Trending tickers: BAE l Travis Perkins l Taylor Wimpey l Kraft-Heinz

BAE (BAE.L)

Shares in BAE systems were up 5.02% on Wednesday morning in London after Britain's biggest defence company upgraded its guidance for 2023 and forecast annual earnings growth.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the group said demand for weapons, ammunition and equipment has soared.

It comes as western allies continue to support Ukraine and boost their own stocks, while in the Asia-Pacific region, growing threats are also driving defence spending.

BAE said its good operational performance plus the demand from its customers, including the US, UK, Saudi Arabia and Australia, meant its full-year results would be better than expected across the board.

BAE said earnings per share for this year would grow 10-12%. It also lifted sales guidance to 5-7% growth from 3-5%.

For the first six months of the year, the company said underlying earnings per share rose 17% to 29.6 pence, and it lifted its interim dividend by 11% to 11.5 pence per share, on sales which also rose 11% to £12bn ($15.35bn).

"Our global footprint, deep customer relationships and leading technologies enable us to effectively support the national security requirements and multi-domain ambitions of our government customers," BAE chief executive, Charles Woodburn, said.

Kraft-Heinz (KHC)

Investors will also be keeping across Kraft-Heinz stock with the US food company set to announce its latest quarterly results.

The group announced plans on Monday to reduce the amount of virgin plastic used in its packaging by 20% by 2030. The company estimates that reduction will amount to about 100 million pounds or 50,000 tons of virgin plastic.

To reach its goal, the company said it will increase the use of recycled resin, lightweight some of its packaging, and in some cases use different materials altogether.

It builds on Kraft Heinz’s other sustainability goals, such as transitioning to 100% recyclable, reusable or compostable packaging by 2025.

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“We can’t continue to do things as we have in the past. We are investing in innovative technologies and partnerships that are critical to helping us redesign packaging, eliminate unnecessary plastic, increase our use of recycled content and influence the adoption of reuse models,” Rashida La Lande, executive vice president of the company said.

Shares in the group were down 0.83% to $35.88 per share on Tuesday, although its stock is set to open 1.31% higher on Wednesday, according to pre-market estimates.

Travis Perkins (TPK.L)

Shares in Travis Perkins were lower on Wednesday after the builders' merchants retailer failed to cheer investors with its latest quarterly results.

The company reported a weakness in both the newbuild housing and repairs, maintenance and improvements (RMI) markets which had led to a 31% decline in the group’s adjusted operating profit in the first half.

However, management at the group didn’t downgrade full-year guidance following an initial reduction in June.

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Nick Roberts, Travis Perkins chief executive, said: “Market conditions have been challenging, which is reflected in both our first half performance and our outlook for the balance of the year. The Group remains focused on striking the appropriate balance between seeking to protect shorter term profitability, delivering our strategic objectives and being well placed to benefit when market conditions improve.

“Given the market backdrop, we are relentlessly focused on meeting our customers’ needs in core categories and supporting our local branch managers to grow share of wallet, particularly with general builder and professional trade customers, by making it simpler and easier to transact with us through our digital channels and in our branches.”

Roberts also pointed to the market share gains coming through in Toolstation, which saw revenue up 9.0%.

Taylor Wimpey (TW.L)

Shares were up nearly 4% in UK home construction company Taylor Wimpey despite the company announcing ​​a slide in profits and a 21% fall in revenue in its latest interim results.

The group highlighted how soaring mortgage rates had inevitably impacted the first half.

However, it said it had a robust sales rate when taking into consideration the challenging market.

Revenue was £1.6bn, down from £2.07bn, and sale completions fell 26% to 5,120. Meanwhile, pre-tax profits dropped to £237.7m from £334.5m.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said the update provides further proof, if it were needed, of the tightening shackles which the housebuilders are currently facing.

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“Bottlenecks in the planning system are causing delays within the system, while build cost inflation remains elevated at around 6%, although down from its more recent highs of between 9% and 10%. Any more recent house price declines have yet to filter through to the cost of land, so Taylor Wimpey has maintained its significantly more selective approach to buying more land and has begun to drip its strategic landbank into play.

“The 26% fall in completions for the period also has other effects. Since some of the costs for the business are fixed, the lower number impacts the operating margin, which fell by 6% to 14.4% for the half. As such, each of the key metrics are under some considerable pressure,” he said.

Hunter also noted how the outlook guidance is understandably cautious, with operating profit for the year expected to be in the range £440m to £470m, compared with £923m the previous year.

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