Persimmon posted a 25 per cent rise in annual profit on Tuesday, boosted by a rise both revenue and annual selling prices. Pre-tax profit hit £966.1 million for the year, with its revenue rising 9 percent to £3.42 billion. Legal completions of new homes increased to 16,043, up 872, and the group’s figures were boosted by an improved average selling price, up 3.2 percent to £213,321. Acting chairman Nigel Mills said Persimmon’s performance in 2017 had been “excellent” adding that the group’s focus on “high quality growth, coupled with capital discipline, has accelerated the delivery of our strategic objectives and generated record returns for our shareholders.” “The start to the spring sales season in 2018 has been encouraging with the group’s private sales rate per site being 7 per cent higher than last year at this point”, he continued, saying that “the further increase in the capital return plan demonstrates the board’s confidence in the group’s prospects.”. The company also declared an interim of 125p and a final dividend of 125p and 110p saying that surplus capital meant it was increasing its capital return program. Persimmon (LON:PSN) shares are currently trading up 10.09 per cent at 2,739.00 (0813GMT).

Destiny Pharma (LON:DEST) announced Monday they are commencing US clinical trials for its novel anti-infective drug XF-73, after the FDA accepted the Investigational New Drug application. The anti-infective drug is being developed to prevent post-surgical staphylococcal infections in patients such as Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). “We are pleased to open the IND and are looking forward to starting the clinical programme and reporting the Phase 2 data in 2019. The US is the largest potential market for this drug candidate and XF-73 could be the first drug approved for the US FDA’s newly defined indication of “prevention of post-surgical staphylococcal infection”. We look forward to continuing to advance XF-73 through clinical development,” said CEO, Neil Clark. The XF-73 drug has been developed from Destiny Pharma’s novel, antimicrobial “XF” drug platform and was awarded Qualifying Infectious Disease Product (QIDP) status in October 2015 by the US FDA. Destiny Pharma is a UK clinical stage biotechnology company focused on the development of anti-microbial drugs, which addresses the global problem of anti-microbial resistance. The pharmaceutical launched a £15.3 million IPO on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM market last September 2017. Following the news, shares were up 3.05 percent, trading at 135p, as of 14:30 (GMT).

Hilton Food Group (LON:HFG) announced Monday they have agreed to extend for 15 years the meat supply agreement with Australian supermarket Woolworths. The supply, by Hilton Foods Australia, will include packaged and value-added meat products. It is expected to start operations in the plants of Bunbury and Truganina from the 1st of July this year. These plants were previously handled by Woolworths Meats Co Pty, a joint venture between the two companies. The current assets belong to Woolworths. However, after two years the Hilton group will buy the relevant plant assets for an estimate value of AU$85 million, in cash or equity consideration. The meat giant has been working closely with the Aussie supermarket for five years now. With this new long-term contract they are looking to enhance the relationship by delivering quality, innovative meat products and “convenient and affordable protein choices” for Woolworths’ customers. “The long term contract between us displays the mutual trust we have in our partnership and Hilton looks forward to working with the Woolworths team to strengthen further our world class meat offer in Australia,” said Robert Watson, chief executive of Hilton. Earlier this month, the group announced a positive trading outlook in line with their expectations. They showed supported growth around Western European markets, as well as a high turnover in the UK and Ireland. And in the three months to Christmas, sales were up in Scandinavia, especially in Sweden with their fresh pizzas product. Moreover, the acquisition of Icelandic Group UK, made public last November, was completed this month for £80.8 million. As for Woolworths, the supermarket announced last week their profits and first-half earnings surged by 38 percent beating their main Australian rival Coles. Net profit after tax rose to AU $969 million for the last quarter in 2017. Shares of the Hilton Food Group were up 0.24 percent, trading at 382p, as of 12:00 (GMT).

BAE Systems sales for 2017 rose 3.1% in 2017 helping underlying EPS increase to 43.5p from 40.3p. The defence group highlighted an increase defence budgets in some of their key markets and favourable currency flucations as reason for the jump in sales. BAE received £20.3 billion in orders through the period with key orders for the F-35 Lightning programme and contracts for self-propelled howitzers. Qatar also signed a contract for 24 Typhoon aircraft in December which is reported to be worth £5 billion. Despite a flurry of deals, BAE says it expects earnings to be flat over the following year, disappointing markets who sent the shares 2% lower in an initial reaction on Thursday. CEO Charles Woodburn said of the results:”We delivered a good performance in 2017, consistent with our expectations for the year. We start 2018 with a streamlined organisation and a strong focus on programme execution, technology and enhanced competitiveness, providing a solid foundation for medium-term growth. With an improving outlook for defence budgets in a number of our markets, we are well placed to generate good returns for shareholders.”

