The maximum stakes allowed on gambling machines in British betting shops could be slashed the government confirmed on Tuesday, dealing a blow to bookmakers. A probe has been launched into a range of options on cutting maximum stakes of controversial fixed-odds betting terminals from £100 to as little as £2.
The UK betting industry generated £1.8bn in revenue for bookmakers last year, according to Reuters stats.
Shares in leading bookmakers remain largely positive with this news widely anticipated by investors, and hope that the stance of regulators may soften as the industry investigation progresses.
William Hill (WMH) and Ladbrokes Coral (LCL) stock both make modest gains in trade on Tuesday, to 260.3p and 127.6p respectively, although Paddy Power Betfair (PPB), the UK’s largest bookie, slips modestly to £75.95.
Britain’s FTSE 100 index was expected to open flat at 7,487 points on Tuesday, according to financial spreadbetters, but the market mood is a little more upbeat in opening trade.
The UK blue-chip index nudges around 14 points higher to edge just above the 7,500 mark, giving a marginal lift to Britain’s wider FTSE All Share. Midcaps are weaker, the FTSE 250 off by low double-digits at around the 20,201 mark.
BUYBACKS BACK ON AT BP
Oil giant BP (BP.) confirms plans to restart share buybacks after reporting a doubling in third-quarter profit. This is the clearest sign yet that the oil company is confident about a turnaround in a week when oil prices hit a two-year high above $60 a barrel.
This renewed confidence sparks a relative rally in the group’s share price, which moves towards the top of the FTSE 100 leader board, up more than 3% to 517.9p.
British takeaway ordering website Just Eat (JE.) has raised its full year revenue guidance for the second time in four months after reporting a 47% hike in its latest quarter. The rise comes on the back of strong order growth.
The shares respond with a 2% rise to 758p, valuing the company at more than £5.1bn.
ADVERTISING MELTDOWN
WPP (WPP), the world’s biggest advertising company battling a slowdown in client spending, lowered expectations for full year organic net sales and profit margin on Tuesday.
The news comes just two months after an earlier downgrade sent shockwaves through the industry, sending the stock to the head of today’s FTSE 100 loser board, although only off by 1% at £12.81. But the stock has slumped from March highs of nearly £20.00.
Spreadbetting firm Plus500 (PLUS) reports higher third quarter revenue, as rising customer numbers helped offset challenges from a sector-wide regulatory clampdown. The shares rally 3% to £10.26 as the company also confirms that full year results will beat market expectations.
Budget airline Ryanair (RYA) says it still expects to make record annual profits this year, despite disruptions to its schedules that led it to cancel 20,000 flights.
The airline said it made profits of €1.29bn (£1.14bn) in the six months to the end of September and forecast a full-year profit of up to €1.45bn, pushing the share price modestly higher to €16.47.
Dmitry Grishin, the chairman of Russian internet company Mail.RU (MAIL), has sold around 4.7m Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) in the company $31.80 a piece. The stock nudges 1.8% lower to $32.74.
OIL AND OVERSEAS REPORTS
Elsewhere, Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $60.78 per barrel, says Reuters.
In global company news, the world’s biggest smartphone maker by unit volume Samsung Electronics has posted its best quarterly profit ever, driven by higher memory chip prices and a recovery in smartphone sales.
And Japanese electronics and content giant Sony expects to post its highest ever profit, thanks to strong sales of parts used in smartphones.
