WPP Q3 revenues up 10.3%, Barclays Bank Q3 profits rise despite cost-of-living crisis

London pre-open

The FTSE 100 was being called to open 19.8 points lower ahead of the bell on Wednesday after ending the previous session just 0.01% weaker at 7,013.48.

Stocks to watch

Advertising giant WPP said on Wednesday that third-quarter revenues had surged, reflecting "broad-based growth" across its agencies, markets and industry sectors.

WPP stated revenues had increased 10.3% in Q3 to £3.57bn, or 2.7% on a like-for-like basis, after winning $1.7bn in net new business throughout the period. Year-to-date revenues were up 10.2% at £10.32bn.

Barclays Bank reported a better-than-expected rise in third-quarter profits on Wednesday despite a sharp rise in bad loan charges as consumers started to feel the impact of the cost-of-living crisis.

The company posted a pre-tax profit of £1.9bn, up 6%, while impairment charges for the quarter rose to £722m, compared with a £622.0m release last year as pressure from the Covid pandemic eased. Group income rose 17% to £6.4bn, driven by increases in interest rates.

Newspaper round-up

Alphabet revenue fell below analysts' expectations in the third quarter, it announced on Tuesday, as it continues to battle an industry-wide tech slowdown. The company reported a third-quarter revenue of $69.0bn, up 6% from last year but lower than analyst estimates of $70.9bn. Like many tech and social media firms, Alphabet is struggling to compete with TikTok amid a broader economic downturn. – Guardian

The whistleblower who revealed how Uber flouted the law and secretly lobbied governments around the world has called on European lawmakers to take on the "disproportionate" and "undemocratic" power held by tech companies. Speaking to a committee of MEPs in the European parliament, Mark MacGann, who was Uber's top lobbyist in Europe, said the cab-hailing company's practices were "borderline immoral" as he recalled the "almost unlimited finance" executives had to lobby and silence drivers with legal disputes. – Guardian

Marks & Spencer has vowed to abandon its flagship Marble Arch store if plans to knock down the building are blocked. The upmarket retailer warned that it will leave the Oxford Street shopping district if it is unable to demolish the Art Deco landmark and replace it with a new 10-storey retail and office block. – Telegraph

Plans to cut EU energy bills have sparked anger in Brussels after it emerged the bloc may end up subsidising cheap power for Britain. Low prices on the continent could see electricity vacuumed up by export markets, European Commission officials are warning. One solution would be to charge higher prices to export markets such as Britain but officials fear this could be in breach of the Brexit agreement. – Telegraph

The boss of HSBC has become the first chief executive of a big British bank to publicly signal his resistance to a windfall levy on lenders after he warned that the sector already faced higher taxes than other industries. Noel Quinn, 60, said yesterday that the combination of corporation tax, the bank surcharge and the bank levy on balance sheets meant "there is already a large amount of tax paid by the financial services sector in the UK". – The Times

US close

Wall Street stocks ended the session in positive territory on Tuesday as market participants digested key consumer confidence figures and earnings from Microsoft and Google owner Alphabet.

At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.07% at 31,836.74, while the S&P 500 advanced 1.63% to 3,859.11 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 1.25% firmer at 11,199.12.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com