5 hours Ago By Evening Standard
, Shares in Imperial Brands are 4% higher after it pledged to return £2.8 billion in the 2025 financial year, up from £2.4 billion planned for this year.
The increase by one of the FTSE 100’s leading income stocks includes dividends of £1.5 billion, which will now be distributed as four equal quarterly payments. For 2024, the tobacco giant has announced an annual dividend of 153.
43p a share, representing an increase of 4.5% on the previous financial year. The company, whose brands include Davidoff, Golden Virginia and Blu, plans to buy back £1.
25 billion of its shares in 2025. That’s a 13.6% increase on the 2024 level of £1.
1 billion. The returns were announced as the Bristol-based company confirmed a 2024 performance in line with City expectations. Shares lifted 84p to 2232p.
, Penalties for missed targets by Britain’s water firms will mean the return of £157.6 million through lower customer bills in 2025-26, Ofwat said today. Its annual Water Company Performance Report showed a 2% cut in pollution incidents in 2020-25, compared with the industry’s pledge to deliver a 30% fall.
There was an increase in pollution incidents for nine of the 11 companies in 2023 and only one company met the performance commitment level. Ofwat chief executive David Black challenged companies to match record proposed investment with changes in company culture and leadership essential for lasting change He added: “"This year's performance report is stark evidence that money alone will not bring the sustained improvements that customers rightly expect. "It is clear that companies need to change and that has to start with addressing issues of culture and leadership.
Too often we hear that weather, third parties or external factors are blamed for shortcomings. "Companies must implement actions now to improve performance, be more dynamic, agile and on the front foot of issues. And not wait until the government or regulators tell them to act.
” , FTSE 100 housebuilder Vistry has scaled back profit forecasts after it revealed the discovery of incorrect cost assumptions in its south of England division. The partnerships-focused builder said that full-life cost projections to complete nine out of the division’s 46 developments, including some large-scale schemes, have been understated by about 10% of the total build costs. The group, which has more than 300 developments overall, said the estimated one-off impact of adjusting for the revised development cost assumptions reduced 2024 profits expectations by £80 million, by £30 million the following year and £5 million for 2026.
It added: “We believe the issues are confined to the South Division and changes to the management team in the division are underway. We are commencing an independent review to fully ascertain the causes.” , The FTSE 100 index is set to fall by about 53 points to 8251 after leading US benchmarks last night closed about 1% lower.
The Wall Street slump on expectations of higher-for-longer interest rates was followed by a volatile session for investors in China. The Shanghai Composite resumed after the Golden Week holiday with an initial 10% jump, only for this to fade to about 3% higher after policymakers failed to outline further stimulus measures. The Hang Seng index dropped by 7% as Hong Kong shares reversed a big chunk of their recent improvement.
Brent Crude is 1.5% lower after topping $80 a barrel yesterday, while the pound is broadly flat at just below $1.31.
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