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UPDATED ON 03 MARCH 2026
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Greggs, Intertek & Fresnillo: Markets live

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漏 Investors鈥 Chronicle
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March 3
产测听Erin Withey
Greggs blames weather for lower profits (again)

Greggs鈥 (GRG) battle with the weather continues. The bakery chain blamed a 鈥減articularly hot鈥 summer for putting people off their pasties in FY25, after pre-tax profit fell by 18 per cent.

Like-for-like sales increased by 2.4 per cent for the year to 27 December, but current trading has since deteriorated, with sales growth slowing in the first nine weeks of FY26 to 1.6 per cent.

鈥淩ain does not help,鈥 said Peel Hunt analyst Jonathan Pritchard, concerning Greggs鈥 2026 customer footfall.

Chief executive Roisin Currie said 2026 will be 鈥渁nother tough year for the consumer鈥, and reaffirmed guidance of no pre-tax profit growth in FY26. Greggs is currently the UK market鈥檚 most shorted stock.

After spending heavily to open 121 net new stores over the year, Greggs said it is now past the peak of its investment programme. Management expects capital expenditure to fall from 拢288mn to 拢200mn this year, and 拢150mn-拢170mn thereafter.

Currie said the board鈥檚 key focus going forward will be on 鈥渞estoring鈥 its return on capital employed metric to its target of 20 per cent. The board held the total dividend at 69p per share.

March 3
产测听Michael Fahy
Rosebank to raise 拢1.9bn to fund acquisitions

Rosebank Industries (ROSE) plans to raise 拢1.9bn from 大象视频 to fund the acquisition of two US-based businesses for a combined $3.05bn (拢2.3bn).

The company is buying components maker MW Components for $950mn and ASP CPM Holdings, which makes processing equipment for animal feeds and fuels, for $2.1bn.

They are both being purchased from US private equity firm American Securities.

Rosebank will raise funds at 330p a share 鈥 a slight premium to the 328p the company鈥檚 shares were trading at when they were suspended on 16 February when news of the potential deals first broke. 

The capital raise is fully underwritten by institutional shareholders, but the company also plans a smaller retail offer at the same price, through which the directors have agreed to subscribe to 拢12.3mn of shares.  

Rosebank has also raised the remaining amount needed to fund the deal through new debt, which will push net debt to 2.75 times cash profit.

Rosebank also revealed results for 2025. For most of the year it was a cash shell, but it includes 19 weeks of its ownership of Electrical Components International (ECI), during which time it declared an operating loss of $46mn on revenue of $445mn, although this figure contained one-offs relating to restructuring and other non-cash charges.

The company said 鈥済ood progress鈥 had been made on the restructuring plan, through which it intends to reduce the number of company-owned sites by a quarter.

March 3
Inchcape launches 拢175mn buyback

Full-year results for FTSE 100 global car distributor Inchcape (INCH) met consensus forecasts, but a cautious outlook left 大象视频 underwhelmed, with the shares edging lower in morning trading. Not even a new 拢175mn share buyback was enough to lift the downbeat mood.

Management guidance for this year was for organic volume growth to come in towards the lower end of the group鈥檚 3鈥5 per cent forecast range, with performance weighted to the second half. Operating margins are expected to remain resilient at around 6 per cent, in line with last year.

Revenue was broadly flat at 拢9.1bn, while adjusted pre-tax profit came in at 拢443mn, reflecting stable margins of just under 5 per cent. Free cash flow was strong at around 拢365mn, equating to cash conversion of roughly 80 per cent of adjusted operating profit.

March 3
产测听Alex Hamer
Blackstone bids for Senior

Vehicles backed by asset management giant Blackstone (US:BX) are bidding for aerospace company Senior (SNR), the company said on Tuesday morning. Senior had said last week two potential buyers had approached it with offers, but only named Advent International. A Bloomberg report on Tuesday morning triggered the Blackstone announcement. 

