(Bloomberg) -- Good morning, an extremely busy one on the corporates front, with AstraZeneca Plc back in the spotlight amid growing demand for its blockbuster cancer medicines. It also clinched a deal to develop a drug from the industry’s hottest class, targeting patients with diabetes and obesity.

The drugmaker raised its profit outlook for year, reaping the benefits of Chief Executive Pascal Soriot’s risky bet on oncology to transform the company’s once meager pipeline. It now expects sales to rise by a mid single-digit percentage this year and core earnings per share by a percentage up to the low teens. 

What’s your take? Ping me on X or drop me an email at gmello4@bloomberg.net. 

Key Business News

Flutter Entertainment Plc’s third-quarter revenue rose by 13% on a constant currency basis year-on-year, but missed the average estimate, with unsurprising sporting results weighing on the performance of its sports betting business, the company said in a trading update. The FanDuel owner has filed its SEC application to sell shares on the New York Stock Exchange in the first quarter, with plans to delist from Euronext Dublin at around the same time. Dowlais Group Plc is another British company hit by strikes in the US. The London-based engineering specialist said the United Auto Workers industrial action is likely to impact its adjusted revenue by £30 million to £45 million in the full-year, and its adjusted operating profit by as much as £15 million.

National Grid Plc increased its planned spending over the next five years as it builds out the UK’s electricity infrastructure to support a move away from fossil fuels. The utility plans to invest £42 billion in the five years to 2025/26 in Britain and the US, £2 billion higher than it planned in May. The expenditure is expected to enhance earnings per share, the company said.

London’s home rental cost showed signs of easing, with a drop in demand and evidence that tenants are refusing to pay record costs to secure a place to live, a survey by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors showed. Tenant demand across the UK recorded the slowest quarter-on-quarter increase in October since 2021, with London being the only region where demand for rentals declined during the period.

Markets Today’s Take

The RICS data suggests that renters in London have hit their limits.

After months, if not years, of stories about the horrors of the London market -- from long queues for viewings to increasingly onerous bidding processes -- demand in the capital is tailing off as renters baulk at the record prices.

The drop in demand might not lead to a sharp drop in prices -- estate agents in the RICS report merely talk about rents "flattening out" or starting to peak, but it does suggest the balance of power might be starting to shift, however slowly, back to tenants.

— David Goodman

For more news and analysis throughout the day, follow Bloomberg UK’s Markets Today blog. 

What’s Next? 

Investors may get some respite after this morning’s deluge. With few items on Friday’s agenda, including waste management firm Renewi Plc, eyes are turning to next week’s mixed bag of eco data and earnings.

The preliminary reading for third-quarter GDP, due on Nov. 10, is likely to show that Britain slipped into recession over the summer, with estimates pointing to a 0.1% contraction over the prior quarter. “A weaker economy is one important reason we think the Bank of England is done hiking for this cycle, but it won’t be enough to sway the central bank from its ‘higher for longer’ view on rates,” Bloomberg Economics’ Ana Andrade said.

BAE Systems Plc, Imperial Brands Plc, Vodafone Plc and Burberry Plc are the next results to watch out for. Vodafone is expected to deliver about 4% organic service revenue growth for the second quarter, consensus shows. Investors will focus on the dividend as the sale of Spanish unit may bring a re-evaluation of the payment outlook, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Erhan Gurses said.

(Corrects name of Dowlais Group Plc.)

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