Barclays (LON:BARC) released full year results on Thursday which revealed a 10% jump in pretax profit despite a drop in total income. The profit increase was facilitated by falling costs and a reduction in litigation payments. Barclay’s financial position has also improved with CET1 increasing to 13.3% from 12.4% a year prior. The results have given the bank confidence to outline plans for share buybacks and other capital distributions in the future. Chief Executive, Jess Staley commented on the results: “2017 was a year of considerable strategic progress for Barclays. The sell down of our shareholding in Barclays Africa, closure of our Non-Core unit, the establishment of our Service Company, and the creation of our UK ring- fenced bank, mean that, in terms of size and structure, we are now the diversified Transatlantic Consumer and Wholesale bank we set out in our strategy in March 2016.We have a portfolio of profitable businesses, producing significant earnings, and have plans and investments in place to grow those earnings over time.” “We have already started to see some of the benefits of our work in 2017. Group profit before tax increased 10% year-on-year as a result of our team’s focus on execution. Barclays UK navigated the year well, reaching a digital banking milestone with our ten millionth customer. Within Barclays International, we increased Banking fee share in our Corporate and Investment Bank in 2017, and our Consumer, Cards and Payments business continued to produce very strong income while managing risk effectively.” Shares in Barclays rose over 5% in early trade on Thursday.

Shares in transport operator FirstGroup (LON:FGP) sunk over 10 percent on Wednesday morning, after a trading update warned on the disappointing performance of its US Greyhound bus routes. The company said many Americans had switched to budget flights instead of using the iconic long-distance bus service, meaning that earnings were likely to be slightly lower than expected. The group added that its American divisions had faced “extremely challenging” weather conditions in January, which further contributed to the weaker-than-expected figures. Commenting on the announcement, FirstGroup Chief Executive Tim O’Toole the group had made “encouraging margin progress” in the period, but added that it had been a challenging quarter. “First Student’s momentum continues to be tempered by the strength of the US employment market, with no easing of the driver shortages experienced in recent years, while First Transit has taken a number of actions to help restore margins in the second half as planned. “Although Greyhound’s point-to-point business continues to grow, this was more than offset by significant reductions in long-haul volumes in the period. Our North American businesses were also tested by the severe snowstorms which affected the Atlantic seaboard from Nova Scotia down to Florida in January 2018. Notwithstanding the mixed trading picture in the period we continue to expect substantial cash generation for the year as a whole.” However, the group as a whole has reported a revenue increase of 10.7 percent, with group revenue in constant currency, excluding the new SWR rail franchise, up 1.1 percent in the year to date. Shares in FirstGroup are currently trading down 10.57 percent at 85.74 (0916GMT).

Barratt Developments (LON:BDEV) posted record pre-tax profits for the first half of the financial year, sending shares up in early trading. Th group reported profits of £342.7 million for the six month to the end of December, up 6.8 percent on the year before. Revenue rose by 9.5 per cent to £1.99 billion, up from £1.8 billion a year ago. Total completions rose 2 percent to 7,324 plots. The housing developer said it also intends to pay special dividends of £175 million in November 2018 and £175 million in November 2019. David Thomas, Chief Executive of Barratt Developments, attributed the strong figures to an increase in consumer demand, as well as “a healthy forward order book and a robust balance sheet”. “Overall we have had a strong first half and we continue to deliver against our operational and financial objectives. “As the UK’s largest housebuilder, we enter our 60th year increasing our housing output, creating jobs and supporting economic growth across the country”, he said. Total forward sales were up 2 per cent on the previous year at £2.4 billion, with wholly-owned forward sales up 4 per cent at £2.7 billion. Shares in Barratt Developments are currently trading up 1.14 percent at 568.60 (0851GMT).

Student accommodation provider Unite Group (LON:UTG) launched an £170 million share issue on Wednesday, in order to fund a further two university housing projects. Around 22 million shares are set to be issued at a price determined via a book-build, representing around 9.2 percent of the company’s share capital. The group is planning one of the new projects in partnership with Oxford Brookes University, with planning in place to build a £73 million residence for 887 students. The second project is a 1,000-bed development for Kings College London, set to cost around £195 million and open in 2021. The company added that it hopes to increase its dividend payout ratio from 75 percent to 85 percent of earnings in the current financial year. Unite Group shares are currently trading down 1.03 percent at 772.00 (0840GMT).

Metro Bank (LON:MTRO) posted its first annual profit on Wednesday, after after it reported growth in deposit and lending volumes. The bank, who is one of a set of new ‘challenger banks’ offering easier, customer-friendly banking to shake up the industry, reported a pre-tax profit of £10.8 million in the year to December 2017. This comes after reporting a loss of £16.8 million in 2016. Deposits rose by 47 percent to £3.7 billion, while lending volumes jumped by 64 percent to £9.6 billion. The bank has a target of between £50 and £55 billion in deposits by 2023. Lending rose 64 percent to £9.6 billion.

“As we enter new markets across the country, we will continue to… bring real competition and choice for banking customers,” CEO Craig Donaldson said.

Metro Bank, who listed on the stock exchange in 2016, saw shares plunge on the news on Wednesday morning. Shares are currently trading down 4.54 percent at 3,446 (0834GMT).