Advertising giant WPP has lowered its full-year profit guidance following a deterioration in performance during the second quarter, citing challenging economic conditions and weaker client spending.

WPP shares were down 14% at the time of writing.

The company now expects like-for-like revenue less pass-through costs to decline by 3% to 5% for 2025, with headline operating profit margins falling by 50 to 175 basis points year-on-year, excluding foreign exchange effects.

WPP’s revised outlook reflects several pressures on the business. The group anticipates that first-half like-for-like revenue, excluding pass-through costs, will decline by 4.2% to 4.5%, with a steeper drop of 5.5% to 6.0% in the second quarter alone.

Advertisers have been slowing their spending on advertising for some time, and the problems for WPP are being compounded by a shift in advertising trends, driven by the rise of social media influencers and AI.

The reduced revenue, combined with severance costs at WPP Media, is expected to result in first-half headline operating profit of £400m to £425m. Headline operating profit was £646m in H1 2024 and £666m in H1 2023.

“WPP’s start to the year was poor, and its first-half performance fell short of its original underwhelming guidance,” said Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“Net revenue is now set to fall by between 3% and 5% over the full year due to client losses and a tough macro environment, which has caused continuing clients to spend less. To make matters worse, the new business pipeline is drying up, with performance in June being worse than WPP expected. There’s not likely to be much let-up over the second half either, so the group’s going to need new ways to engage clients and protect margins.

“The ongoing restructuring and severance actions at WPP Media are set to bring long-term annualised cost savings of over £150 million. But in the short term, the restructuring is proving a distraction for management and weighing on margins. Alongside the weaker-than-expected top line, that’s led to a downgrade to the full-year profit outlook. It’s clear that more needs to be done to turn WPP’s future around, and while the hunt for a new CEO continues, it’s unlikely that WPP will regain its crown as the world’s biggest advertising agency.”

JD Sports shares have staged a very welcome rally after touching lows around 70p in June as trade tariff fears eased and its core supplier, Nike, surprised the market with an upbeat earnings update.

JD Sports’ valuation would suggest the share price should be higher than the current 88p that the market currently affords them. Over the long term, JD Sports is likely to retest its all-time highs above 200p.

However, the market may need more convincing to take shares above 100p in the near term. Here’s why.

JD Sports enjoyed rapid growth in the UK and set its sights on the US. Such has been the strength of JD’s penetration of the UK market that its home market offers very little in terms of opportunity for new store openings. It has nearly reached saturation point.

This by itself isn’t a bad thing, but the group is heavily reliant on like-for-like growth. Unfortunately, over the last year, JD Sports recorded a drop in like-for-like sales growth in the UK. Total UK revenue fell 3.7% in 2024.

The poor state of the UK economy is curtailing demand for £185 trainers and this is likley to persist for at least the rest of 2025, especially with the Labour government in charge.

This makes the firm increasingly reliant on the US for growth. The US accounted for nearly as much revenue as the UK last year, and its growth rate was significantly more attractive, at over 6%. This was driven by store openings, with like-for-like sales rising a meagre 0.5%. It’s highly likley the US is JD Sports’ largest geography in 2025.

The concern for investors is that while JD has set out ambitious plans for store openings globally, the economic conditions in the UK and the US do not support aggressive expansion of discretionary spending.

With new store openings being the key driver of sales growth, investors will want to see whether JD is keeping to the pace of store openings it promised. Donald Trump’s tariffs raise questions about whether this is feasible this year.

For this reason, the JD Sports share price is unlikely to breach 100p until there is more certainty around trade tariffs.

JD Sports is also highly exposed to Nike’s fortunes, with Nike goods accounting for around 45% of JD’s sales. Until very recently, Nike’s failure to innovate has weighed on JD Sports and added to economic concerns.

A positive Nike earnings update released in June revealed early signs of a turnaround, which helped lift Nike shares and, in turn, JD. However, investors will want to see additional evidence that Nike is back to its best before declaring the mini crisis over.

There are too many unknowns for the JD Sports share price to break through 100p in a meaningful way. From a technical perspective, a double top is forming around 96p, which suggests a move back to the 70p-80p range.

The 70p-80p range is the buy zone for JD Sports shares, with an eventual retest of 100p expected later this year.

The FTSE 100 is trading in a holding pattern as investors try to work out what to make of the latest twist in the US trade tariff saga.

