Sales at popular bakery store Greggs (LON:GRG) rose at a slower pace to previous quarters, as economic conditions became more “challenging”. Greggs reported like-for-like sales growth of 3.7 percent in the year to the end of December, down from the 4.2 percent in 2016. Total sales over the year rose 7.4 percent to £960 million, up from from £894.2 million the year before, but pre-tax profit fell to £71.9 million. The bakery chain increased its dividend by 4.2 percent to 32.3p per share, compared with 31p per share last year. “In 2017 we delivered another strong performance in challenging economic circumstances as rising inflation impacted both our own costs and customers’ disposable income. At the same time we continued to make good progress with our business transformation programme,’ said Roger Whiteside, Chief Executive. “Whilst the UK consumer outlook remains challenging, we are encouraged by the start to the year. 2018 will be the peak year for investment in our supply chain as we create the platforms for further growth. We also plan to open a record number of new shops as we implement our plan to grow Greggs as a leading food-on-the-go brand.” Greggs share are currently trading up 0.84 percent at 1,323,00 (0843GMT).

Standard Chartered (LON:STAN) shares climbed in early morning trading on Tuesday, after it announced that it would restart its dividend after a jump in annual profits. The group cancelled its dividend in 2015 in order to rebalance its books, after chief executive Bill Winters took control of the bank. The decision to reinstate dividend payments came as Standard Chartered’s loan books grew 11.6 per cent last year, with operating income rising 2.6 per cent in the period to $14.4 billion after four years of consecutive declines. “The transformation of the group continued in 2017 with the significant improvement in underlying profits, a strong capital position and emerging clarity on regulatory capital requirements allowing us to resume paying dividends,’ Winters said. “We are encouraged by our start to 2018 and remain focused on realising the group’s full potential.” Standard Chartered shares rose over three percent in the wake of the announcements on the Hong Kong market, and are currently trading up 1.44 percent in London.

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).