BUSINESS LIVE: BofE anticipated to chop base price; Rolls shrugs off provide chain hit; ITV Studios nonetheless suffers US strikes

ITV revenues slipped 8 per cent in the third quarter, dragged down by lower revenue in its studios business that continues to face the impact of phased deliveries from the US writers’ and actors’ strike last year.

Revenue decreased to £2.74billion pounds in the three months to 30 September, from £2.98billion a year earlier.

Boss Carolyn McCall said: ‘ITV Studios is performing well despite the expected impact of both the writer’s strike and a softer market from free-to-air broadcasters. 

‘ITV Studios has had an excellent start to Q4, in line with expectations, which will ensure it achieves record profits in 2024. 

‘Studios has great creative and commercial momentum as demonstrated in the last few weeks with shows including Rivals for Disney+ and Ludwig for the BBC and is on track to deliver good revenue growth in 2025 and 2026.’

Rolls-Royce has stuck to annual proft guidance despite warning it could face a hit from supply chain issues costing as much as £200million.

The group expects to post annual profit growth of at least 30 per cent this year as its airline customers flew more and demand for power for data systems and defence equipment continued to grow.

That strength offset problems in the aerospace supply chain which has caused delays for parts, and which the company warned in August would cost £150million to £200million this year.

‘Continued good performance year to date gives us further confidence in the delivery of our 2024 guidance despite a supply chain environment which remains challenging,’ chief executive Tufan Erginbilgic said.

Michiel Tukker, senior european rates strategist at ING:

‘The main focus in the wake of the elections is the policy-setting meetings of the Fed and the BoE.

‘The Fed is firmly expected to cut by another 25bp, but the elections have important implications for the longer-run outlook of the Fed.

‘Chair Powell’s commentary on the current economic environment and how the next US president could likely influence the outlook will be of huge significance.

‘The BoE is also very likely to cut rates by 25bp again, but the combination of extra fiscal stimulus and the US election aftermath means officials won’t want to comment on its next steps.’

The Bank of England is expected to cut interest rates again later today, despite the reemergence of concerns about a looming revival in inflationary pressures.

Markets expect the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee to vote for another 25 basis points cut to 4.75 per cent at midday.