London’s leading index was trading up just 5 points after Donald Trump revealed his latest trade tariff plans overnight.

Trump’s latest round of tariffs made as little sense as his first round so there is some consistency on that front.

However, there is a severe lack of consistency in the timing of tariffs with a new date of 1 August touted as the deadline. The fluid nature of when tariffs will come into force raises the question if they ever will come into force and traders are opting to sit on their hands.

“The TACO (Trump Always Chickens Out) trade is back on the table as the Trump administration’s latest announcements on tariffs offered some relief to financial markets,” said AJ Bell investment analyst Dan Coatsworth.

“While new levies were announced for 14 trading partners, news of a pause until 1 August to allow for further negotiations was received positively. This removes the immediate cliff edge created by a 9 July deadline and US president Trump has indicated that even this new date is not set in stone.

“On the flipside, this only extends the uncertainty with markets likely to spend the next three weeks trying to guess the ultimate outcome. If tariffs are a negotiating strategy it appears they may be a rolling one, with constant bartering and trade policy being used in the service of US foreign policy goals.”

The indecision in markets was reflected in a FTSE 100 that was split almost down the middle in terms of gainers and losers.

With little in the way of major corporate developments, sector-based gyrations kept the index fairly flat on Tuesday.

Pharma stocks were among the losers as a rebound in BP and Shell helped offset losses elsewhere. Miners were also among the winners.

Housebuilders were again in the red as the impact of an upbeat assessment of the UK property market by Halifax yesterday wore off.

Entain was the top FTSE 100 riser with a gain of 3%.

Data analysis software provider Celebrus Technologies (LON: CLBS) reported a rise in full year pre-tax profit from $7.4m to $8.4m, although it is likely to be loss making this year. That is du to the switch to a subscription model. The share price improved 11.9% to 165p.

Premier African Minerals (LON: PREM) shares rose a further      following yesterday’s announcement that the Zulu lithium plant restarted on 6 July and optimisation of production will follow. The share price recovered 11.1% to 0.015p.

Begbies Traynor (LON: BEG) has launched a buyback of up to one million shares on the back of its full year results announcement. This shows the confidence in cash generation.  Pre-tax profit was 7% ahead at £23.5m. Net cash was £900,000 at the end of April 2025. Total future earn out payments are £12.2m. Insolvencies remain relatively high compared with recent years. Growth is offsetting the increases in costs. There are headwinds for property advisory. Pre-tax profit could rise to £24.2m this year without further acquisitions. The share price increased 8.11% to 120p.

Jonathan Swann has increased his stake in Bezant Resources (LON: BZT) from 4.07% to 5.19%. The share price rose 6.52% to 0.049p.

FALLERS

Active Energy Group (LON: AEG) has closed a substantially oversubscribed placing raising £346,180. The biomass-based renewable energy technology developer will use the cash for working capital. The company is evaluating a digital assets strategy for its treasury management. A proportion of the fundraising is likely to be invested in Bitcoin and other digital assets. The share price slumped 32.9% to 0.235p.

Synergia Energy (LON: SYN) says Selan Exploration, its partner in the Cambay PSC, has contracted a workover rig for the C-64 well. Synergia Energy plans to sell its 50% stake in the Cambay PSC to Selan Exploration for an initial payment of $500,000 followed by $6.5m when the Indian government approves the deal. Then, 12 months later, the final $7m will be paid. The share price lost some of last week’s gains and is 10% lower at 0.0225p.

Optima Health (LON: OPT) mentioned a slight slowdown in new business revenues commencing in the second half when it reported results for the year to March 2025. The falling off of two contracts meant that revenues declined to £105m, while pe-tax profit fell from £13.4m to £12.8m. Panmure Liberum has trimmed forecast revenues for this year, and the pre-tax profit estimate has been reduced from £14.1m to £12.9m. The share price fell 8.53% to 193p.

Podcast company Audioboom has delivered a strong second quarter performance with adjusted EBITDA surging 400% to $1.2 million.

The London-listed firm reported Q2 revenue of $17.8 million, up 5% year-on-year from $17.0 million in the same period last year.

Gross profit climbed 35% to $4.0 million, driven by gross margins increasing to 23% from 18% in Q2 2024. This improvement reflects the company’s focus on higher-margin revenue streams.

