BUSINESS LIVE: Kingfisher outlook warning; Henry Boot eyes market improvement; Mobico German rail hit

National Express owner Mobico has lowered the lower-end of its annual profit outlook range by about 9 per cent, as the British transport company flagged some accounting issues related to its German rail business.

The company, which last month delayed its annual results citing the accounting review, forecast adjusted operating profit for the year will be in the range of £160million to £175million, compared with its previous expectations of £175million to £185million.

A Chinese battery giant could pump billions into building Britain’s biggest gigafactory.

EVE Energy is in advanced talks to build a hub to make batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) at Coventry airport.

It will commit to investing at least £1.2billion into a 20 gigawatt-hour factory, according to The Sunday Times.

B&Q owner Kingfisher has issued an outlook warning for the third time in six months, as the home improvement retailer said it would fall short of analysts expectations after earning dropped 25 per cent last year.

The group, which also owns Screwfix in Britain and Castorama and Brico Depot in France and other markets, said it was cautious on the overall market outlook because of the time lag between improving housing demand and home improvement demand.

It forecast an adjusted pretax profit for 2024-25 of £490million to £550million, below market expectations of £60million.