Blue chip stocks in London, Paris and Frankfurt opened lower on Thursday, with shares of London-based advertising agency WPP diving as client spend weakened late last year.
The FTSE 100 index opened down 30.83 points, 0.4%, at 8,700.63. The FTSE 250 was down 196.86 points, 1.0%, at 20,399.04, and the AIM All-Share was down 2.94 points, 0.4%, at 708.56.
The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.4% at 871.39, the Cboe UK 250 was down 1.1% at 17,737.58, and the Cboe Small Companies was down 0.2% at 15,746.46.
Rolls-Royce led the FTSE 100, jumping 15% off annual results which included revenue rising to £18.91 billion and a 6.0p per share full-year dividend.
Further, the London-based manufacturer, which supplies aero-engines to the aerospace and defence sectors, started a share buyback programme of up to £1 billion, which is expected to complete no later than December 31.
London Stock Exchange Group was the second-biggest winner, up 3.3%.
Its pretax profit for 2024 rose 5.3% to £1.26 billion, and total income including recoveries rose 5.7% to £8.86 billion. The full-year dividend increased 13% to 130.0p from 115.0p.
WPP was the worst performer, losing 19%.
WPP said its fourth quarter was affected by weaker client discretionary spending, with revenue for 2024 decreasing to £14.74 billion from £14.85 billion, although pretax profit rose to £1.03 billion from £346 million. Its final dividend is unchanged at 24.4p.
For 2025, WPP expects like for like revenue growth, minus pass-through costs, of flat to minus 2%.
Serco was among the FTSE 250 winners, gaining 3.0%.
The firm increased its final 2024 dividend to 2.82p from 2.27p the year before, although revenue decreased 2% on-year to £4.79 billion and pretax profit decreased to £97.0 million from £247.0 million.
Ocado was the worst performer in the FTSE 250, dropping 15%.
This was despite its pretax loss for 2024 narrowing annually to £374.5 million from £393.6 million, while revenue increased 14% to £3.16 billion.
Mercantile Ports & Logistics led AIM despite saying it expects 2024 revenue to have decreased to £4.6 million, blaming contract delays caused by the Maharashtra State election in India. Also, the pace of discussions regarding a re-negotiation of its loan facility has been ‘a source of frustration’.
However, the firm said it is close to announcing a resolution to the debt position shortly, with the support of major shareholder Hunch Ventures.
In European equities on Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris was down 0.7%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was down 1.0%.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been invited to a special EU meeting on the Russia-Ukraine conflict and European security on March 6, European Council President Antonio Costa said on Thursday.
Saying there was a ‘new momentum which should lead to a comprehensive, just and lasting peace’ in Ukraine, Costa said the meeting would discuss possible European security guarantees for any accord.
The pound was quoted at $1.2674 early on Thursday in London, lower compared to $1.2692 at the equities close on Wednesday. The euro stood lower at $1.0478, against $1.0509. Against the yen, the dollar was trading higher at JP¥149.67 compared to JP¥149.25.
In Asia on Thursday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was up 0.3%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.2%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 0.3%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 0.3%.
Beijing on Thursday rejected ‘hype’ over what it called ‘routine training’ the day after Taiwan said it had sent forces to respond to Chinese live-fire drills off the self-ruled island.
‘These comments from the relevant Taiwan departments regarding the PLA’s routine training are pure hype. We request that they stop playing this kind of game to attract interest,’ defence ministry spokesman Wu Qian told a regular press briefing, using an acronym for the Chinese military.
In the US on Wednesday, Wall Street ended mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.4%, the S&P 500 up 0.81 points and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.3%.
Brent oil was quoted lower at $72.44 a barrel early in London on Thursday from $72.83 late Wednesday.
Gold was quoted lower at $2,883.05 an ounce against $2,912.10.
Still to come on Thursday’s economic calendar, there are various US releases including jobless data.
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