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).

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).