Shares in Lloyds Bank climbed nearly 2 percent on Wednesday, after posting a 24 percent rise in profit. The group reported statutory profits before tax of £5.3 billion in 2017, up from £4.2 billion the year before. Its ordinary dividend increased to 3.05 pence, up 20 percent, and underlying profit rose 8 percent to £8.5 billion. Net income hit £17.5 billion over the 12 month period, with its net interest margin increasing to 2.86 percent. “2017 has been a landmark year in which the Group has made significant strategic progress and returned to full private ownership,” the company said in statement. “We have delivered another year of strong financial performance in 2017 with increased profits and returns on both a statutory and underlying basis, strong capital generation and increased capital returns.” Chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio also unveiled a further three year plan for the bank, alongside a rise in his pay packet worth around £600,000, bringing the total to £6.42 million.

Shares in Holiday Inn owner InterContinental Hotels Group (LON:IHG) fell over 4 percent on Tuesday morning, despite posting a set of positive preliminary results for the year to December 2017. The group reported a 7 percent rise in operating profits for 2017, bringing the total to $759 million. Revenue grew 4 percent to $1.78 billion, with its annual dividend climbing 11 percent to 104 cents per share. Adjusted earnings per share up 20 percent to 244.6 cents. However, looking to the year ahead the company gave a less positive outlook. The group said it expects the negative impact from the financial incentives provided to hotel owners that successfully implement the new brand hallmarks to have a total $7 million impact in 2018, as well as recognising a $4 million payroll tax credit that was delayed from 2017. “We do not expect our US healthcare programme to be in a surplus position again in 2018, which will result in a $5m increase to regional costs year on year”, the group added. Looking ahead, Keith Barr, chief executive of IHG said, “We remain positive in the outlook for the year ahead and we are confident that our ambitious plans will deliver a meaningful change in IHG’s growth.” Shares in IHG are currently trading down 4.62 percent at 4,480.00 (0909GMT).  

Dunelm Group (LON:DNLM) shares fell over 12 percent in early trading on Tuesday, after profits slipped in the half year to December 2017. Profit before tax and exceptional costs fell to £60 million over the period, down from £65.2 million a year ago. Its profit margin fell 1.8 percentage points to 48.6 per cent, attributed to a fall in sales at its latest acquisition Worldstores. However sales figures were positive during the period, with total sales up 18.4 percent to £545.4 million and like-for-like sales rising 6 percent. Comparable sales grew 36.8 percent online, with sales from the group’s website now making up 18.5 percent of its total revenue. Andy Harrison, Dunelm’s chairman, commented: “Our gross margin in the first half was lower due to the mix effect of acquired Worldstores sales and a higher proportion of end of season and seasonal products. We expect a more stable margin performance in the second half, which, together with reduced losses and increased integration benefits from the acquisition, should deliver good full year profit growth. “The Board has increased the interim dividend by 7.7 percent to 7.0 pence per share, reflecting both Dunelm’s future profit growth potential and our strong cash generating capability.” The mixed results sent Dunelm Group shares down in early trading, currently down 9.05 percent at588.00 (0850GMT).

HSBC released a strong set of results for 2017 on Tuesday, despite just missing analysts’ expectations and sending shares down over 3 percent. The banking group brought in $51.5 billion in adjusted revenues, an increase of 5 per cent on the year before. Pretax profit rose 141 percent to $17.2 billion during the course of the year, with revenue up 7 percent to $51.4 billion. However despite hitting many of the bank’s own targets, the strong results failed to match the expectations of analysts in the fourth quarter, sending HSBC’s share price down in early trading. Stuart Gulliver, Group Chief Executive, commented “Retail Banking and Wealth Management had an excellent 2017, with strong adjusted revenue increases across a number of business lines. In Retail Banking, interest rate rises helped to grow revenue as our robust balance sheet and capital strength continued to attract deposits, particularly in Hong Kong.” Shares in HSBC (LON:HSBA) are currently trading down 3.46 percent at 734.20 (0828GMT).

