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McBride (MCB), a Manchester-based manufacturer of private-label and contract-manufactured products, continues to feel the negative impact of the conflict in the Middle East. At the start of April, the company warned that raw material, packaging and haulage input costs could rise significantly if the conflict dragged on. That鈥檚 exactly what has happened, and McBride has suffered due to price rises in relation to 鈥減etrochemical-derived and energy-intensive materials鈥�.

The company isn鈥檛 alone on this score, and it has proactively undertaken measures with suppliers and customers to mitigate the impact of the increases, but it has been forced to undertake a second phase of price recovery actions.

 The conflict has reached something of an impasse, so management believes that 鈥渄irect cost pressures are unlikely to either rise considerably further or experience meaningful near-term decline鈥�. Due to a lag effect, it added that the material impact of the situation in Iran will be more apparent in the final quarter of FY2026 and during the first quarter of the following accounting period. Consequently, it expects adjusted operating profits for both years to be 5-10 per cent below analysts鈥� expectations.

The warning accompanied news that the group鈥檚 acquisition of Eurotab is expected to complete on or around 1 July 2026.

Picton Property Income鈥檚 (PCTN) full-year results contained no significant updates on LondonMetric鈥檚 (LMP) and Schroder Reit鈥檚 (SREI) joint bid for the company. 

The company said it was 鈥渆ngaging with all stakeholders and due diligence is ongoing鈥�. The consortium鈥檚 proposed offer was announced a month ago on 12 May, and has since been subject to opposition from some Picton shareholders. 

Picton reported adjusted earnings of 拢21mn for the year to March, down 8 per cent versus the prior year, largely due to lower occupancy. The company said that it had made progress on leasing out its empty space since the year-end. 

The shares rose 2 per cent in early trading, underperforming real estate peers.

In another blow for the London market, sports betting giant Flutter Entertainment (FLTR) will delist completely from the London Stock Exchange (LSE) in August because of soft trading volumes and cost and regulation pressures.

The owner of FanDuel and Paddy Power, previously a FTSE 100 member, retained a secondary listing in London after moving its primary listing to New York in 2024. But Flutter鈥檚 London shares will now finish trading on 31 July and delist on 3 August, after a strategic review concluded that leaving London behind is 鈥渋n the best interests of the company and its shareholders鈥�. 

The review considered 鈥渢he level of trading activity in its shares on the LSE as well as the additional cost, and regulatory and administrative obligations鈥� of maintaining the listing.

UK Oil & Gas (UKOG) has sold its entire 85.6 per cent stake in the Horse Hill field and the related PEDL137 licence to Energy B (NRGB), a constituent of the Aquis exchange, for 拢1mn in cash. The funds will be used to develop its two salt cavern energy storage projects in the UK, along with new international energy prospects currently under active review.

In May, it emerged that UKOG had submitted a retrospective planning application to Surrey County Council (SCC), which sought to restore production consent originally granted in 2019. UKOG voluntarily suspended activities at the field on 25 October 2024 following an earlier Supreme Court judgment that found that the SCC鈥檚 2019 decision to grant planning consent was unlawful because of a failure to adequately assess the impact of greenhouse gas emissions. It could be argued that regulatory issues, rather than those linked to geology and geochemistry, were always going to be the primary impediment to achieving commercial production volumes at the site.

Estimates differ due to all the variables that can affect extraction rates, but UKOG previously indicated that 3-15 per cent of the oil in place at the site could be recovered, which equates to a midpoint volume of 1bn barrels.

Shares in MP Evans (MPE) fell 1.7 per cent in morning trading after the sustainable palm oil producer sought to address investor concerns triggered by a sweeping Indonesian export policy announced last month.

Recent share price weakness reflects anxiety over Jakarta鈥檚 plans to nationalise commodity exports. On 20 May, President Prabowo Subianto announced that future sales of palm oil, coal and ferroalloys must be channelled through a newly designated state-backed agency.

Despite these tensions, the trading update itself was broadly positive. Total crop harvested rose 10 per cent to 575,100 tonnes in the five months to 31 May, crude palm oil production climbed 8 per cent to 157,600 tonnes, and mill-gate prices held firm at $880 (拢658) per tonne. The company also restarted its share buyback programme and proposed a final dividend of 42p, giving a total for the year of 60p a share.

The company reiterated that its direct exposure to the policy changes are limited; it does not export crude palm oil directly, instead selling to domestic Indonesian refineries, and said it had seen no significant pricing changes from customers since Prabowo鈥檚 parliamentary address.

Management also said that changes will not be implemented until the start of 2027, and that the primary purpose is to ensure that all exports are properly recorded and accounted for.

To no one鈥檚 great surprise, rising energy prices have constrained economic growth in the UK. The country鈥檚 economy contracted in April as the energy shock from the Iran war fed through to household spending and industrial activity. The UK鈥檚 gross domestic product narrowed by 0.1 per cent during the month, according to the Office for National Statistics, raising the spectre of recession, and heaping more pressure on embattled Prime Minister Keir Starmer.