Hit shows like Game of Thrones and Riviera have helped Sky deliver a 10% rise in first-half earnings, underscoring the appeal of the European pay-TV group to the US media companies trying to buy it.

Tesco shares struggled — rising gradually after being down for most of the day — despite data showing that the supermarket giant probably outperformed its smaller UK rivals during the festive season.

The number of profit warnings issued by British companies jumped to 75 in the third quarter, the biggest quarterly rise in almost six years as economic pressures weighed on retailers and support service companies, business services group EY has said writes Paul Sandle, Andy Bruce and Elizabeth Piper.