JD Sports reiterates FY guidance, Pearson launches £350m share buyback programme

LONDON PRE-OPEN

The FTSE 100 was expecred to open 8.3 points higher ahead of the bell on Wednesday after wrapping up the previous session 0.67% lower at 10,126.78.

STOCKS TO WATCH

Fashion house Burberry reported a 3% rise in comparable retail sales in the third quarter of FY26, as the luxury group highlighted improving product momentum and stronger engagement with younger consumers. Burberry said on Wednesday that it had delivered higher quality revenues across channels and regions, helped by a shorter and more discreet markdown period compared with last year.

Educational publishing and services group Pearson announced that it will kick off a new £350m share buyback programme, half of which will be repurchased by the middle of May. In a brief statement to the market on Wednesday, the firm said it "enters 2026 with momentum and confidence in delivering against market expectations and medium term outlook".

JD Sports fashion held annual guidance as fourth quarter like-for-like sales fell 1.8% with a return to growth in North America – the retailer's biggest market – offset by a weak performance in the UK and Europe amid a volatile consumer environment. JD said it also expected "muted" market growth in fiscal 2027. Current-year gross margins were forecast to be 50 basis points lower, driven by price investments.

NEWSPAPER ROUND-UP

Nearly 400 millionaires and billionaires from 24 countries are calling on global leaders to increase taxes on the super-rich, amid growing concern that the wealthiest in society are buying political influence. An open letter, released to coincide with the World Economic Forum in Davos, calls on global leaders attending this week's conference to close the widening gap between the super-rich and everyone else. – Guardian

Just 32 fossil fuel companies were responsible for half the global carbon dioxide emissions driving the climate crisis in 2024, down from 36 a year earlier, a report has revealed. Saudi Aramco was the biggest state-controlled polluter and ExxonMobil was the largest investor-owned polluter. Critics accused the leading fossil fuel companies of "sabotaging climate action" and "being on the wrong side of history" but said the emissions data was increasingly being used to hold the companies accountable. – Guardian

Labour is plotting to make farmers apply for costly licences to keep cattle in an attempt to cut down the amount of cow dung polluting Britain's waterways. The proposals, contained in government plans to reform the water industry, would expand a system of environmental permits used for pig and poultry farms to cattle farmers to police how they manage waste from their herds. Under the plan, beef farmers would have to pay thousands of pounds for a licence every year and receive a visit from a government inspector to identify pollution risks from their herds and slurry storage. – Telegraph

The proposed takeover of The Telegraph by the owner of the Daily Mail is to be investigated over its impact on competition and the public interest. Lisa Nandy, the Culture Secretary, said she was minded to refer Lord Rothermere's £500m deal to regulators at the Competition and Markets Authority and Ofcom. – Telegraph

The government risks "putting deregulation ahead of accountability", the chairman of the Commons business and trade committee has warned as the decision to scrap the long-awaited audit reform bill triggered widespread criticism. Liam Byrne, the Labour MP and former minister, said that after the collapse of BHS and Carillion audit reform had been promised to protect workers, pensioners and suppliers but the government had now decided "costs to business matter more". – The Times

US CLOSE

Major indices were firmly in the red at the close on Tuesday as Donald Trump ramped up his rhetoric on Greenland, threatening to slap new tariffs on countries opposing the sale of the Danish territory.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.76% at 48,488.59, while the S&P 500 shed 2.06% to 6,796.86 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 2.39% weaker at 22,954.32.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com