ITV ad revenue slumps, Mondi profits from packaging

London open

The FTSE 100 index is predicted to fall 25 points on Thursday morning, reversing its minimal gain from the previous day.

Stocks to watch

ITV endured a a 13% decline in net advertising revenue in April but said it should be "broadly flat" for the first half of the year and for the group to deliver "good profit growth". Although NAR from the ITV 'family' of channels was down very slightly in the first quarter after a 13% decline in April, strong growth from ITV Studios programming meant total group revenue rose 14% to £755m in the three months to 31 March.

Underlying first quarter operating profits at paper manufacturer Mondi rose 14% year on year to €269m with strong contributions from consumer packaging, uncoated fine paper and the South Africa Division offsetting the impact of lower selling prices in certain packaging paper segments and margin pressure in fibre packaging. Underlying operating profit was up 9% on the fourth quarter of 2015.

AstraZeneca was celebrating after the US Food and Drug Administration granted ‘Orphan Drug Designation’ to its investigational thyroid cancer treatment, selumetinib, for certain patients. The FTSE 100 company said differentiated thyroid cancer is diagnosed in around 60,000 people in the US each year, with radioactive iodine (RAI) recommended for those with known or suspected metastases at diagnosis and those at a high risk of recurrence.

Newspaper round-up

David Cameron is to counter claims that his campaign against international corruption is hobbled by London’s reputation as the money laundering capital of the world by introducing a new corporate offence for executives who fail to prevent fraud or money laundering inside their companies. Writing in the Guardian before Thursday’s anti-corruption summit in the capital, the prime minister reveals plans to require all foreign companies buying property in the UK to disclose their true owners in a public register for the first time. - The Guardian

The foreign companies that hold more than 100,000 UK properties will have to reveal their true owners under a transparency proposal announced by David Cameron.
The step was greeted by transparency campaigners as “a great move” and was aimed at energising an international summit on corruption being hosted by the prime minister on Thursday. - Financial Times

Demand for homes has dropped for the first time in a year, but the chronic lack of supply will continue to push prices sky high, according to the Royal Institutions of Chartered Surveyors. In April, 22% more chartered surveyors reported a drop in demand, partly caused by a lull in activity after the feverish buy-to-let rush, in which investors and second home hunters brought forward transactions to escape the stamp duty hike. - The Telegraph

Disengaged North Sea workers are facing a potentially fatal safety crisis which must be tackled in partnership with industry and the regulator, unions have warned. Leaders from Unite and RMT have called for a summit with North Sea operators and the regulator to reach a collective agreement to cut costs without endangering the workforce. - The Telegraph

US close

Sharp gains in crude prices and disappointing results from Disney and Macy’s pushed US stocks lower on Wednesday, with the Dow industrials posting their worst day in more than five years.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.21%, or 217 points, to close at 17,711.12 - its worst performance since February 2011. The S&P 500 lost 0.96% to finish at 2,064.46, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 1.02% to 4,760.69.

Stocks were said to be down due to worries about consumer spending, which has been the mainstay of economic growth through much of the US's expansion.