15th Oct 2025 07:55
(Alliance News) - Gambling firm Entain affirms its annual guidance, Jupiter Fund Management says sentiment towards UK stocks has picked up, and the UK's antitrust regulator proposes pet care market reforms.
Here is what you need to know before the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: called up 0.4% at 9,490.77
GBP: higher at USD1.3363 (USD1.3294 at previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS
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Rachel Reeves acknowledged she was looking at potential tax rises and spending cuts to fill a black hole in her Budget which she said was partly due to the lingering impact of Brexit. The UK chancellor said "of course, we're looking at tax and spending" as she prepares for her November 26 statement. She confirmed the budget watchdog had "consistently overestimated" the UK's productivity, with the expected downgrade of its previous assumptions likely to make Reeves's task even harder. With no boom in economic growth, stubbornly high inflation and the mounting costs of government debt, Reeves will have to fill a black hole estimated at around GBP50 billion by some economists. Reeves told Sky News the economy was still suffering from the impacts of leaving the EU, austerity policies and Liz Truss's mini-budget. She said the Office for Budget Responsibility, OBR, had carried out a review over the summer and found "they have consistently overestimated our productivity performance". It was up to them to set out the reasons, she said, but "austerity, Brexit, and the ongoing impact of Liz Truss's mini-budget, all of those things have weighed heavily on the UK economy".
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Oil prices were higher early Wednesday, after falling on Tuesday in response to a report from the International Energy Agency that the global oil surplus in September saw its "largest increase since Covid-19". Brent crude oil fell 2.4% to USD61.87 a barrel at the London equities close on Tuesday from USD63.40 late Monday. In the process, the North Sea benchmark hit a five-month low of USD61.50 a barrel. Early Wednesday, it was quoted at USD62.29 a barrel. In its October oil market report, released on Tuesday, the IEA said the oil market has been in surplus since the start of 2025. However, in September, 'oil on water' increased by 102 million barrels, equivalent to 3.4 million barrels a day, its largest increase since the pandemic crippled economic activity in 2020. The agency said global oil supply rose in September by a "massive" 5.6 million barrels per day from a year before, with Opec+ countries contributing 3.1 million of this. At the same time, oil demand rose by 750,000 barrels a day from a year before in the entire third quarter, the IEA said.
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BROKER RATINGS
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RBC cuts Ibstock price target to 170 (210) pence - 'outperform'
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Labrokes owner Entain reaffirms its annual outlook, after a third quarter rise in net gaming revenue helped by US trading. Entain notes it is backing guidance despite "absorbing the impact of customer friendly sports margins in September". The gambling firm says net gaming revenue in the third quarter of 2025 rose 6% on-year, or 7% at constant currency. Excluding the US, it rose 4%, or 5% at constant currency. "Entain's transformation continues at pace, with our strategic execution and expanding bandwidth delivering growth across our portfolio. Whilst we still have more to do, our Q3 performance is further evidence of the quality of our diverse business and its underlying momentum," Chief Executive Officer Stella David says. "BetMGM's continued success and strong year to date performance is driven by our strengthened sports product and leading iGaming offering, coupled with refined player engagement. We are delighted that BetMGM is achieving sustainable profitable growth and expects to begin distributing cash to parents later this year." Entain still expects 7% online net gaming revenue growth for the full-year, at constant currency, with mid-single-digit growth on a reported basis. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation between GBP1.10 billion and GBP1.15 billion are still expected. Its Ebitda in 2024 amounted to GBP1.09 billion. BetMGM is a sports betting and iGaming firm which operates across North America, and is jointly owned by Entain and Nevada-based MGM Resorts International. On Tuesday, Entain noted third-quarter net revenue for BetMGM advanced 23% to USD667 million from USD544 million a year prior. Owing to the strong performance full-year net revenue guidance for BetMGM was lifted to at least USD2.75 billion from USD2.7 billion, and Ebitda is now anticipated at approximately USD200 million, raised from at least USD150 million. Further, the joint venture is "now positioned to distribute excess cash to parents, Entain and MGM Resorts", with at least USD200 million expected to be returned in 2025.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Jupiter Fund Management says "positive momentum" seen towards the end of the first half continued in the third quarter. It generated GBP300 million of net positive flows for the quarter. Jupiter says this means net flows year-to-date are now positive at GBP100 million. "Ongoing strong performance, underpinned by a marked improvement in retail and wholesale investor sentiment, led to net inflows in this channel of GBP800 million in the third quarter," Jupiter says. Assets under management at September 30 amounted to GBP50.4 billion, rising 7.0% from GBP47.1 billion at the end of June. "The improvement in flows was driven by both an improvement in risk appetite amongst clients in the Retail, wholesale and investment trusts channel and ongoing strong investment performance across our differentiated capabilities, partially offset by net outflows in the Institutional channel," it explains. "Sentiment towards UK equities continued to improve throughout the period."