鈥淪enior confirms that, on 20 February 2026, it received a preliminary, non-binding all-cash offer from a consortium comprising of Tinicum Incorporated and funds and vehicles managed by Blackstone,鈥 Senior said. 

The company rejected two bids in January before bringing in advisers to run a more formal sales process. This led to the suspension of a 拢40mn buyback programme. 

In 2025 results yesterday, the company reported a 20 per cent jump in adjusted operating profit to 拢63.6mn. Its shares are up 47 per cent so far this year, including an 18 per cent jump on the Advent announcement at the end of last week.

March 3
Intertek shares drop on missed targets

Intertek (ITRK) shares fell 13 per cent in early trading after full-year organic growth at the FTSE 100 quality assurance specialist fell short of analyst expectations. The lack of a fresh buyback also didn鈥檛 reassure 大象视频.

Adjusted operating profits rose 9.3 per cent to 拢620mn, pushing the margin up 90 basis points to 18.1 per cent. As a result, adjusted earnings per share jumped 10.1 per cent at constant currency to 254p.

However, like-for-like revenue growth came in at 3.9 per cent, against the consensus of 4.4 per cent. While the consumer products and corporate assurance divisions performed well, revenue in the world of energy arm fell 1.3 per cent.

Adjusted free cash flow fell 14 per cent to 拢352mn due to higher interest costs and higher capital expenditure, missing the expected 拢374mn. Net debt rose to 拢1.3bn, up from 拢799mn a year earlier due to a string of deals.

For 2026, management guided for mid-single digit like-for-like revenue growth and upgraded its outlook for the consumer products business to mid-single digit growth.

March 3
产测听Alex Hamer
Fresnillo profit soars but 大象视频 are not convinced

Silver miner Fresnillo (FRES) is one of the top beneficiaries of the precious metals bull run, its shares going from 650p at the beginning of 2025 to almost 4,300p on Monday afternoon. But a run like that brings high expectations, and news that the Mexican company would raise spending significantly this year brought a 5 per cent sell-off.

The overall picture was as expected in the 2025 results, with the cash profit up 81 per cent to $2.8bn (拢2.1bn), ahead of analyst consensus of $2.7bn. Fresnillo also announced a much higher final dividend than expected at 108垄, taking the year鈥檚 payout to 63 per cent of adjusted profit, compared with the usual policy of 33-50 per cent.

Investors were surprised by the capital spending guidance for 2026 of $765mn, compared with $400mn in 2025. 鈥淐apex guidance surprises have been a feature of this reporting season and an unfortunate consequence of high prices, but we expect the shares to react negatively if none of these investments translate into growth,鈥 said RBC Capital Markets analyst Marina Calero.

March 3
产测听Alex Hamer
CAML tumbles on mine life cut

Challenging geology has led to Central Asia Metals (CAML) cutting the expected life of its Sasa lead and zinc mine by five years, taking the end date down to 2034.

This will bring a $120mn impairment in the 2025 results later this month. Investors sold off on the update, sending the shares down 15 per cent in morning trading.

CAML had hit a three-year high before the mine life update. 鈥淎s mining has progressed deeper at Sasa, the geology has presented increasing challenges 鈥 in particular, the orebody has become narrower,鈥 the company said. CAML had already cut guidance at the North Macedonian underground operation in July due to the issues.

CAML also runs the Kounrad copper project in Kazakhstan, but has been looking for M&A opportunities for years. Its last big acquisition was Sasa. 鈥淸The Sasa mine life reduction] comes at a time when CAML鈥檚 investment case is already under pressure with rising copper equity valuations narrowing the window for M&A, putting management鈥檚 search for a material acquisition increasingly at risk,鈥 said RBC Capital Markets analyst Laura Chan.

March 3
产测听Christopher Akers
IWG sticks with guidance despite low earnings

International Workplace Group (IWG) shares slumped 6 per cent in early trading as the Switzerland-based hybrid workspace platform disclosed annual earnings at the low-end of its guidance range and continued to feel the pressure from market worries about AI and real estate.

