Love Island and World Cup lift ITV as Liberty rumours swirl

WORLD Cup broadcaster

ITV topped the FTSE 100 leaderboard after City analysts argued that it has pushed past “peak pain” and speculated that shareholder Liberty Global could be circling the company.

The deteriorating advertising market sent ITV shares sliding to a five-year low in April but it has clawed back 27pc ahead of new boss Dame Carolyn Mccall’s chance to woo investors at a strategy day in September.

Advertising revenue growth slumped in the run-up and aftermath of the Brexit vote amid heightened uncertainty. But “confidence has been coming back into the UK TV advertising market”, Société Générale analyst Simon Baker said, pointing to Zenithoptimedia’s prediction of 3pc growth in 2018.

With Sky caught in a bidding war, M&A action in the sector has reached “fever pitch” and Liberty has the war chest to “launch a full-blown bid”. The US telecommunications and TV company already holds a 9.9pc stake and has “reduced its leverage substantially”, Baker argued.

Investor sentiment has also been lifted by ITV hosting the UK’S two summer sensations: the World Cup and Love Island, AJ Bell’s Russ Mould said. England beating Sweden today would set up a moneyspinning semi-final on its flagship channel, he added.

Société Générale’s double upgrade to “buy” boosted ITV well ahead of its blue-chip rivals, the broadcaster climbing 7.4p to 180.4p, a one-year high.

Elsewhere, CYBG shares nudged up to a record peak after the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority approved changes to the way the challenger bank’s merger partner Virgin Money calculates risk-weights on its mortgage book.

The changes mean that Virgin’s Common Equity Tier 1 ratio – a measure of a bank’s financial reserves – jumped 250 basis points to 16pc, a “stunning” figure, Investec’s Ian Gordon gushed. CYBG “probably just can’t believe its luck” and a decision from the PRA had only been expected in 2019, he added.

CYBG closed 7.6p higher at 344.2p, while Virgin climbed 6.1p to 397.9p ahead of the £1.7bn merger.

A 36pc year-on-year plunge in gold output at

Acacia Mining sent its shares sliding 8.6p to 125p as production continues to be plagued by its spat with the Tanzanian government.

The company admitted last month that there is “no time frame” for resolving its dispute with Tanzania over taxes it allegedly owes, a row that has dragged on for over a year. The miner’s share price has nosedived 76pc since it was hit in March 2017 by an export ban on powdered gold concentrate from the country, which has affected around 30pc of its output.

Mitie enjoyed its best trading of 2018 after Peel Hunt upgraded the troubled outsourcer to “hold” on valuation grounds, lifting it 16.1p to 173.4p.

Daily Mail & General Trust slumped 32p to 724.5p on a Socgen downgrade to “sell”, halting the publisher’s 27pc share price rally in 2018.

Insurer Just Group slipped back 5.3p to 129.1p after Jpmorgan argued in a downgrade to “underweight” that the company is unattractive compared to rival Aviva. Elsewhere in the sector,

esure and Direct Line dipped 5.8p to 208.4p and 12.7p to 330.2p, respectively, after Barclays handed them ratings downgrades on concerns over the softening UK motor insurance market.

Markets ended the week on the front foot despite the first shots in a trade war between the US and China being fired by the Trump administration. With US job figures topping Wall Street expectations, stocks in New York enjoyed the strongest gains, while European markets nudged higher. The

FTSE 100 was weighed down by its declining oil majors, gaining just 14.48 points to 7,618.70.