Bellway showed pre-tax profit up 3.4% in the first quarter of the year, even as it warned that Brexit uncertainty could hit consumer confidence.

The property developer said that revenue had grown 8.6% to £3.2 billion, while pre-tax profit reached £662.6 million.

It built a record 10,900 new homes over the financial year ending in July, up 5.7%.

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Chairman Paul Hampden Smith said that a shortage of skilled labour in the sector has not impacted Bellway's ability to build a record number of new homes over the year.

"The ongoing imbalance between supply and demand for affordably priced, good quality housing remains across many parts of the country.

"Additionally, strong demand for new homes has continued to be supported by the ongoing availability of Help To Buy, together with an environment of low interest rates," he added.

Investors reacted with relief to a tough update from recruiter Hays on Tuesday as the company managed to keep net fees stable in the face of a difficult UK private sector.

Net fees remained flat across the globe, but fell by 1% when stripping out the benefits of an extra trading day in the last three months. Analysts had been expecting a 2% fall.

The news follows profit warnings from fellow recruiters Page and Robert Walters last week.

Liberum analyst Sanjay Vidyarthi said there may be "some relief" that the results were not worse.

The relief in the market was clear as shares in the group rose by more than 8% to 155.7p. Last week they reached their lowest point since January following the updates from Hays' rivals.

Chief executive Alistair Cox said the company had managed to deliver stable net fees "despite tougher global macroeconomic conditions and reduced business confidence".

The Oscar-winning visual effects business DNEG has confirmed it plans to list on the London Stock Exchange in the hope of raising £150 million to reinvest in the company and pay down its debts.

Executives at the business, originally called Double Negative, said they want to cash in further on the renaissance in the film industry and build on the five Oscars won for films including Blade Runner 2049 and Inception.

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Chief executive Namit Malhotra said: "This is a golden age for premium content as major markets re-establish their love for film, especially with the exponential growth of high-quality streamed content.

"We have built a recognised and trusted brand, along with a large, growing and loyal customer base across the major international movie studios in Hollywood and Bollywood, as well as the newcomers in the streaming space such as Netflix and Hulu."