Weekly review
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Friday 31 Oct 2025
(Sharecast News) - The FTSE 100 ended down 0.4% at 9,717.25 on Friday.
Equity view
Precious metals miner Fresnillo on Friday that it has agreed to acquire Canadian exploration company Probe for approximately CAD $780m (£424m) in an all-cash deal. Fresnillo said on Friday that the acquisition marked a strategic entry into Canada and the "prolific" Val d'Or Mining camp in Quebec, which has a long-standing history of gold mining and continued production growth.
Food and beverage company Princes Group said on Friday that it was floating at a valuation of £1.16bn - the lower end of its targeted range. The company, well-known for its tinned tuna, said it had priced its shares at 475p each, having previously announced a range of 475p to 590p. The offer comprises just over 84.2 million new ordinary shares to raise about £400m of gross proceeds, "to support the company with further inorganic growth via acquisitions".
TT Electronics said on Friday that in the last three months it has received and rejected three highly conditional unsolicited all-cash takeover proposals from DBAY Advisors. The company announced on Thursday that it has agreed to be taken over by Swiss rival Cicor Technologies in a £287m cash and shares deal. Under the terms of the acquisition, Cicor will pay 100p per share in cash and 0.0028 new Cicor shares. The price, which values TT Electronics - a manufacturer of electronic components - at 155p per share, is a premium of about 64% to the closing share price on Wednesday.
WPP tumbled on Thursday as it warned on profits again due to a slump in revenue and said it had launched a strategic review, with new boss Cindy Rose describing the advertising firm's performance as "unacceptable". WPP said third-quarter revenue fell 8.4% from the same period a year earlier to £3.3bn, with revenue less pass-through costs down 11.1% to £2.5bn. For the full year, WPP now expects LFL revenue less pass-through costs to decline by between 5.5% and 6%, versus previous guidance for a drop of 3% to 5%. In addition, headline operating profit margin is expected to be around 13%, versus previous guidance of down 50 to 175 basis points year-on-year excluding the impact of FX.
Energy giant Shell posted better-than-expected profits for the third quarter on Thursday despite a weak oil price and unveiled a £350m share buyback. The company reported adjusted earnings - its preferred measure of net profit - of $5.4bn, down 13%, but higher than analyst expectations of $5.05bn and better than the $4.2bn recorded in the previous three months.
Standard Chartered on Thursday said it expected income to be towards the upper end of its 5 - 7% growth range after reporting a rise in third quarter earnings driven by its wealth division. Pre-tax profit grew 3% to $1.77bn. CEO Bill Withers said the Asia-focused lender now expected to hit its 13% target for underlying return on tangible equity in 2025 - a year earlier than planned. Operating income rose 5% to $5.1bn driven by double-digit growth in both wealth solutions and global banking.
Luxury car maker Aston Martin Lagonda posted a third-quarter loss of £112m on Wednesday on the back of lower-than-expected wholesale volumes as a result of US tariffs. The loss before tax for the three months to September 30 compared with a loss of £12.2m a year ago. Total wholesale volumes fell 13% to 1,430 vehicles as reported three weeks ago when the company issued a profits warning.
Mining giant Glencore posted a 36% quarter-on-quarter increase in copper production for the three months ended 30 September, driven by stronger performances at its KCC, Mutanda, Antamina and Antapaccay assets. However, year-to-date copper output came to 583,500 tonnes, down 17% year-on-year from 705,200 tonnes in the same period last year.
Retailer Next raised its full-year sales and pre-tax profit guidance on Wednesday as it revealed full price sales had risen 10.5% year-on-year in the thirteen weeks ended 25 October, ahead of guidance for a more modest 4.5% increase. UK sales were up 5.4%, lower than the 7.6% growth achieved in the first half, but ahead of guidance of a softer 1.9% increase, while overseas sales rose 38.8%, ahead of 28.1% in H1 and materially better than its guidance of 19.4%. Next increased its guidance for fourth-quarter full price sales from 4.5% to 7.0%, adding a further £36m of full price sales to its forecast, while FY full price sales were now expected to hit £5.55bn, representing a 9.7% increase year-on-year. As a result of the improved third-quarter sales performance, along with its improved sales guidance for Q4, Next also raised its FY pre-tax profit guidance by £30m to £1.13bn.
Airtel Africa reported a sharp jump in half-year core earnings on the back of surging revenues and an increase in customer numbers. EBITDA grew 33.2% in reported currency to $1.45bn, with margins expanding to 48.5% from 45.8% a year ago, driven by "continued operating momentum and sustained benefits from our cost efficiency programme", the London-listed telecoms company said on Tuesday.
Mining giant Anglo American posted a mixed set of third-quarter production figures on Tuesday, with gains in copper, manganese and diamonds offset by declines in iron ore and steelmaking coal. Anglo American said copper output rose 1% year-on-year to 183,500 tonnes, while manganese ore production surged 140% to 972,800 tonnes. Rough diamond output jumped 38% to 7.7m carats, while nickel production edged up 2% to 10,100 tonnes.
