The FTSE 100 closed down 0.8% Thursday weighed by Standard Chartered--which reported a 33% drop in third quarter pretax profit and was the session's biggest faller, down 12%. Furthermore, the latest GDP numbers from the U.S. pointed to it being some time before the Federal Reserve cuts rates. Rentokil Initial and B&M European Value Retail were down 11% and 5% respectively. Ocado was the day's biggest riser, up 5.9%, followed by Croda International, up 1.8% and IAG, up 1.8% ahead of Friday's third-quarter earnings.


COMPANIES NEWS:

Standard Chartered's Profit Slides on Impairments, Operating Costs

Standard Chartered PLC's third-quarter underlying net profit dropped 30%, weighed by higher credit impairment and operating expenses.

---

WPP PLC Cuts Guidance After Net Sales Fall, Hurt by US

Advertising giant WPP PLC has cut its full-year guidance for the second time in a row after reporting lower third-quarter net sales as falls in North America offset growth in the U.K., Western Continental Europe and rest of the world.

---

Alumasc Takeover of ARP Group Faces UK Competition Regulator Probe

The U.K. competition regulator said it is considering whether the planned takeover by Alumasc Group of ARP Group Holdings and Rainwater Online Holdings for up to 10.0 million pounds ($12.1 million) may substantially lessen competition in the U.K.

---

DS Smith 1H in Line With Views on Resilient Pricing, Improving Volumes on Quarter

DS Smith said performance in the first half of fiscal 2024 has been in line with expectations despite continuing soft macroeconomic environment.

---

Bank of Ireland Raises 2023 Net Interest Income Guidance

Bank of Ireland Group raised its net interest income guidance for 2023 on higher rates and business momentum.

---

Unilever's New CEO Sets Out Plan to Improve Performance

Unilever's new chief executive, Hein Schumacher, set out a plan for the coming years aimed at remedying some of the group's underperformance asit reported a fall in third-quarter sales but backed its full-year guidance.

---

Renishaw Performance Hurt by Lower Demand in Semiconductor Sector

Renishaw has reported a lower pretax profit for the first quarter, reflecting challenging trading conditions due to reduced demand in the semiconductor sector.

---

C&C Group Profit Falls on System Implementation Problems

C&C Group said pretax profit fell on one-off system implementation charges, and said it will return up to 150 million euros ($158.5 million) to shareholders over the next three years.

---

Restaurant Group Confirms Takeover Approach From PizzaExpress

Restaurant Group confirmed that it has received an approach from PizzaExpress Group owner Wheel Topco for diligence information as it considers a bid for the company.

---

Mattioli Woods Says It Trades in Line With Views

Mattioli Woods said it continues to trade in line with the board's expectations as it makes progress across its businesses and sees demand for its services.

---

Hunting PLC Backs Full-Year View After Earnings Jumped in the First Nine Months

Hunting PLC backed its full-year earnings guidance after the nine-month figure near-doubled on year, and that it has received a $59-million order.

---

PPHE Hotel Group Backs 2023 View After Occupancy Growth Boosted Revenue

PPHE Hotel Group said its third-quarter revenue increased on strong occupancy growth and backed its guidance for the year as it sees momentum continuing into the fourth quarter.

---

Foxtons Revenue Slightly Rises on Increased Lettings

Foxtons Group said that third-quarter revenue slightly increased as increased lettings offset a slump in sales and financial services.

---

Braemar Performing in Line With Market Expectations

Braemar said that its first-half performance was in line with expectations and that it remains confident in the outlook for the second half of fiscal year.

---

Kerry Group Sees 2023 Views at Lower End on Tough Backdrop; To Buyback $317 Mln in Shares

Kerry Group said its 2023 earnings are expected to be at the bottom of its guidance range as its Dairy Ireland business is being hit by challenging market conditions, and announced a share buyback.

---

Inchcape Backs Full-Year Outlook After 3Q Revenue Rise

Inchcape said its third-quarter revenue rose significantly on-year, with growth in the majority of its markets, and reiterated its full-year guidance.

---

Hummingbird Backs Full-Year Production View After Third-Quarter Output Rose

Hummingbird Resources backed its full-year output and cost targets after both improved on year in the third quarter, and said that it swung to positive earnings, boosted by more gold sold at a higher price.

---

Filtronic Expects to Meet Market Expectations

Filtronic said that it expects to meet fiscal 2024 market expectations based on its performance to date.

---

Hellenic Dynamics Shares Fall After $3 Mln Loan Signed

Hellenic Dynamics shares fell after the company signed a $3 million loan facility to accelerate its cultivation plans and execute on its expansion strategy.

---

Argentex CEO Harry Adams Leaves With Immediate Effect

Argentex Group said Thursday its Chief Executive Harry Adams has left the company with immediate effect and that Jim Ormonde has been appointed in the interim.

---

Safestyle UK Shares Dive on Failure to Secure Capital Injection, Financing

Safestyle UK shares fell 56% after the company said Thursday that it doesn't expect any capital injection or new financing.

---

Caracal Gold Says First Phase of Kenya Deposit Work Plan Validates Expansion Project

Caracal Gold said the first phase of the work program of its mining plan for the Kilimapesa Hill deposit in Kenya is completed and represents a milestone for its expansion financing process.

---

International Personal Finance Confident on Delivering Growth in 2023

International Personal Finance said it is well-placed to deliver quality growth in the rest of 2023 and in 2024 and that its performance to date is ahead of its internal plans.

---

Greencoat UK Wind Raises Annual Dividend; Launches GBP100 Mln Buyback

Greencoat UK Wind said it has increased its annual dividend target by 14% to 10 pence a share and intends to launch a buyback program of up to 100 million pounds ($121.1 million).

---

Bloomsbury Publishing Pretax Profit Rose on Higher International sales

Bloomsbury Publishing has reported a higher pretax profit and its fourth consecutive double-digit growth in revenue for the first-half of the fiscal year on increased international sales.

---

Heathrow's Nine-Month Revenue Rose on Higher Passenger Numbers

London's Heathrow Airport said that revenue for the nine months ended Sept. 30 rose as passenger numbers in the summer reached 29 million, taking the total for the period to 59 million, up from 44.2 million in the year-prior period.

---


Contact: London NewsPlus, Dow Jones Newswires; Dow Jones Newswires; paul.larkins@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

10-26-23 1244ET