ITV revenues grow amid 'strong' Q1 performance, TUI more than halves H1 losses
London pre-open
The FTSE 100 was being called to open 36.2 points higher ahead of the bell on Wednesday after closing out the previous session 0.37% stronger at 7,243.22.
Stocks to watch
Television network ITV reported "strong" first-quarter revenues on Wednesday, driven by a "robust" operational and financial performance throughout the period.
ITV stated Q1 revenues grew 23% year-on-year to £458.0m, with total advertising revenues rising 16% to £468.0m, as expected, and digital revenues increasing 24% to £82.0m. The FTSE 100-listed firm added that its ITV Studios unit was "performing strongly" and was on track for the year as it continued to take advantage of "strong global demand" for content.
Holiday giant TUI said on Wednesday that it was confident bookings for summer 2022 will be close to 2019 pre-Covid pandemic levels after first-half losses were more than halved.
TUI posted an interim operating loss of €603.0m, down 54% year-on-year, and highlighted that the war in Ukraine had not impacted its key markets of the UK, Germany, and Benelux, with only trading in Poland and the Nordic countries being somewhat "subdued".
Newspaper round-up
More than 250,000 households will "slide into destitution" next year, taking the total number in extreme poverty to around 1.2m, unless the government acts to help the poorest families hit by the energy price shock, according to the National Institute for Economic & Social Research. More than 1.5m households will see the rise in food and energy bills outstrip their disposable income, forcing them to rely on savings or extra borrowing to make up the shortfall, said the thinktank, which blamed welfare spending cuts since the Brexit vote in 2016 for leaving millions of families in a vulnerable financial position. - Guardian
Rishi Sunak has moved to weaken regulation of financial services brought in after the 2008 crash amid fears he is aiming to make London into a post-Brexit "Singapore-on-Thames" pushed by Tory donors. The chancellor is bringing forward a new financial services and markets bill as part of the Queen's speech with the aim of "cutting red tape in the financial sector". - Guardian
Elon Musk has vowed to reinstate Donald Trump on Twitter if his $44.0bn takeover of the social media network succeeds, in a move that will further inflame tensions with Democrats ahead of midterm elections. The billionaire Tesla chief said that banning Mr Trump was a "morally bad decision and foolish in the extreme" because it undermined trust in the platform. He added: "The answer is that I would reverse the ban." - Telegraph
Britain will join the space race this summer with the launch of two shoebox-sized satellites from Cornwall. Equipped with Ministry of Defence kit, the so-called cubesats will take off on a Virgin Orbit Launcher One rocket from Newquay Airport. It will be the first satellite launch from British soil and is aimed at demonstrating the country's ability to rival other spacefaring nations such as the US, Russia and China. - Telegraph
Panmure Gordon, one of the City's oldest stockbrokers, turned its biggest profit since before the financial crisis last year as its turnaround under Bob Diamond, the former Barclays boss, gathers pace. The group has racked up tens of millions in losses since it was taken over by Diamond's Atlas Merchant Capital for £15.5m in 2017. - The Times
US close
Major indices turned in a mixed performance on Tuesday as the Dow Jones gave up early gains to end the session in the red ahead of some key inflation data scheduled for release on Wednesday.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.26% at 32,160.74, while the S&P 500 was 0.25% firmer at 4,001.05 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.98% stronger at 11,737.67.