Business
WPP woes keep lid on FTSE and pound extends falls
The FTSE 100 extended its winning run to nine, recouping early hefty falls, despite fresh problems for advertising group WPP.
The FTSE 100 index closed up just 3.92 points at 9,760.06, another record close.
The FTSE 250 ended down 171.99 points, 0.8%, at 22,276.28, and the AIM All-Share closed down 3.09 points, 0.4%, at 769.80.
WPP plunged 17% as it warned performance in the year-to-date was at the “low-end of expectations” as it cut the company’s outlook.
The London-based advertising agency firm said revenue in the third quarter fell 8.4% to £3.26 billion, and was down 3.5% on a like-for-like basis.
Revenue less pass-through costs slumped 11% to £2.46 billion, falling 5.9% like-for-like.
New chief executive Cindy Rose acknowledged that recent performance was “unacceptable” and pledged to take action to address this.
“There is a lot to do,” Ms Rose said, adding, “we are optimistic, energised and confident that we’re building the right plan”.
It is the latest in a series of troubled days for WPP investors with shares down 63% in the last 12 months.
In European equities on Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris closed down 0.5%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt ended little changed.
Stocks in New York were mixed with a 9.7% fall in Meta Platforms weighing on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.5%, the S&P 500 index was 0.3% lower, and the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.8%.
Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, forecast increased investment and higher operating costs ahead after a third quarter distorted by a hefty tax provision.
Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg told investors he feels the right strategy is to “aggressively front-load building capacity”.
Investors also weighed hawkish comments from Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell who pushed back against market pricing for another interest rate cut in December.
Mr Powell, speaking after the Fed cut rates by a quarter point at its October meeting, said a reduction in December was not a “foregone conclusion” and a cut should not be assumed.
JPMorgan analyst Michael Feroli said: “By Powell’s standards, these were unusually blunt remarks.”
While Bank of America said Mr Powell pushed back “stridently” against market pricing of a December cut and drove the message home “several times” during the press conference.
The US rate call came ahead of central bank meetings in Japan and Europe.
The Bank of Japan kept interest rates unchanged, decided by a seven to two majority vote.
In a statement released by BoJ following the monetary policy meeting, it said interest rates were held at 0.5%, matching consensus cited by FXStreet.
“High uncertainties still remain regarding the impact of trade and other policies on economic activity and prices at home and abroad,” the BoJ said in a statement following the decision.
While in Europe, the European Central Bank left rates on hold for a third meeting in a row stating its outlook for inflation is broadly unchanged.
The decision by the Frankfurt-based lender leaves the interest rates on the deposit facility, the main refinancing operations and the marginal lending facility unchanged at 2.00%, 2.15% and 2.40% respectively.
The widely expected decision is the third hold in succession by the ECB, following similar outcomes in July and September.
Prior to the hold in July, it had cut for seven meetings in a row.
Deutsche Bank Chief European economist Mark Wall said “despite the US tariffs, despite all the various sources of uncertainty, the European economy continues to eke out some growth”.
“Economic ‘resilience’ is keeping the ECB doves in check, and the policy pause on the rails,” he said.
Mr Powell’s comments put the dollar on the front foot and pushed bond yields upwards.
The pound was quoted at 1.3149 dollars at the time of the London equities close on Thursday, lower compared to 1.3236 dollars on Wednesday.
The euro fell to 1.1565 dollars from 1.1660 dollars.
Against the yen, the dollar was trading at 154.11 yen, higher compared to 152.10 yen.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.09%, widening from 4.00% on Wednesday.
The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted at 4.64%, stretched from 4.57%.
Back in London, lender Standard Chartered rose 1.9% after stating it expects to reach its return on tangible equity target in 2025 instead of by 2026.
Chief executive officer Bill Winters said progress was broad-based and highlighted strong double-digit growth in Wealth Solutions and Global Banking, alongside good momentum in Global Markets.
On the FTSE 250, Computacenter gained 5.0% as it said it performed strongly in the third quarter with continued momentum in North America, improvements in the UK, and a return to growth in Germany.
