Magazine publisher Future crashed to its lowest level in more than three years after a sharp drop in advertising in the US.
It warned of little revenue growth for the year ahead, sending shares down 16.1pc, or 121p, to 631p, their lowest level since March 2020 and a far cry from its peak of 3910p in August 2021.
It came after the company, whose magazines includes Marie Claire, Country Life and Four Four Two, saw sales fall 4 per cent to £789million in the year to the end of September, while profits were down nearly a fifth to £138m.
Future expects a slight boost in annual revenues for the year to September 2024 and plans to ramp up investment.
Shares in investment platform AJ Bell surged 16 per cent, or 41.2p, to 299.2p after a record year when revenues rose by a third to £218million and profits jumped 50 per cent to £88million.
Advertising slump: Magazine publisher Future warned of little revenue growth for the year ahead, sending shares down 15.6%, or 117p, to 635p
Clients put record funds in and the group vowed to hike interest rates paid to customers, and raised its dividend by nearly 50 per cent.
The FTSE 100 was almost flat, falling 1.66 points to 7513.72 and the FTSE 250 was down 0.3 per cent, or 47.99 points, to 18,618.74.
BT was among the biggest fallers after hedge fund Kintbury Capital took a short position on the stock, citing higher debt levels and concerns over rising costs fuelled by the decision to reinstate dividends. Shares fell 1.7 per cent, or 2.25p, to 134.4p.
Rival Vodafone also came under pressure after it was downgraded to ‘underperform’ from ‘neutral’ by Exane BNP Paribas. It fell 3.3 per cent, or 2.39p, to 69.8p.
An investor has urged online retailer The Hut Group (THG) to break up its business. Kelso Group said it is one of many shareholders who are ‘increasingly frustrated and impatient’ at THG being severely undervalued compared to its larger global peers.
It added that the company remains at risk of being targeted by private equity predators. THG dipped 0.4 per cent. or 0.28p, to 78.1p.
Stock Watch – Vertu Motors
Vertu Motors fell 22.8 per cent, or 19.3p, to 65.5p after the car dealer warned weaker demand for electric vehicles (EVs) will hit profits.
While supplies of new cars to the UK are up, demand for EVs has become ‘increasingly muted’ – and the price of used cars has declined.
Also, higher interest rates are hurting a business likely to come under advocate pressure once the Living Wage rises next year.
Profits for the year to February 29 should be below market forecasts.
<!- – ad: https://mads.dailymail.co.uk/v8/ua/money/moneymarkets/article/other/mpu_factbox.html?id=mpu_factbox_1 – ->
The private equity group looking to buy Kin and Carta has sweetened its offer for the tech consultancy firm.
Apax agreed to take the London-listed firm private in a 110p-a-share deal towards the end of October.
But it has now increased its offer, in what it said will be the final one, to 120p, which values Kin and Carta at around £220.3million. Shares gained 8.1 per cent, or 8.4p, to 111.8p.
The boss of DS Smith is to bow out after 13 years at the helm. Miles Roberts, who has led the paper and packaging firm since May 2010, will step down by the end of November 2025.
The update came as first-half revenues and profits slumped due to lower packaging prices and weaker demand in the UK and Germany. Shares rose 1.5 per cent, or 4.6p, to 305p.
Fellow packaging firm Mondi will use the proceeds from the sale of its Russian assets to pay shareholders a special dividend of around £665million. Its stock increased 1.1 per cent, or 16p, to 1485.5p.
Admiral – up 2.4 per cent, or 7.2p, to 307.6p – has agreed to buy the UK direct home and pet insurance personal lines operations from RSA for £82.5million.
Shares fell 2.3 per cent, or 3.7p, to 158.2p at IAG after JP Morgan downgraded its rating on the owner of British Airways and other long-haul airlines amid concerns over capacity and weaker profits.
The production and creative division of a firm backed by David Beckham, who has a 3.3 per cent stake, has made nearly £1million of revenue since it launched this year.
Guild Esports said its Studios arm, which has worked with Coca-Cola and Subway, reached the milestone after it landed a deal to work with Sky Broadband. Guild gained 2.8 per cent, or 0.02p, to 0.78p.
