Below is a selection of the morning's key market news, earning reports & trending stories - see more here.
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Record pretax profits for the UK’s largest housebuilder Barratt Developments (BDEV) which grew 9.2% to £835.5m.
Revenue also grew 4.8% to £4.9bn as the company increased its final ordinary dividend per share by 4.7% to 17.9p.
Total project completions for the company also increased to 17,579 - its highest level in a decade.
Commenting on the results David Thomas, Chief Executive of Barratt Developments said:
"The Group has had another outstanding year delivering a strong operational and financial performance, and our highest volumes in a decade.
“As the UK's largest housebuilder we are helping to address the country's housing shortage - creating jobs and supporting economic growth whilst continuing to lead the industry in quality and customer service.”
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Elsewhere in the housing market, Berkeley Group (BKG) said it would hit full-year projections in a trading update today, but said it was cautious over the “constrained” London market.
The company said: "In essence, this is a market that lacks urgency and London remains constrained by high transaction costs, restrictive income multiple limits on mortgage borrowing and prevailing economic uncertainty, accentuated by Brexit.
“These headwinds affect all segments of the market from home movers to downsizers and investors alike.
“A functioning housing market, where good new development can deliver much needed additionality across all tenures, requires conditions for growth and low barriers to entry which are currently absent from the housing market in London and the South East.”
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UK bookmaker William Hill (WMH) has announced it is forming a joint venture with UK casino operator Eldorado Resorts to further expand into the US gambling market.
Eldorado is a NASDAQ-listed group that has 21 properties across 11 states and a customer base of 23m people, which will extend to 26 properties when it completes an acquisition later this year.
The agreement will see William Hill become Eldorado’s exclusive partner in providing digital and land-based sports betting services as well as online gambling.
Commenting on the agreement Philip Bowcock, William Hill CEO, said: "Partnering with Eldorado gives William Hill access to one of the largest and most attractive casino footprints with 23 million customers across multiple states.
“This partnership provides extensive cross sell and profit growth opportunities to both parties. Together we are positioned to capture the evolving US opportunity – starting with land-based sports betting, and extending to digital sports betting and, in some states, online gaming.”
Read more here
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Gem Diamonds (GEM) reported a huge 81% increase in half year revenue this morning after recovering a large amount of diamonds.
This year the company saw record recoveries of “large, high quality diamonds” at Letšeng, and was helped by the average price per carat increasing 54% compared to the previous year.
The Main Market firm also sold the 910 carat diamond Lesotho Legend for $40m in January.
The company said: “Letšeng's improved recoveries combined with the discovery and subsequent sale of the Lesotho Legend has generated a strong set of results.
“Letšeng produced a record number of diamonds greater than 100 carats for any six-month period in the mine's history reaffirming the exceptional and unique quality of Letšeng."