For the year to 31 December, the group鈥檚 managed and franchised division drove system-wide revenue up 4 per cent to $4.5bn (拢3.3bn). Adjusted Ebitda was up 6 per cent to $531mn, against guidance of $525mn-$565mn.

Management stuck with Ebitda guidance of $585mn-$625mn for 2026 and at least $1bn in the medium term. It also raised its current share buyback programme by $50mn to $100mn.

March 3
Aberdeen relies on Interactive Investor for growth

Aberdeen鈥檚 (ABDN) net outflows more than tripled last year, as the FTSE 250 fund manager depended on its Interactive Investor platform to drive annual profit growth.

As pre-reported in January, assets under management and administration (AUMU) in 2025 was driven up 9 per cent to 拢556bn from the previous year on market movements as net outflows jumped from 拢1.1bn to 拢3.9bn.

Outflows were driven by Aberdeen鈥檚 investments business (institutional and retail wealth, and insurance partners) but 大象视频 also took money out of the adviser unit at the group鈥檚 wealth arm. Management expects adviser net inflows to return this year and the unit to deliver 拢1bn of inflows in 2027, a year later than hoped for.

March 3
产测听Hugh Moorhead
Kier ups dividends and buybacks

Kier (KIE) has announced a 拢25mn buyback alongside half-year results, and increased its interim dividend by 30 per cent to 2.6p.

The construction company reported adjusted operating profit of 拢71mn on revenues of 拢2bn, up 7 per cent and 3 per cent respectively versus the prior year. Its forward order book increased 5 per cent from June to 拢11.6bn and covers 94 per cent of expected 2026 revenues and 78 per cent of expected 2027 revenues.

The company also reported a positive average month-end net cash position of 拢17mn, ahead of analysts鈥 expectations.

鈥淭he group continues to trade well with full year performance forecast to be in line with the board鈥檚 expectations,鈥 said chief executive Stuart Togwell. Analysts are forecasting FY2026 operating profit of 拢169mn. Shares rose 1 per cent in early trading.

March 3
Reach slumps on 拢223mn impairment

Shares in Reach (RCH) fell more than 9 per cent this morning after the owner of the Daily Mirror and Daily Express newspapers revealed a 拢223mn non-cash impairment charge in its annual results.

The writedown dragged the publisher to a statutory operating loss of 拢160mn last year, compared with a 拢72mn profit in 2024. On an adjusted basis, operating profit rose 2.4 per cent on 拢518mn revenues, down from 拢539mn.

Digital revenue fell by 0.9 per cent for the full year and by 7.8 per cent in the fourth quarter alone, which management blamed on a 鈥渕aterial reduction鈥 in referral traffic from Google. Print revenue was down 4.6 per cent.

Net debt more than doubled to 拢35mn, but the dividend was maintained at 7.34p per share. Looking into 2026, management is taking a 鈥渃autious approach鈥 to digital performance for the year given lower referral volumes, but still expects to meet market expectations.

March 3
产测听Hugh Moorhead
Keller prioritises dividends over investment

Keller (KLR) has announced its own bumper distributions programme this morning, in the form of a 拢100mn buyback and a 42 per cent increase in its dividend to 70p.

The contractor, which specialises in laying the groundwork for construction, reported underlying profit of 拢218mn on revenues of 拢3.1bn, both up 6 per cent versus the prior year (adjusted for FX).

Performance was stronger in Asia Pacific and Europe & the Middle East, but weaker in North America.

Its order book of 拢1.5bn is unchanged versus the prior year, and the company has not issued guidance for 2026.

鈥淥perational performance is sustainable,鈥 said new chief executive James Wroath, in reference to the group鈥檚 7 per cent underlying operating profit margin.

Shares rose 6 per cent in early trading.