to 6,581.00 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 1.38% firmer at 21,946.76.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
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