FTSE 100 Live: Brave Bison eyes takeover, Ryanair earnings jump

Good morning from the Morning Wire liveblog team.

A motor finance battle, hefty impairment charges and the shadow of 2008 all cast over banks third-quarter results but beneath the fog investors are rewarding the FTSE 100’s top lenders for another bumper quarter.

The FTSE 350 banks index has risen nearly four per cent in October and is up 17 per cent for the year-to-date.

It hasn’t all been plain sailing for London’s top lenders. HSBC and Lloyds both missed analyst profit expectations in the third quarter and Barclays only narrowly hit the mark.

Natwest and Standard Chartered, however, breezed past estimates with the former recording its highest quarterly profit since before its tax-payer bailout in 2008.

The FTSE 100’s ‘Big Five Banks’ recorded a combined £12.3bn pre-tax profit in the three months to September. This fell just short of the £12.8bn in the second quarter, which was prevented from beating its 2024 comparison after HSBC’s £1.58bn write-down.

Despite this, all five banks have enjoyed a share surge after releasing their latest financials.

Here’s a summary of our top headlines from over the weekend:

• House prices edge higher amid Budget speculation
• Princes Group prices London IPO at bottom end of range
• Cindrigo shares lift as energy firm debuts on London’s main market
• Informa boss shifts residency to UAE
• MHA set to deliver double-digit revenue growth as strategy pays off
• Fresnillo moves into Canadian market after major acquisition
• UK unemployment rate to hit 5 per cent next year, EY predicts