Boris Johnson will formally become the new Prime Minister on Wednesday afternoon, a day after confirmation that Conservative Party members had voted for him to be the next party leader.
“We are going to energise the country,” the former mayor of London said in a speech after defeating Jeremy Hunt in the final Tory face-off.
“We are going to get Brexit done on October 31 and we are going to take advantage of all the opportunities it will bring,” Johnson added.
Ahead of his move into the 10 Downing Street villa, the PM-elect will meet the Queen at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday for his appointment to be confirmed.
Love Island boost for ITV
Another event where contestant nakedly compete for votes will be the focus earlier on Wednesday, with Love Island one of the areas of focus for ITV plc's (LON:ITV) interim results.
The half-year numbers look set to receive a boost from the hit reality TV show as the broadcaster battles against a tough advertising market, with the goings-on in Casa Amor expected to have lifted audience numbers as the reality show breaks records for viewer numbers.
Still, the important thing is not viewers but how much advertisers are willing to pay to place their ads in front of those eyeballs.
“Advertising trends have been weak since the Brexit vote, with ITV’s advertising revenue down 7% last quarter, so some positive news would be welcomed,” said analysts at Hargreaves Lansdown.
The onus will otherwise be on the Studios production business, which now makes up more than half of all revenues and should help to offset uncertainty in advertising.
Broker Liberum expects the results to “provide some relief” to shares that have fallen more than 20% since the start of May, with the impact from Love Island and other “signs advertisers are shifting spending into ITV1”.
Vaccines to give GSK shot in arm?
Booming demand for GlaxoSmithKline PLC’s (LON:GSK) portfolio of vaccines sent profits soaring in the opening three months of 2019, and investors will be hoping that trend has continued when the drugmaker reports its second-quarter numbers on Wednesday.
Sales of injections such as Shingrix has helped to offset some of the generic competition facing old blockbuster drugs, such as Advair.
A rival to Advair received approval earlier this year, forcing GSK to trim its earnings guidance for this year. The market will be hoping there is no deterioration in this regard.
Elsewhere, sales in the HUV unit will also be a key focus and whether newer products such as Juluca and Dovato can offset losses from Tivicay and Triumeq.
Marston’s hopes to toast continued sales
While the pub sector has been under pressure in recent times amid fears that Brexit uncertainty could lead to lower consumer spending, FTSE 250 publican Marston’s plc (LON:MARS) has seen a relatively good level of sales recently.
The relatively good weather conditions since the group’s interims in May raise hopes that trading has remained steady for both the group’s premium and drinks-led pubs when it reports a third quarter update.
Investors may also be looking for any comment on press rumours that the firm is looking to sell its Pitcher & Piano chain.
Pick-up anticipated for Anto
Antofagasta PLC (LON:ANTO) is due to release a production report on Wednesday, fresh from news that a 50%-owned joint venture has been awarded US$5.84bn in damages in an arbitration case over the disputed Reko Diq copper and gold project in Pakistan.
For the second quarter, analysts at Peel Hunt expecting a “small pick-up” in copper output to 196,000 tonnes from 189,000 in the quarter to March as they expect a small improvement in recoveries at Los Pelambres and fractionally higher grades at Centinela.
This should see the group remain on track for its 750,000-790,000 copper production guidance for the full year.
“We expect marginally better by product production in the quarter - more gold and at higher prices than Q1, offsetting a small reducing in molybdenum,” the analysts wrote, overall looking for net cash costs in the quarter at $1.23 per lb versus a full-year guidance of $1.30.
Wednesday July 24:
Trading updates: Antofagasta PLC (LON:ANTO), Britvic Plc (LON:BVIC), Marston’s plc (LON:MARS), Paypoint PLC (LON:PAY), Brewin Dolphin PLC (LON:BRW), Empresaria Group plc (LON:EMR)
Interims: GlaxoSmithKline PLC (LON:GSK), ITV plc (LON:ITV), Informa PLC (LON:INF), Croda International PLC (LON:CRDA), Tullow Oil plc (LON:TLW), Drax PLC (LON:DRX), Quartix Holdings plc (LON:QTX)
Economic data: BBA UK mortgage lending figures; US new home sales