BHP Billiton (LON:BHP) saw profits fall 37 percent in the second half of 2017, after recording an exceptional loss of $2 billion. Profit for the half year to December came in at $2.0 billion, down from $3.2 billion reported in the same period the year before. The mining group attributed this to the $2 billion hit relating to the failure of the Samarco dam, as well as the effect of US tax reform. However, underlying attributable profit climbed 25 per cent to just over $4 billion over the period, driven by an increase in sales of both copper and oil. BHP cut net debt by 23 percent to $15.4bn from $20.1bn at the close of the last financial year, and announced a bumper dividend of 55 cents per share, up 38 percent or 15 cents per share from a year ago. Chief executive Andrew Mackenzie said: “Higher commodity prices and a solid operating performance delivered free cash flow of US$4.9 billion. We used this cash to further reduce net debt and increase returns to shareholders through higher dividends. “We are on track to deliver further productivity gains of US$2 billion by the end of the 2019 financial year as we secure improvements in both operating and capital productivity, aided by smarter technology application across our value chain.” Shares in BHP Billiton (LON:BHP) are currently down 3.19 percent at 1,512.20 (0819GMT).

Leisure travel company Dart Group (LON:DTG) said on Monday that it expects underlying profit before tax to be ‘materially’ ahead of previous expectations, sending shares up nearly 15 percent. The group attributed the change in expectation to the ‘continued success of our growing Leisure Travel business and a more normalised pricing environment after the heavy discounting in the market over the past year’. The group also said that forward bookings for summer 2018 were ‘satisfactory’ so far, adding that the performance of its two new operating bases at London Stansted and Birmingham airports was encouraging. “It is still early in the leisure travel booking cycle and we remain cautious on pricing”, the group added. “However, given the satisfactory forward bookings and the execution of our growth strategy, the Board currently expects the Group’s trading performance for the year ending 31 March 2019 to be broadly in line with the current financial year.” Shares in Dart Group are currently trading up 14.55 percent at 744.00 (0858GMT).

Petra Diamonds (LON:PDL) shares rose slightly on Monday morning, despite, reporting a loss for the first half of the 2017 fiscal year. The group faced problems with industrial action and was forced to write down the value of its assets in South Africa over the period, leading to a net loss of $117.7 million, compared to a profit of $35.2 million in the first half of its fiscal 2017 year. Revenue also dropped, to $225.2 million from $228.5 million. The effect of the strong Rand on the cost base of the assets, as well as ‘continuing operational underperformance’, led to non-cash impairment charges on the carrying value of Koffiefontein and Kimberley Ekapa Mining to the tune of $118.0 million. Annual revenue expectations remain in line with current forecasts. Petra Diamonds shares are currently trading up 0.36 percent at 68.95 (0847GMT).

Shares in consumer goods company Reckitt Benckiser (LON:RB) fell over 3 percent in early trading on Monday, after revenue came in flat for the 2017 financial year. The company had previously downgraded their revenue guidance, with like-for-like revenue coming in line with that guidance despite increasing by 2 percent in the fourth quarter. However net income jumped 230 percent to £6.17 billion, declaring a final dividend of 97.7p per share, up from 95.0p a year earlier and bringing to the total dividend for 2017 to 164.3p, up 7%. “2017 was a significant year in Reckitt Benckiser’s journey to become a global leader in consumer health,” chief executive Rakesh Kapoor said. “We returned to growth after a solid finish to the year, our acquisition of MJN is firmly on track and the creation of two business units – RB Health and RB Hygiene Home – will drive long-term growth.” The company are targeting revenue growth of between 13 and 14 percent for 2018.

British convenience store chain McColl’s saw shares sink over 10 percent on Monday morning, after warning on disruption in the wake of the collapse of one of its key suppliers. Palmer & Harvey entered administration late last year,with McColl’s warning that their collapse was likely to have further disruptions in 2018. The retailer has made contingency arrangements, including signing a new short-term supply contract with Nisa and beginning a new supply partnership with Morrisons. ‘Whilst these contingency agreements have largely ensured continuity of supply, we continue to closely manage distribution to these stores and the disruption has impacted our sales performance,’ the company said. Like-for-like sales sales for the 11-week period ended 11 February were down 2.2 percent as a result of the supplier problem, but total sales were up 26.7 percent. Other figures were also strong, with profit before tax for the year to November by 4 percent to £18.4 million, as revenue rose by 19 percent to £1.13 billion. Shares in McColl’s (LON:MCLS) are currently trading down 10.84 percent at 222.00 (0826GMT).