UK Stocks-Factors to watch on May 21 (updated)

Londonmetric Property

21/05/2026 07:56

Adds news items, updates futures

May 21 (Reuters) -
Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening lower on Thursday, with futures FFIc1 down 0.41%.

* EASYJET: EasyJet EZJ.L
posted
 a first-half loss of 552 million pounds, in line with the 540 million-560 million pounds it had warned of in April.

* BT: BT BT.L said it
added
 2.2 million fibre connections in the year to end-March, helping it offset pricing pressure and weakness in its international unit to deliver flat core earnings.

* MITCHELLS & BUTLERS: Mitchells & Butlers MAB.L said its like-for-like sales
growth slowed
 in the second quarter and the most recent three-week period, as cautious consumers tightened spending.

* SMITHS GROUP: Smiths Group
forecast
 annual revenue to grow at a slower pace that previously anticipated, after it took a £10 million hit from the war in the Middle East in the third quarter.

* AUTOTRADER: Autotrader AUTOA.L
unveiled plans
 to return around £600 million ($806.2 million) to shareholders in fiscal 2027 after reporting a 4% rise in annual profit.

* GULF TRADE: Britain said it had secured a trade deal with the Gulf Cooperation Council worth $5 billion a year in the long run, deepening economic ties with allies.

* COST OF LIVING: British finance minister Rachel Reeves will set out measures to try to ease the cost of living, including free bus fares for children.

* AID FUNDING: Britain has allocated up to 20 million pounds in new aid funding to help contain an Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, the UK's Foreign Office said.

* ATG ENTERTAINMENT: ATG Entertainment is in the early stages of being prepared for a possible sale by its private equity owner, four people familiar with the matter said.

* EX-DIVS: Imperial Brands IMB.L and Bunzl BNZL.L will trade without entitlement to their latest dividend pay-out on Thursday.

* COMMODITIES:
Oil
 prices gained more than 1%, while
gold
 edged lower , and
Shanghai copper
 rose.

* For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: LIVE/

TODAY'S UK PAPERS
> Financial Times PRESS/FT
> Other business headlines PRESS/GB

 (Compiled by Roshni Srivastava in Bengaluru)

 ((roshni.srivastava@thomsonreuters.com))