WPP Share News (WPP)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London were experiencing a recovery on Tuesday following some sharp selling on Monday, with the pound also staging a rebound after an upbeat UK jobs report. Among those helping to keep the FTSE 100 in the green were WPP, on news of its restructuring plans, and Ashtead, as it upped annual guidance following a strong first half. The FTSE 100 index of large-cap stocks was up 82.46 points, or 1.2%, at 6,804.00, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 was up 153.28 points, or 0.9%, at 17,645.59. The AIM All-Share was flat at 885.59.The Cboe UK 100 was up 1.1% at 11,546.51, while the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.8% at 15,755.9 and the Cboe UK Small Companies down 0.2% at 11,014.82."After a shaky start, buying looks to be taking hold across European markets, helped by hints of further telephone conversations between the US and Chinese trade teams. After slumping to two-year lows, some rebound was to be expected, but it is still far from clear whether there is sufficient momentum behind this one, when recent recoveries have proven to be short-lived," said IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp.The pound was higher, quoted at USD1.2604 Tuesday midday versus USD1.2535 late Monday, after data showed UK average earnings are at their highest level for a decade.The Office for National Statistics reported that average earnings increased by 3.3% in the year to October, accelerating from 3.1% the previous month. It was the highest figure since 2008 and is more than the latest inflation rate of 2.4%.The ONS said average weekly earnings, adjusted for price inflation, increased by 1.1%, including bonuses, compared with a year ago.The UK's jobless rate is now 4.1%, 0.2 percentage point lower than a year ago. Employment increased by 79,000 in the three months to October to 32.4 million, the highest since records began in 1971."While the Bank of England will welcome another great month for UK wage growth, concerns surrounding Brexit will dominate the economic outlook over the winter. The chances of a second-quarter rate hike are fading rapidly," said James Smith, developed markets economist at ING.It's been a wobbly start to the week for the pound, which sank to its lowest level since April 2017 on Monday as UK Prime Minister Theresa May abandoned a crunch House of Commons vote, scheduled for Tuesday, on her Brexit deal.She was then dealt a heavy blow in her bid to secure new reassurances from fellow EU leaders over her Brexit deal, as the European Commission president declared there was "no room whatsoever for renegotiation".Jean-Claude Juncker said the Withdrawal Agreement on offer was the "best deal possible" and the "only deal possible" as the prime minister embarked on emergency Brexit talks with her Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte in The Hague.He offered a glimmer of hope to May by saying there was room to give "further clarifications and further interpretations without opening the Withdrawal Agreement".The prime minister will also meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday in a bid to gain reassurances on the exit deal from European leaders ahead of a crunch EU summit on Thursday.In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 index in Paris and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt were both up 1.5% at midday.Markets in the US are set for a higher start on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones and S&P 500 both pointed up 0.3%, and the Nasdaq called up 0.5%.In the US this afternoon, the producer price index for November, due at 1330 GMT, is seen slowing to 2.5% on a year-on-year basis from 2.9% in October. The Redbook index is at 1355 GMT.Helping London's FTSE 100 higher on Tuesday was news of WPP's restructuring plan, sending shares in the advertising firm up 6.5%.The advertising company, in a strategy update, said it has become "too unwieldy, with too much duplication" and as a result, it is not always focused or "as fleet of foot as it needs" to satisfy clients. It also said that the industry was facing a structural shift towards digital advertising, and not structural decline.As part of a restructuring plan, the company intends to become a more client-centric organisation, have fewer but more integrated companies, and integrate further at a country level.WPP, which owns the JWT and Ogilvy advertising agencies, also will invest GBP15 million a year over the next three years in creative leadership, with a particular focus on the US, and will accelerate investments in technology.WPP will record GBP300 million in restructuring costs over the next three years as it implements the new business plan. It predicts savings of GBP275 million by the end of 2021, around half of which will be reinvested in the business. Ashtead Group gained 2.9% after the equipment rental firm said it expects annual results to be ahead of prior expectations following strong profit growth in the first half of its financial year.The blue-chip company posted pretax profit of GBP633.4 million for the six months to the end of October, up 19% from GBP536.9 million reported for the same period a year earlier. The result was driven by strong 18% revenue growth to GBP2.07 billion from GBP1.77 billion year-on-year.Looking forward, Ashtead said it intends to continue to focus on operational efficiency and improving margins."We expect full year results to be ahead of our prior expectations and the board continues to look to the medium term with confidence," said Chief Executive Geoff Drabble.At the bottom of the FTSE 100 was Standard Life Aberdeen, down 2.7% after RPC cut its rating on the asset manager to Sector Perform from Outperform. In the FTSE 250, 888 Holdings was up 6.0% after the gaming firm said it has acquired the remaining 53% interest in the All American Poker Network it does not already own for USD28 million in cash.888 will pay immediately an initial USD10 million to Avenue OLG and some minority shareholders, with the remaining USD18 million to be paid by March 31, 2019.The acquisition will give 888 full control of its growth strategy in the US, which includes the signing of new partnerships and deploy its products in new states as they begin to regulate, 888 said.Fashion retailer Superdry fell 7.3% after Berenberg cut its recommendation on the stock to Hold from Buy. "It has undoubtedly been a dreadful year for Superdry and our Buy rating. We believed the ongoing operational improvements were sufficient to support high single-digit sales growth, but we had underappreciated the extent of the product repositioning required," said Berenberg.Elsewhere on the London Stock Exchange, Carpetright was up 10% after the floorings retailer expressed confidence in its restructuring plan amid a widened loss in the first half of its current financial year, as revenue dropped on store closures in the UK.The carpet seller said its loss widened sharply in the 26 weeks ended October 27 to GBP11.7 million from GBP600,000 reported for the same period a year prior, as revenue fell 16% to GBP191.1 million from GBP226.6 million.In the first half, Carpetright said it shut 54 stores out of 81 it had designated as underperforming or on unfavourable lease terms in its CVA, with further two stores expected to close in the second half. It said the remaining 25 are paying no rent, just business rates, as the landlords didn't want an empty unit in their retail park."This is a transitional year for Carpetright as we work through our restructuring plan," said Chief Executive Wilf Walsh."We remain on schedule and are confident that this activity is already starting to yield benefits. This is the first stage in returning the group to sustainable long term profitability," added Walsh.