Ithaca Energy and Harbour Energy rose 4.6% and 3.3% respectively after a report in the Financial Times said the UK Government could scrap its windfall tax on the oil-and-gas sector one year earlier than planned.
Meanwhile, conditional dealing in lender Shawbrook Group began in London.
Shares closed at 396 pence, well above the 370p offer price, giving it a market value of just over £2 billion.
Unconditional dealing on the London Main Market will begin on Tuesday next week.
TT Electronics was a star performer, soaring 59% after accepting a £287 million takeover approach from Cicor Technologies.
Bronschhofen, Switzerland-based Cicor develops, and manufactures electronic components, devices, and systems.
Woking, England-based TT, which also manufactures electronic components, said the cash and shares offer values each share in TT at 155p.
Brent oil was quoted at 64.92 dollars a barrel at the time of the London equities close on Thursday, up from 64.52 dollars late on Wednesday.
Gold was little changed, trading at 3,998.00 dollars an ounce against 3,997.24 dollars on Wednesday.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Airtel Africa, up 6.4 pence at 274.8p, Auto Trader, up 15.2p at 808.8p, Centrica, up 3.3p at 179.8p, Standard Chartered, up 28.0p at 1,544.0p, and GSK, up 31.0p at 1,783.0p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were WPP, down 61.7p at 298.85p, JD Sports Fashion, down 3.32p at 95.0p, Whitbread, down 80.0p at 2,967.0p, Segro, down 14.4p at 699.7p and Burberry, down 26.0p at 1,280.0p.
Friday’s global economic calendar has Canada GDP data, eurozone inflation figures and the Chicago PMI in the US.
There are no significant events scheduled on Friday’s UK corporate calendar.
– Contributed by Alliance News
BBCWe’ve all looked at our bank account and wondered why we don’t have as much money as we thought we did, and suddenly, the bills, shopping and socialising begin to add up.
For many of us, our relationship with money is strained and dealing with financial matters leaves us feeling overwhelmed or stressed.
If you’re struggling to get on top of your finances, here are four ways to help you manage your money better.
1. Look at when you spend money
Getty ImagesSitting down and thinking about what actually drives you to spend money can help you stop destructive patterns, says journalist and author Anniki Sommerville.
When she previously worked in a very stressful corporate role, she bought new clothes everytime she achieved something difficult or challenging.
“I felt like I deserved to reward myself.
“I had this pattern of spending, which was like ‘you’ve done a really good presentation, now you deserve to buy yourself something.'”
Abigail Foster, a chartered accountant and author, says the easiest way to discover these kinds of habits is looking through your bank statements, to see when you spend the most.
“Is it late at night? Is it the weekends? I have friends that have really bad habits of when they’re bored on the train, they start buying things.”
Understanding these instincts, enables us to put in steps to prevent them.
“You can be better equipped to make an alternative decision and go, ‘Do you know what? I can just take a deep breath and not purchase something.'”
2. Spend an hour a week on your finances
Getty ImagesAnniki says when she was younger, she often felt scared to check her bank balance and avoided dealing with money as much as possible.
This kind of behaviour is often linked to our education, says Claer Barrett, consumer editor at the Financial Times.
“How we felt about maths in school, maybe that burning feeling of shame of not knowing the answer or putting your hand up to answer a question and getting it wrong, that can often make us feel like, I can’t do maths. So therefore, I can’t do money.”
“We should be really pushing on that door and trying to understand more about our financial situation.”
Abigail says the only way to do this is to force yourself to tackle it head on, setting aside a set amount of time each week to look at your bank account and all your outgoings.
“It’s a minimum of an hour a week.
“Just go through your finances and kind of be hit with it. It sounds a lot, but it can be really calming for your nervous system.”
Doing this will often throw up outgoings that you’ve forgotten, such as a subscription for a gym you haven’t been to in six months or a random app you’ve forgotten you’ve subscribed to, she says.
3. Don’t let jargon put you off – ask questions
Getty ImagesOften the terms associated with money can be offputting.
Claer says don’t let words like investing, scare you, instead take time to learn about them.
“Whether we’re talking about stocks and shares, or investing in a pension. We need to give ourselves every advantage financially,” she says.
