Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC has announced ambitious mid-term business targets, aiming for a significant increase in profitability by 2027. The aerospace and defense company plans to achieve an operating profit between £2.5 billion and £2.8 billion, with a focus on improving the margin of its civil aerospace business from 2.5% to 15-17%. This target aligns with the margins of its industry rivals and represents a substantial improvement from its current financial performance.

Analysts have responded positively to these targets and the company's shares rose by 3% at the start of trading on Tuesday.

In related news, EasyJet reported a return to profit for fiscal 2023, with a net profit of £324 million and a total revenue of £8.17 billion. The airline has reinstated dividends at 4.5p per share, signaling a positive outlook for the current fiscal year. However, geopolitical instability, particularly the conflict in Israel, is expected to impact the current quarter's performance.

Pets at Home Group was down 0.8% after reporting a decline in profit for the fiscal first half, with attributable profit falling to £25.3 million, while revenue grew to £774.2 million. The company has maintained its interim dividend and expects underlying pretax profit for fiscal 2024 to be in line with analyst consensus.

In other news, Barclays is reportedly considering dropping thousands of its investment bank clients as part of a strategic overhaul to cut costs and return more capital to investors. The move could free up as much as £20 billion of risk-weighted assets.

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