$WPP

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UK Market Markets finished mixed yesterday. Signature Aviation skyrocketed 40.1%, after the company confirmed that it is in talks with Blackstone over a possible cash offer of $5.17 per share for the company. Watches of Switzerland Group climbed 6.3%, after the company raised its annual sales guidance, following stronger than expected interim performance. WPP advanced 4.8%, after announcing that it would increase its dividend each year from 2020 and pay out around 40% of headline earnings per share. Cairn Energy rose 3.1%, after the company announced a special dividend. On the contrary, Avon Rubber declined 11.9%, after the company announced that the approval processes related to several US contracts had been postponed. SSP Group dropped 2.8%, after the travel food outlet operator announced that it expects to report a decline in its first quarter sales. The FTSE 100 declined 0.3%, to close at 6,551.1, while the FTSE 250 rose 1.0%, to end at 20,296.0. .

UK Market Markets finished mixed yesterday. Chemring Group climbed 10.7%, after posting an upbeat annual result. Redrow climbed 3.3%, following a rating upgrade on the stock to 'Overweight' from 'Neutral'. JD Sports Fashion advanced 3.0%, after the company acquired US based, Shoe Palace, for a consideration of $325.0 million along with an equity share in the enlarged group for the company’s founders. BP added 0.4%, after a top broker raised its target price on the stock to 475.0p from 400.0p. WPP rose 0.3%. The advertising company announced that it would restate its financial statements for 2017, 2018 and 2019 to comply with accounting rules. Meanwhile, Airtel Africa plunged 20.2%, after an institutional investor sold 60 million shares in the telecommunications company in a placing. The FTSE 100 declined 0.3%, to close at 6,513.3, while the FTSE 250 rose 0.4%, to end at 19,852.4. .

UK Market The UK markets closed in the red yesterday, amid concerns about tightening Covid-19 restrictions. Standard Chartered declined 7.7%, after the lender warned that it would take longer to hit a key profitability target due to the Covid-19 pandemic. WPP dropped 2.5%, despite reporting an improvement in third quarter sales. BT Group fell 2.5%, after the company posted a decline in its interim pretax profits. On the flipside, Lloyds Banking Group advanced 3.6%, after the bank reported upbeat quarterly profit and lowered its bad loan provisions, after a surge in new mortgage lending. Royal Dutch Shell added 3.6%, after announcing plans to increase dividends and cut debt as it swung to a small third quarter profit. The FTSE 100 marginally fell, to close at 5,581.8, while the FTSE 250 fell 0.4%, to end at 17,177.7. .

UK markets finished in the green yesterday, as homebuilder stocks climbed amid rise in UK house prices. Computacenter climbed 11.6%, as the company upgraded its annual expectations ahead of its interim results. Barratt Developments jumped 8.7%, after the company forecasted more home completions over the coming year. Domino's Pizza Group advanced 3.9%, after the company appointed interim Chief Financial Officer, Neil Smith to the role on a permanent basis. WPP rose 1.3%, after a top broker raised its target price on the stock to 635.0p from 565.0p. International Consolidated Airlines Group added 0.2%. The company is facing a potential shareholder revolt over a £3.0 million-plus pay deal for departing head, Willie Walsh. On the flipside, Wizz Air Holdings dropped 4.1%, after reporting a decline in its passenger traffic in August. The FTSE 100 advanced 1.3%, to close at 5,941.0, while the FTSE 250 rose 0.6%, to end at 17,704.4. .

UK markets closed mixed yesterday, as gains in financial sector stocks were offset by losses in mining and healthcare sector stocks. OneSavings Bank surged 15.7%, after the company reported a 2% rise in its underlying net loan book. WPP climbed 6.5%, as the company reinstated its interim dividend. Grafton Group advanced 4.0%, despite reporting a drop in its revenue in the first half of the year. On the flipside, HomeServe dropped 3.4%, after a top broker downgraded its rating on the stock to ‘Equalweight’ from ‘Overweight’. Rolls-Royce Holdings fell 1.2%, after the aircraft engine maker announced plans to sell its Spanish business as it sought to raise £2.0 billion. Flutter Entertainment slid 0.8%, despite reporting a rise in its interim revenue and earnings. The FTSE 100 declined 0.8%, to close at 6,000.0, while the FTSE 250 rose 0.1%, to end at 17,762.0. .

WPP shares rose 5 per cent after the company reported a 15 per cent drop in life-for-like revenues less pass-through costs in the second quarter but signalled the worst is over for the advertising market. The company also said it is on course to achieve the upper end of the £700m-£800m cost savings target and declared an interim dividend of 10p. Trading is improving but lumpy. In July, the LFL revenue less pass-through costs of -9.2 per cent was a steady improvement on Q2 but the performance across markets remains volatile. Another good bellwether Hays said it’s seen some stabilisation in fees since May and ‘modest’ signs of improvement in permanent hiring. Net fees were down –11 per cent for the year to the end of June, whilst pre-tax profits were –63 per cent lower as a result of a collapse in recruitment due to the pandemic. Shares ticked up 1 per cent.

Ad titan WPP reports it interim results for the six months ended June 30th on Thursday. The advertising giant is a useful barometer of economic confidence. Big brands have slashed marketing budgets to cope with pandemic and WPP has warned of the hit it will take this year. But rival Publicis reported a 13 per cent drop in second quarter like-for-like sales, which was well ahead of the –20 per cent anticipated. Shares in WPP are down over 40 per cent this year – could Publicis offer a clue as whether the stock may find a new course? Does WPP see ad spend picking up? How has the Facebook boycott impacted it? We are also interested in recruiter Hays – which reports finals on Thursday and is often a great indicator as to the overall health of the labour market globally. Salesforce.com (CRM) is expected to deliver earnings and revenue growth when it reports numbers for the quarter ended July on Tuesday. EPS is seen at $0.7 on revenues of $4.9bn