“So being shy or feeling shameful, not asking these interrogating questions is the worst thing we can do.”
She suggests making a list of things you are unsure about, whether that’s consolidating pensions or asking for a pay rise at work, and slowly working through them.
Don’t be too hard on yourself if you’re just starting.
“We’re all a work in progress. I’ve got my financial to do list at the back of my diary. There are some things that have been on it for more than a year.
“That’s just life, but as long as I can try and do something every week towards making my financial situation a better place, that’s moving forward.”
4. Set up a freedom fund
Getty ImagesMany of us are already too stretched keeping up with the costs of everday living to even think about saving.
But for those who can afford to, Abigail suggests setting up a “freedom fund” to give you options when life gets difficult.
She recommends setting up an easy access account only in your name and not joint, and to put a portion of your income away every month.
Unlike an emergency fund pot for things like unexpected car and house repairs, a freedom fund is money designed to “make you happier.”
“So when a job no longer serves you, you can think ‘I’ve got some money sat away so I can go and look for something else.’
“Or if you want to leave a partner, that freedom fund can give you the ability to walk out.”
Brian Roberts, chairman and CEO of Comcast, attends the annual Allen & Co. Media and Technology Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, July 9, 2025.
David A. Grogan | CNBC
Comcast clued investors in to its potential M&A aspirations on Thursday. In short, executives think a deal could get done, despite recent naysaying.
Comcast is among the interested parties in a potential deal for Warner Bros. Discovery. WBD — the owner of TNT Sports, CNN, HBO, Warner Bros. studio and other media assets — officially put itself up for sale after “receiving interest from multiple parties,” WBD CEO David Zaslav said in a statement last week.
Several pundits and analysts have posited that Comcast has little to no chance to do a deal from a regulatory perspective, given President Donald Trump’s pointed words for Comcast CEO and controlling shareholder Brian Roberts. Others say the path forward may not be doomed.
On Thursday, alongside the company’s third-quarter earnings report, soon-to-be co-CEO Mike Cavanagh shed some light on how executives view the situation, without specifically naming Warner Bros. Discovery as a potential tie-up.
“I think more things are viable than maybe some of the public commentary that’s out there,” Cavanagh said Thursday.
Trump in April called Comcast and Roberts “a disgrace to the integrity of Broadcasting” in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social. Trump has also called Roberts a “lowlife” and has referred to Comcast as “Concast.”
Some equity research analysts have predicted that the Trump administration would block a Comcast acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery. WBD is still moving toward a planned separation into two publicly traded entities while it expands its strategic review.
Paramount is trying to buy the whole company, before it could split, and WBD has thus far rejected three separate offers from the David Ellison-run company.
“It is almost certain that the Trump DOJ would not allow CMSCA to buy WBD and the result would be decided in court,” New Street Research analyst Blair Levin wrote in a note to clients, citing Trump’s public comments about Roberts.
“We along with our cable colleagues believe [Comcast’s] political standing in this administration is very low and believe CMCSA would think long and hard about whether a deal is worth the long, arduous process of creating enough goodwill to close the deal,” wrote Raymond James analyst Ric Prentiss.
Structuring a spin-merge
Cavanagh reminded investors Thursday that just because the company takes a look at assets that are up for sale in the media industry, it doesn’t necessarily mean a deal, or even an offer, could materialize.
“I think we’ve said repeatedly, and I’ll say it again, that the bar is very high for us to pursue any M&A transactions, given how strongly we feel about the businesses we have, the strategies we’re pursuing and the opportunities we have ahead of us,” Cavanagh told investors.
Comcast’s NBCUniversal is in the process of spinning off its portfolio of cable networks, including CNBC, into a new entity called Versant.
Assuming an offer for WBD or other media assets were to come together, it would have to make strategic sense for the future NBCUniversal, which will be led by the broadcast TV network NBC and streaming service Peacock.
Many of NBCUniversal’s moves to date have been to boost Peacock’s place in the streaming ecosystem. The company reported Thursday that Peacock had 41 million customers as of the end of last month, a subscriber base that has remained flat throughout the year.
