Applied Nutrition hopes to raise £400million from a looming initial public offering of the British sports nutrition group's shares on the London Stock Exchange.

The group, based in Knowsley, Liverpool, said on Wednesday it would offer up to 137,408,477 shares at a price range of 136p to 160p each, implying a value of £340million to £400million.

Fewer private investors are considering ESG when making investments, with the number being influenced by this falling for a third consecutive year.

Just 48 per cent of investors now say they consider environmental, social, and governance (ESG) when making investment decisions, falling from 53 per cent in 2023, according to the Association of Investment Companies' annual tracker.

Bellway has set itself the target of building at least 8,500 homes this year, bolstered by interest rate cuts and a Government housebuilding push.

The housebuilder constructed 7,654 properties in the 12 months ending July, 30 per cent fewer than the previous year owing to a smaller starting forward order book and a more difficult trading environment.

Higher mortgage rates and cost-of-living pressures have heavily impacted demand for new housing over the past couple of years, as well as the end of the Help to Buy scheme and former Prime Minister Liz Truss's controversial 'mini-budget'.

The owner of Vauxhall will decide whether to close its UK plants within 'the next few weeks'.

Stellantis, Europe's second-largest car maker, has been weighing up its options for months amid a row with the Government over quotas for electric vehicles (EVs).

In an update during the Paris Motor Show yesterday, boss Carlos Tavares urged ministers to relax the rules to secure the future of its recently upgraded EV plant in Ellesmere Port and its factory in Luton.

The FTSE 100 is trading lower this morning, dragged down by heavyweight oil stocks and industrial metal miners, while investors parse through wage and employment data released earlier in the day.

The further fall in wage growth, along with signs that the labour market continues to cool, support expectations that the BoE will cut interest rates at its policy meeting in November, Capital Economics said in a note.

Traders have priced in an 83 per cent chance of a rate cut by the BoE at its next meeting.

Among stocks, Bellway tops the FTSE 250, up 6.9 per cent after the homebuilder said it expects to build more homes in the 2025 financial year, buoyed by prospects of further reductions in borrowing costs.

James Smith, developed markets economist at ING:

'UK unemployment may be down, but so are vacancies, while the more timely and reliable payroll data points to a jobs market that looks more like it did in 2019.

'That period saw wage growth of 3.5%, not the 5% we see today. It'll take time, but that's the direction of travel for wages over the coming months and if we're right, it means faster Bank of England cuts.'

Robert Walters has posted a 12 per cent decline in third-quarter net fee income, reflecting lacklustre hiring in Europe and the UK amid macroeconomic and political uncertainties.

Job seekers in the UK await clarity on the employment legislation ahead of the new government's budget on 30 October, resulting in a 19 per cent net fee income drop, Robert Walters said.

The recruiter, which swung to a half-year loss in August, said it still expects to be profitable by the year-end despite no signs of recovery in the hiring market.

'Though market conditions mean second-half fee income is unlikely to exceed that seen during the first half, the programme of actions underway mean we continue to aim for a profitable full-year outcome,' CEO Toby Fowlston said.

Applied Nutrition expects to raise £340million to £400million from its highly anticipated London intitial public offering, the British sports supplements manufacturer said on Tuesday.

The price range for the IPO has been set at 136p to 160p per share.

Rob Morgan, chief investment analyst at Charles Stanley:

'The BoE has been closely monitoring wage data and its effect on services inflation, and this latest reading will not have extinguished concerns that price rises are more structural in nature. It may therefore choose to be less aggressive on cutting rates.

'However, the Chancellor could be about to throw a wildcard into the mix. Taxation policies could have a major influence on both wages and wider inflation, so all eyes are on the Budget later this month.

'If rumours are to be believed surrounding an increase to employer national insurance, wage rises could be curtailed going forward as bosses attempt to limit the impact of paying higher staff costs. With inflation still not entirely snuffed out this could ramp up the cost-of-living pressures on working families.

'However, the effects are not clear cut. Employers consider the total cost of an employee, which includes employer NICs and pension contributions. If these were to increase it could lead to businesses restricting new hires, limiting pay rises or scaling back pension payments.

'Yet some may instead look to pass these costs on in terms of higher prices. This would be inflationary rather than disinflationary, but it may be difficult in a competitive market.

'Overall, a fiscally tight Budget is likely to dampen inflationary pressures by curbing household spending.'

The UK wine industry is ‘under siege’ due to upcoming changes to alcohol duty, according to a leading merchant.

Steve Finlan, boss of the Wine Society – which dates back to 1874 and has 180,000 members – said tax rules will push up prices for customers.

And he accused the Government of ignoring industry pleas amid fears some bottles could disappear from UK shelves altogether.

Antony Codling, managing director at RBC Capital Markets:

'Bellway's full year results were in line with expectations, but its outlook for the year ahead exceeded them.

'Bellway believes it is well positioned to deliver strong multi-year growth against a backdrop of planning reform and improving housing market conditions.

'Bellway is ready to stand up to the plate to help Labour deliver 1.5 million homes over the next five years and keen to grow its housebuilding business. The guidance for the year ahead is higher than current consensus forecasts, and we therefore expect the shares to perform well today.'

Bellway expects to build more homes in 2025 on the back of falling interest rates after a sharp slump in completions this year.

The housebuilder posted a 58 per cent fall in underlying pre-tax profits to £226.1million fo the year ended to 31 July, compared to forecasts of £218.8million.

Profitability too a hit as the group build more than 30 per cent fewer homes during the period to 7,654 compeltetions.

Boss Jason Honeyman said: 'Bellway has delivered another resilient performance despite the challenging operating conditions during the year. 

'While a lower order book at the beginning of the financial year drove the reduction in the number of housing completions, customer demand through the second half benefitted from a moderation in mortgage interest rates which has eased affordability pressures and supported an increase in reservations.

'The combination of these improving trading conditions and our strong outlet opening programme has generated a healthy increase in the year end order book.  As a result, we are well-placed to deliver a material increase in volume output in financial year 2025.'

Banknote printer De La Rue is set to sell its authentication business for £300million, including debt, to industrial technology firm Crane NXT.

Chair Clive Whiley said the sale ;represents a substantial step forward on our route to realise the underlying intrinsic value of the De La Rue business for the benefit of all stakeholders'.

He added: 'Completion of the sale will allow us to repay our existing revolving credit facility in full ahead of its maturity on 1 July 2025 and will provide a springboard to unlock further intrinsic value as we move to find a long-term funding solution for the Group's legacy defined benefit pension scheme.

'In addition, we will be able to focus fully on building and growing our world-leading Currency business.'

Wages grew at their slowest pace in more than two years in the three months to August as vacancies fell, fresh data from the Office for National Statistics shows.

Average weekly earnings before bonuses were up 4.9 per cent for the period, in-line with forecasts and providing a boost to hopes for Bank of England base rate cuts as inflationary pressures dissipate.