UK Stocks-Factors to watch on October 22 (updated)

Liberty Global

22/10/2025 08:02

Updates

Oct 22 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening higher on Wednesday, with futures FFIc1 up 0.46%.

* BARCLAYS: Barclays  BARC.L announced a surprise 500 million pound ($671 million) share buyback, upgraded its performance target for the year and said it would move to quarterly buyback announcements.

* RECKITT: Reckitt  RKT.L beat third-quarter like-for-like net sales growth expectations and retained its overall 2025 outlook.

* PRINCES GROUP: Princes Group said it is targeting a valuation of up to 1.24 billion pounds ($1.66 billion) for its London debut.

* ABERDEEN: Aberdeen ABDN.L reported another quarter of outflows and flagged that it expected a further 4.5 billion pound ($6 billion) client withdrawal by the end of the year.

* HALFORDS: Halfords HFD.L reported a 4.1% rise in like-for-like sales for the first half of fiscal year 2026.

* INFLATION: British inflation and a key underlying measure of price growth both unexpectedly held steady in September, official figures showed.

* SERICA ENERGY: Serica Energy SQZ.L said it would no longer be able to complete its planned transition from the AIM market to the London Stock Exchange's main market this year.

* RIO TINTO: Rio Tinto RIO.L is exploring a potential asset-for-equity swap with Chinalco, three people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

* ITV: Liberty Global, LBTYA.O plans to sell about 191 million shares in ITVITV.L, a bookrunner said.

 * BP: JERA Nex BP, a joint venture between JERA and BP BP.L, plans to halt development of the U.S. Beacon offshore wind power project and lay off its U.S. employees, the company said in a statement.

* COMMODITIES: Oil prices pushed higher for a second day by more than 1%, gold prices rose helped by a weaker dollar and bargain-hunting, and Shanghai copper slipped.

* For more on the factors affecting European stocks, please click on: LIVE/

TODAY'S UK PAPERS
> Financial Times PRESS/FT
> Other business headlines PRESS/GB

 (Compiled by Ankita Bora and Simone Lobo in Bengaluru; Edited by Ronojoy Mazumdar)

 ((Ankita.Bora@thomsonreuters.com))