Corporate updates dominated the European open on Wednesday, and not necessarily in a good way.
Investors was shaken, not stirred, by Aston Martin’s (LON:AML) latest statement, one that saw the carmarker significantly cut its forecasts for the year. This includes the expectation of annual wholesales of 6300-6500 vehicles against its previous 7100-7300 guidance, alongside a downgrade to its adjusted EBITDA margin estimates. The stock plunged 22% on the news, veering off road as it once again struck £8 (remember its IPO last year had seen it open at £19).
Though bad news was very much expected given the 18,000 jobs cut announced recently, Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) still fell 5% after revealing its deepest loss since the height of the financial crisis in 2008. Its net losses for the second quarter came in at an eye-watering, and worse-than-forecast, €3.15 billion, with net revenue also substantially missing expectations at €6.2 billion.
One of Wednesday’s big winners was ITV (LON:ITV). Off the back of announcing that from 2020 Love Island will now be on our screens twice a year – because oversaturation always works out well – the media firm announced total interim advertising revenue was down a slightly better than expected 5%. Earnings, meanwhile, fell 16% to £310 million, in part thanks to its continued investment in potentially doomed Netflix-rival Britbox. It appeared that the Love Island news was enough to compensate for issues elsewhere, sending ITV more than 7% higher.
Plagued by a sharp downturn from key miners like Rio Tinto (LON:RIO), BHP and Anglo American (LON:AAL), the FTSE dropped 0.4%, once again dipping under 7550.
Despite Deutsche Bank’s drop the DAX started the session flat at 12500, while the CAC just about managed to hold above 5600 as it slipped 20 or so points.
On the day that Boris Johnson officially becomes PM, the pound was pretty steady, dipping 0.1% against the dollar while rising the same amount against the euro. Once Johnson moves into no. 10, however, the currency could be in for a far tougher time of it.
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