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Recruiter PageGroup hails a "resilient" third quarter performance in the face of tough market conditions, particularly in Europe. PageGroup says it grew in the US and Asia, but Europe "remains challenging". Third quarter gross profit declined 6.8% on-year to GBP187.8 million from GBP201.6 million. Chief Executive Officer Nicholas Kirk says: "We continued to experience subdued levels of sentiment and confidence in Europe, particularly in our two largest markets, France and Germany, as well as in the UK. However, we delivered a fourth consecutive quarter of growth in the US, our fourth largest market, and a second consecutive quarter of growth in Asia. Collectively, these two markets represent a quarter of the group." Looking ahead, PageGroup expects operating profit for 2025 to be largely in line with market consensus of GBP21.5 million, so down more than half from GBP52.4 million in 2024.
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OTHER COMPANIES
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Grosvenor casino and Mecca bingo operator Rank Group says it kicked off its financial year with a revenue increase. Like-for-like net gaming revenue in the first quarter to September 30 increased 9% on-year to GBP210.2 million. Growth in digital alone was 13%, while at Grosvenor and Mecca, growth was 8% and 5%. Enracha, which operates in Spain, saw like-for-like growth of 5%. "We have started the year strongly and are confident of delivering group like-for-like operating profit in line with expectations, notwithstanding the significant cost increases we have incurred in employer national insurance contributions, the national living wage and the new statutory levy," CEO John O'Reilly says. "Speculation regarding tax changes in the upcoming budget is, inevitably, hanging over the business. We are engaged with the Treasury on the implications of tax changes on the viability of our venues, employment levels, future investment and the customer. Last year the group generated GBP44.6 million in profit after tax, having paid HMRC and local authorities GBP188.0 million in taxes. The Rank Group, with its strong UK focus, is certainly paying its fair share." The UK autumn budget is on November 26.
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Kitchenware seller ProCook says it dished up a record half-year performance, helped by an eighth successive quarter of growth. Revenue in the second quarter ended October 12 climbed 25% on-year to GBP21.3 million, the firm says in a trading statement. For the whole of the first half, revenue improved 21% to a record GBP34.1 million. Gross profit margin and operating costs were in line with expectations in the first half, ProCook adds. "The group's strong second quarter performance marks our eighth consecutive quarter of growth, delivering a record first half trading performance, with our disciplined approach to trading and strong execution of our clear strategy enabling us to significantly outperform the market and grow market share," CEO Lee Tappenden says. "With momentum building, a record number of customers shopping with us, and expanded ranges and number of stores, we are well positioned for the peak trading period." ProCook says it is "well-prepared" for the third-quarter trading period, "with improved Black Friday and Christmas campaigns planned and inventory secured".
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The UK's competition watchdog proposes "major reforms" for the GBP6.3 billion veterinary services market, to "enable pet owners to choose the right vet, the right treatment, and the right way to purchase medicine". The Competition & Markets Authority believes pet owners are "often unaware of the prices of commonly used services and whether their local practices are part of large national chains". Pet owners often receive no estimate for treatment and may over pay for cremations, the CMA adds. "These factors are market wide and mean consumers do not benefit from strong competition between vet businesses. Average vet prices across the market rose by 63% between 2016 and 2023 - well above the rate of inflation," it explains. "In addition, the CMA has found that the current regulatory system is not fit for purpose. It only regulates individual veterinary professionals and not vet businesses, despite the majority of practices being part of a large corporate group." The CMA proposes that veterinary businesses should publish "comprehensive price lists" and make it clear if they are part of a "large group". The CMA adds: "The CMA's final decision will be published by March 2026. The reforms would be implemented through a legally binding CMA Order and could see some measures coming into force before the end of 2026. Small vet businesses will be given additional time for implementation." In the CMA's list of "6 large veterinary groups" are London-listed CVS Group and Pets at Home. CVS welcomed the "additional certainty" from the CMA announcement. "We will be responding to the provisional decision and proposed remedies package in writing in due course and have a further hearing with the CMA in December 2025. We look forward to the publication of the final decision in March 2026 and conclusion of this market investigation promptly thereafter," it adds.
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Outsourcing firm Capita has been fined GBP14 million by the Information Commissioner's Office, ICO, for failing to protect personal data after hackers stole 6.6 million people's information during a cyber attack in 2023. The data watchdog said the breach in March 2023 saw the hackers access information including pension details and staff records, as well as details of customers of organisations Capita supports. In some cases this included sensitive information such as details of criminal records, financial data or so-called special category data, which can include race, religion and sexual orientation. The ICO fined Capita GBP8 million and Capita Pension Solutions a further GBP6 million. John Edwards, UK information commissioner, said: "Capita failed in its duty to protect the data entrusted to it by millions of people. "The scale of this breach and its impact could have been prevented had sufficient security measures been in place."
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By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor
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