Cavanagh noted the company would be looking for media assets that complement its post-spin NBCUniversal business.
“So in this case, it would be streaming assets and studio assets, since there are no other parks assets out there,” he said.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s planned split would separate out exactly those businesses: streaming and studios in one company, which would also house streamer HBO Max, and its global networks into another.
While Paramount’s interest is in the entirety of Warner Bros. Discovery, negating a split, other prospective bidders have considered acquiring just some of the assets, CNBC has reported.
Cavanagh said, “In light of that, what we’d be looking for and what we’re going to look like post-Versant spin,” a deal isn’t as far-fetched as some view it.
In a hypothetical situation in which Comcast were to also spin off NBCUniversal, which is currently slated to remain with the company following the Versant transaction, and merge it with WBD, LightShed analyst Rich Greenfield predicted that deal could get through regulators.
Wolfe Research’s Peter Supino proposed a plan under which NBCUniversal would issue new stock to WBD at an exchange ratio, eliminating Roberts’ voting control over the new company, and appoint a chairman and CEO “not named Roberts.” That combination could lead to a deal, he wrote in a note to clients.
“The primary problems facing a Comcast bid — financing and politics — might be solvable,” Supino wrote.
While Comcast may shy away from pursuing a transaction that could be blocked by the Trump DOJ, even that may not be a dealbreaker.
In the first Trump term, his DOJ blocked AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner, an earlier iteration of Warner Bros. Discovery. In June 2018, a U.S. District Court judge approved the $85.4 billion sale, ruling the government failed to prove the deal would harm consumers.
If it pleases the president
Some Comcast executives think the regulatory concerns are either overblown or, at least, far too early to ascertain, according to people familiar with the matter, who have knowledge of Comcast’s strategy but spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal thinking. There’s some evidence suggesting Comcast’s executives may have a point.
A Comcast spokesperson declined to comment for this article.
Skydance Media received long-awaited Federal Communications Commission approval for its merger with Paramount after the CBS parent agreed to a $16 million settlement with Trump over a “60 Minutes” episode.
While a deal for WBD won’t require FCC review, because Warner Bros. Discovery doesn’t own a broadcaster, a takeover of this size — WBD’s market capitalization is about $53 billion plus another $30 billion in debt — could still draw the scrutiny of Trump’s Department of Justice.
Trump’s reputation as a dealmaker suggests Comcast may be able to avoid any interference by endearing itself to the president.
Comcast is one of 37 companies donating to Trump’s efforts to build a $300 million ballroom for the White House through the Trust for the National Mall.
Trump’s public dislike toward Roberts and Comcast may be bloviation linked to Trump’s assertions that MSNBC, currently owned by NBCUniversal, is left-leaning. It’s unclear if Trump explicitly cares about Comcast or NBCUniversal owning any of the WBD assets other than CNN, which Trump has also routinely criticized.
If his primary issue with Comcast buying WBD is CNN, a divestiture or deal without the network could circumvent those issues. MSNBC will also be spun out into the Versant portfolio.
While Roberts will still be a shareholder of Versant, MSNBC will no longer be a part of Comcast once Versant becomes its own publicly traded company at the start of 2026.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal, which owns CNBC. Versant would become the new parent company of CNBC upon Comcast’s planned spinoff of Versant.
UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, ORLANDO, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES – 2019/07/18: Comcast sign logo in the wall of a building at Universal Studios. (Photo by Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Roberto Machado Noa | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Comcast topped Wall Street earnings and revenue estimates for the third quarter on Thursday, but revealed widespread pressures in its broadband unit that spooked investors.
The company said it lost 104,000 domestic broadband customers during the period, bringing its total subscriber base to roughly 31.4 million. This marked the fourth quarter in a row that Comcast failed to grow its broadband customer base.
Earlier this year the company outlined initiatives meant to drive broadband growth — the cornerstone of Comcast’s business — as it has faced fraught competition from alternative providers, namely 5G companies. The company, soon to be led by co-CEOs Brian Roberts and Mike Cavanagh, will be even more reliant on connectivity in the new year after its planned Versant transaction to offload cable network assets.
