STOCKS TO WATCH: Bond film delay hits advertisers

The delay to the next instalment of the James Bond franchise may be another nail in the coffin for cinemas, but the postponement of 007’s return reverberates far wider. 

Daniel Craig’s final outing as the secret agent in No Time To Die has been pushed back from April to October, and with it the prospect of an advertising blitz. 

The flick is packed with endorsements from Omega watches to Land Rover’s Defender, which gets an off-road outing, and the brands had planned a tie-in marketing push.

The delay will be a blow to ad agencies, including those in the WPP stable, as well as broadcasters ITV and Sky, whose parent Comcast also owns Bond distributor Universal.

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Sir Martin Sorrell is keeping busy while locked down in London: the 75-year-old advertising tycoon will tomorrow receive his Covid vaccine and was glued to Joe Biden’s inauguration last week. 

So what does the ‘Sage of Soho’ behind listed digital ad firm S4 Capital reckon the new President must do to revive the economy? 

‘Biden’s focus on eliminating the impact of the coronavirus and the additional stimulus that he favours will be crucial,’ he says. 

‘GDP growth on the virus rebound will stimulate investment, as will infrastructure spending and green investment. Not sure that increasing personal or corporate taxes will help, though he will have to find some way to pay off the deficit when inflation, then interest rates, rise.’ 

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Joe Biden’s arrival in the White House could put defence stocks – from Rolls-Royce to BAE Systems and Babcock – in the spotlight. 

The Government has announced £16.5billion in extra defence spending, but industry watchers say a slew of projects are on hold until the long-delayed Integrated Review of  Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy is published, potentially in March. 

But Defence Select Committee chairman Tobias Ellwood says he’s already been talking to the Democrats’ foreign policy team. 

‘They want us to step up. China and other foreign threats have taken advantage of our lack of collective resolve to increase their global military influence,’ the Tory MP tells me breathlessly, fresh from helping with the Covid jabs roll-out in his Bournemouth constituency. 

‘Biden has the backbone to say we can’t let this continue. We don’t have anyone in No10 who understands the longterm strategic threat China poses.’

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Expect some action in the long-running saga that is Canadian security firm GardaWorld’s hostile – and scrappy – pursuit of Britain’s G4S this week. 

Garda’s current offer of £2.35 a share expires on Wednesday, and it falls short of its American rival Allied’s £2.45-a-share bid, which has been recommended to shareholders by the G4S board. 

With the stock changing hands at £2.60, Garda raising its offer looks odds on.