Lloyds, Barratt and Hotel Chocolat

“The FTSE100 opened in positive territory following positive sessions on Wall Street and in Asia with banks and builders to the fore after strong results from Lloyds and Barratt. Investors will be scrutinising the UK's second-estimate GDP along with euro-zone final consumer-price index numbers,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.

“Lloyds led the blue-chip index in early trading after its best results for 10 years. Statutory pre-tax profits were up by 158% at £4.2bn as the spectre of payment protection insurance provisions finally began to fade, declining from £4bn to £1bn. The figures will be welcomed by ministers as the government plans to sell its remaining stake in the bank, which is now less than 5%, this year. Lloyds was up by more than 3.9%.

“Barratt’s shares were up after a strong first half. Britain’s biggest housebuilder has seen an 8.8% jump in pre-tax profits and has a record order book. Completions in London remain on track despite a general slowdown in the market while completions outside the capital are running at their highest level for nine years. Barratt’s confidence is underscored by its decision to raise and extend its special dividend plan. Ordinary dividend cover is re-set at 2.5 times and the group will pay special dividends of £175m in November this year and in November 2018. Barratt’s shares were up by over 3%.

“Hotel Chocolat had a strong first half underpinned by successful Christmas sales and spring is looking equally sweet with strong plans in place for Mother's Day and Easter. Hotel Chocolat continues to make good headway against its three key strategic objectives of opening more stores, improving its digital capability and increasing production capacity. Hotel Chocolat’s shares were up by more than 2.4% in early trading.”

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