HSBC on Tuesday reported a fall in third-quarter profits as a $1.1bn legal charge weighed on the bottom line. Pre-tax profit for the three months to September fell 14% to $7.3bn. Net interest income for the quarter rose 15% year on year to $8.8bn, driven by a 30% jump in income from its wealth division to $2.68bn. Operating expenses rose 24%, as it set aside provisions including $1.1bn after losing an appeal in a long-running lawsuit in Luxembourg related to Bernard Madoff's multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme.
Troubled oil services firm Petrofac on Monday filed for administration, putting 2,00 jobs at risk. The company said the administration applied to its holding company while operations continued to trade as it looked for alternative restructuring and M&A options with its key creditors.
Economic news
UK house price growth eased a little in October, according to figures released on Friday by Nationwide. Prices were up 0.3% on the month, down from 0.5% growth in September. On the year, however, house prices rose 2.4%, up from 2.2% the month before. The average price of a home stood at £272,226 in October, up from £271,995 a month earlier.
UK mortgage approvals unexpectedly ticked higher in September and borrowing hit a six-month high, according to data released on Wednesday by the Bank of England. According to the latest monthly Money and Credit Report, net mortgage approvals rose by 1,000 to 65,900 in September. Analysts were expecting a decline. Net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals rose by £1.2bn to £5.5 bn - the highest since March 2025. The effective interest rate - the actual interest paid - on newly-drawn mortgages fell by seven basis points to 4.19% in September, which was the lowest since January 2023, continuing the downward trend seen since March 2025.
Retail sales fell again in October amid weak confidence and Budget concerns, according to a survey released on Monday by the Confederation of British Industry. The CBI's retail sales volume balance was -27 this month, versus -29 in September. Sales were expected to fall at a faster pace in November, with the measure for expected sales down to -39 from -36.
International events
China's manufacturing downturn continued for the seventh straight month in October, as export orders shrank on the back of the Beijing's ongoing trade war with Washington. Official data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that the manufacturing purchasing managers' index declined to 49.0 from 49.8 in September. This was below the 49.6 consensus forecast and the steepest contraction - marked by any figure below the neutral 50.0 mark - since April.
Eurozone GDP increased by 0.2% in the third quarter, according to official flash estimates published on Thursday. For the European Union as a whole, GDP was up 0.3%. In a separate release, the eurozone seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.3%, stable compared with August 2025 as well as with September 2024, Eurostat said.
The European Central Bank kept interest rates on hold on Thursday at 2%, as widely expected. The interest rates on the main refinancing operations and the marginal lending facility were kept at 2.15% and 2.40% respectively. The ECB noted that inflation remains close to its 2% medium-term target and said the Governing Council's assessment of the inflation outlook was broadly unchanged. "The economy has continued to grow despite the challenging global environment," the ECB said. "The robust labour market, solid private sector balance sheets and the Governing Council's past interest rate cuts remain important sources of resilience. However, the outlook is still uncertain, owing particularly to ongoing global trade disputes and geopolitical tensions."
The Bank of Canada cut its key interest rate on Wednesday by 25 basis points to 2.25%, as widely expected, but suggested rates would likely be on hold at the next policy meeting. It said in a statement: "With ongoing weakness in the economy and inflation expected to remain close to the 2% target, Governing Council decided to cut the policy rate by 25 basis points. "If inflation and economic activity evolve broadly in line with the October projection, Governing Council sees the current policy rate at about the right level to keep inflation close to 2% while helping the economy through this period of structural adjustment. If the outlook changes, we are prepared to respond. Governing Council will be assessing incoming data carefully relative to the Bank's forecast."
The Federal Reserve approved a second consecutive interest rate cut on Wednesday, lowering its benchmark borrowing rate by 25 basis points to a range of 3.75%-4.00%, though chair Jerome Powell unsettled markets by signalling uncertainty over a further move in December. The decision was backed by a 10-2 vote from the Federal Open Market Committee, with Governor Stephen Miran favouring a larger half-point cut and Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmid preferring no change. The Fed also said it would end its quantitative tightening programme on 1 December.
German consumer sentiment is expected to deteriorate in November, according to a survey released on Tuesday by GfK and the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions (NIM). The forward-looking October consumer climate index fell to -24.1 from a downwardly-revised 22.5 in October and versus expectations for a reading of -22.0. The indicator for income expectations slumped to 2.3 in October from 15.1 the month before.
German business sentiment improved in October, according to a survey released on Monday by the Ifo Institute. The business climate index rose to 88.4 from 87.7 in September. The expectations index increased to 91.6 in October from 89.8 the month before, while the current situation index dipped to 85.3 from 85.7. Ifo Institute president Clemens Fuest said: "Companies remain hopeful that the economy will pick up in the coming year."
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