Debenhams, Barclays and National Express

“Blue-chips edged higher in early trading despite ongoing uncertainty for businesses over Brexit and ahead of today's European Central Bank policy statement,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.

“High street bellwether Debenhams was an early riser despite full-year pre-tax profits falling by more than 44% to £59m. The group has made good progress implementing its new strategy, Debenhams Redesigned, and results from initial trials have been encouraging. The environment, though, remains uncertain and Debenhams faces tough comparatives over the key Christmas weeks. The group’s shares were up by more than 1.9%.

“Barclays was the biggest FTSE100 faller as a weak trading performance in its investment arm held back the third quarter results. Pre-tax profits were up 19% but were below market forecasts due to the investment bank. Barclays also confirmed it would be setting up a separate UK division to keep its day-to-day operations separate from investment banking. The group’s shares were down by over 4.7%.

“National Express was up in early trading after normalised third quarter revenues and profits rose following an increase in passenger numbers on buses and trains. The group has reversed the decline in its UK bus business, secured growth in its coach business despite recent terrorist attacks, enjoyed a good summer in Spain and secured a strong start to the school year in the US. The group’s shares were up by more than 3%.”

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