During Thursday’s call with investors, Cavanagh reiterated the “broadband environment remains intensely competitive.”
Comcast leadership said the broadband business will experience a decline in earnings as its strategy to focus on the mobile business, simplify pricing bundles and enhance broadband-related products and WiFi is put into effect. That decrease began this quarter and will carry through future quarters, the said.
CFO Jason Armstrong also said the division’s average revenue per user, or ARPU, wasn’t expected to grow as the company focuses on initiatives to maintain and grow its customer base. As broadband subscriber additions have slowed or reversed, Comcast has typically focused on the company’s rising ARPU, which is driven by price increases and upselling packages.
The change in broadband playbook means the bright spot that was once rising ARPU doesn’t exist in the near term for Comcast.
“As we’ve said from the beginning, this pivot carries several costs, including rate reinvestment through pricing simplicity, which carries revenue dilution as well as investment in customer experience, which carries additional operating costs,” Armstrong said on Thursday’s call.
This marked the first quarter in which those costs hit Comcast’s results, Armstrong said. It translated to a 3.5% decline in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization across the company’s connectivity and platforms business – made up broadband, mobile, pay TV and other services.
Revenue for the company’s overall connectivity and platforms business came in at $20.18 billion, down nearly 1% from the same period last year.
“On the other side of this, we’re positioning ourselves for growth with a more durable broadband customer base,” Armstrong said.
The refocusing of the broadband strategy also aligned with a leadership change for the unit.
On Thursday, Comcast announced Steve Croney would take over as CEO of the connectivity and platforms division, succeeding longtime leader Dave Watson. Croney has been serving as the chief operating officer of the group amid its new strategic push.
While Comcast has moved toward mobile, that customer base has grown. Comcast said Thursday it added a record number of mobile customers – 414,000 during the third quarter, bringing its total to 8.9 million lines.
Meanwhile, the exodus from the pay TV bundle continued, with Comcast reporting the segment lost 257,000 customers during the period. As of Sept. 30, Comcast had 11.5 million domestic pay TV customers.
Shares of the company closed down 4% on Thursday. In the last year, Comcast shares have fallen about 35%.
Beyond broadband
Comcast’s overall business, which consists of the Xfinity-branded broadband, cable TV and mobile group as well as NBCUniversal, outperformed Wall Street’s estimates.
Here’s how Comcast performed for the period compared with average analyst estimates, according to LSEG:
- Earnings per share: $1.12 adjusted vs. $1.10 expected
- Revenue: $31.2 billion vs. $30.70 billion expected
For the quarter ended Sept. 30, net income attributable to Comcast decreased 8% to $3.33 billion, or 90 cents per share, compared with $3.63 billion, or 94 cents per share, a year earlier.
Adjusting for one-time items, such as interest expense and the value of certain assets, Comcast reported earnings per share of $1.12 for the quarter.
The company’s adjusted EBITDA was down roughly 1% to $9.7 billion.
Overall revenue fell nearly 3% to $31.2 billion, compared with $32.1 billion in the same period last year.
Revenue for the company’s media unit, which houses NBCUniversal, was $6.6 billion, down almost 20% during the period.
Excluding the impact of the Summer Olympics, which took place during the same period last year, revenue was up 4% year over year.
The media division reported EBITDA of $832 million, up 28% year over year, driven in part by streaming service Peacock.
Peacock, which had 41 million subscribers as of Sept. 30 — essentially flat for the last three quarters — reported losses of $217 million for the quarter, an improvement from $436 million in losses during the same period last year.
In October NBCUniversal’s media rights deal with the NBA kicked off, bringing professional basketball back to broadcast network NBC and introducing it to Peacock. The addition of the NBA is expected to give Peacock a boost.
Meanwhile, revenue for the film studio was up 6% to $3 billion – boosted by the release of “Jurassic World Rebirth” in July.
Theme park revenue increased nearly 19% to $2.72 billion, with EBITDA for that unit up 13% to $958 million due to the opening of Epic Universe in May.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal, which owns CNBC. Versant would become the new parent company of CNBC upon Comcast’s planned spinoff of Versant.
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