The group’s Showcase advertising marketplace performed particularly well, with revenue jumping 16% year-on-year. Monthly distribution across the Audioboom Creator Network reached 100 million downloads and views, marking a 5% increase from the previous year.

Audioboom’s sales and profit growth was helped in part by expanding its creator network with new partnerships and launching new shows, including Something Was Wrong, Undisclosed, and On the Case with Paula Zahn.

These shows are expected to contribute more than four million monthly downloads and YouTube views. The company also launched a partnership with Gumball FM to bring AI-driven advertising to its Showcase platform.

“A very positive second quarter reflects the continued improvements we have made across the business. Revenue is up 5%, gross profit is up 35%, and adjusted EBITDA is up by approximately 400% – a fantastic achievement by the Audioboom team,” said Stuart Last, CEO of Audioboom.

“Topline growth is primarily driven by the expansion of the Audioboom Creator Network, and higher gross profit  – a key metric as we focus on higher quality, higher margin income – grew significantly as Showcase, with its higher gross margin, continued to perform strongly. Our stable opex base – a result of our platform’s scalability – helped deliver significantly higher adjusted EBITDA than for the same period last year.

“The second half of 2025 is primed for further growth as new podcasts join Audioboom, knowing we are leaders in delivering maximum value for their work. The advertising market remains stable despite global economic uncertainties, and with our highest demand season on the horizon I am excited about delivering Audioboom’s strongest ever year.”

The FTSE 100 rose on Monday as investors geared up for a busy week of US trade announcements around a soft deadline of 9th July.

If the volatility following the initial trade announcements is any indication of how this week could unfold, we could be in for a rollercoaster as the deadline on July 9th approaches. Or could we?

Markets are showing signs of ambivalence towards recent trade war updates with the TACO trade (Trump always chickens out) driving equities, and deadlines morphing into preliminary deadlines with action set to come into force at a later date. There’s a sense that Trump’s deadlines and social media outbursts represent unconventional negotiation tactics that will result in tariffs far less damaging than first feared in April.

“Countries and regions are bracing themselves for trade letters from the US as the Trump administration moves to the next phase of its tariff regime,” said Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell.

“Trump might be treating it in the same way as a final notice letter – get your act together and agree to a deal or be put back on the higher tariff rates outlined in the Liberation Day announcement.

“We now have some clarity on how the system will work. Rather than a hard deadline of 9 July where all countries without a trade deal will revert to the higher rates announced on 2 April, the new tariff regime begins on 1 August. More countries are expected to confirm trade deals in the coming days, and extensions are possible beyond the 9 July hurdle for countries where negotiations are deemed to be going well.”

London’s leading index showed little sign of concern on Monday. The FTSE 100 was 0.15% higher at the time of writing after recovering early losses and shaking off a poor session for Shell.

The UK’s premier fossil fuel producer by market cap released its earnings teaser on Monday and gave investors little reason for cheer.

“Shell’s latest quarterly results teaser has created trepidation that the numbers will be a dud,” Coatsworth said.

“The company has cut the upper limit on its guidance for second-quarter gas and LNG output and downwardly revised expectations for its trading division. Shell will be announcing its upcoming earnings amid considerable volatility in the energy market and the wider global economy.”

Shell shares were down 2.7% at the time of writing. BP fell 1.6% in sympathy.

There was minor positivity in housebuilding shares on Monday, following a terrible week for the sector. New data from Halifax, released on Monday, confirmed Nationwide’s recent assessment of slowing price growth. However, Halifax offered some encouragement in the form of increased transactions and mortgage approvals, which could lead to higher prices as the year progresses.

“The UK housing market is stalling but there are signs that green shoots could spring up again in the months to come,” explained Susannah Streeter head of money and markets, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“The closely watched Halifax house price index showed an increase of 2.5% year on year in June, the lowest rate in eleven months. However, the building society has flagged that mortgage approvals and property transactions are picking up and more buyers are returning to the market. Given that more interest rate cuts are expected this year, wages are still rising ahead of inflation and unemployment remains relatively low, there are firmer foundations in place.”

Taylor Wimpey and Barratt Developments were higher by less than 1% at the time of writing. Persimmon was down around 0.5%.

3i Group was the FTSE 100 top riser, gaining 2.2%.