Weekly review
By Josh White
Date: Friday 16 May 2025
(Sharecast News) - The FTSE 100 ended the week up 129.64 points, or 1.52%, closing at 8,684.44 on Friday.
Equity view
Real estate investment trust Landsec met consensus forecasts with a small increase in full-year profits, as the company reiterated confidence in its plans to reallocate capital away from offices in the coming years. For the year ended 31 March, EPRA earnings came in at £374m, only marginally higher than the £371m earned the year before, but more or less in line with the £373m market estimate.
Fresnillo has sold the majority of its stake in MAG Silver, it said on Friday, following the announcement of a proposed acquisition of MAG by Pan American Silver. The precious metals miner said its initial investment in MAG Silver was made to support the development of the Juanicipio mine, where Fresnillo is operator and majority owner.
Office landlord Workspace Group warned on profits on Friday, sending the shares sharply lower, on the back of higher costs and mounting macroeconomic pressures. Updating investors ahead of publishing full-year results, the flexible workspace provider - which manages around 4.2m sq ft of space in London and the south east - confirmed trading profits for the year to 31 March 2025 would be in line with consensus.
Future shares fell on Friday as the specialist publisher cautioned that it expected a low single-digit decline in full-year organic revenue amid economic uncertainty. The company, which owns the Go.Compare price comparison website, posted a 21% increase in pre-tax profit to £56.6m for the six months to March. Operating profit rose 8% to £69.1m, driven by lower exceptional costs, and it also a new £55m share buyback.
Discount retailer B&M on Thursday said it had appointed Tjeerd Jegen as chief executive. Jegen will take over from Mike Schmidt, currently interim CEO, on June 16. He previously held leadership roles at Ahold Delhaize, Metro, Tesco, Woolworths, HEMA and Takko Fashion, B&M added.
Enterprise software firm Sage has extended its share buyback plan by £200m after a strong first half, and maintained its growth guidance for the full year despite a "more volatile and uncertain macroeconomic environment". Underlying total revenues rose by 9% year-on-year to £1.24bn in the six months to 31 March, which the company said reflected its high-quality subscription-based recurring revenue model.
Insurer Aviva said it was confident in achieving its group targets after a "great start" to 2025, with premiums rising by almost a tenth. Chief executive Amanda Blanc said the company is "very positive" about the full-year outlook and meeting its financial guidance. "Our balance sheet is strong, we have a clear customer-focused strategy which we continue to deliver at pace and our market-leading businesses are growing well, especially in capital-light areas," she said.
Watches of Switzerland reported a jump in full-year revenues on Thursday as it returned to growth in the UK and US. In an update for the year to 27 April, the company said group revenue rose 8% on the year to £1.65bn, in line with market expectations. Revenue in the UK and Europe was up 2% at £866m, while US revenue grew 16% to £786m.
GSK announced on Wednesday that it has entered into an agreement with Boston Pharmaceuticals to acquire its lead asset Efimosfermin for up to $2bn, buying a specialty medicine to treat and prevent progression of steatotic liver disease (SLD). Under the terms of the deal, GSK paid Boston $1.2bn upfront, with the potential for additional success-based milestone payments totalling $800m.
Housebuilder Persimmon said on Wednesday that it was selling FibreNest - its full fibre broadband service - to BUUK Infrastructure in a £100m deal. FibreNest will join OFNL as part of the BUUK group which provides full-fibre and multi-utility services to new build housing developments.
Landscaping products specialist Marshalls held annual guidance after revenue rose in the first four months of the year despite subdued markets. The group said revenue increased 4% to £207m year on year. Landscaping products revenue contracted by 3% to £86m which Marshalls called a "significant" improvement over the 11% fall reported in the second half of 2024.
Spire Healthcare on Wednesday held guidance and said it expected no hit to its supply chain from US tariffs. The company said trading in the first four months of the year had been in line with expectations. "Furthermore, our on-going transformation programme, which is expected to deliver at least £30m in efficiencies during FY25, remains on track with benefits weighted towards the second half of the year," it added in a trading statement.
Wickes hailed a strong start to the year on Tuesday as it reported a jump in revenues for the 17 weeks to 26 April. Wickes highlighted "good growth momentum" across the business, with group revenue up 6.9% year-on-year. On a like-for-like basis, revenue growth was 5.5%. The company said it delivered strong volume-led sales growth in the retail segment, where revenue rose 9.6%.
Bytes Technology has announced a special dividend and hiked its full-year payout to shareholders after a solid full-year performance, with profits rising by a double-digit percentage. The software, security AI and cloud services specialist outfit reported revenues of £217.1m for the 12 months to 28 February, up 4.9% on the previous year, with operating profits up 17.1% at £66.4m. Gross invoiced income rose 15.2% to £2.10bn, topping the £2bn mark for the first time.
Marston's reported a strong first-half performance on Tuesday, returning to profit as operating margins improved and debt declined. The London-listed pub operator said that for the 26 weeks ended 29 March, it recorded underlying profit before tax of £19m, reversing a £0.2m loss a year earlier. Total revenue was broadly flat at £427.4m, with like-for-like sales up 1.3%, though post-period trading accelerated, with a 10.5% rise in the five weeks to 3 May.
Engineering firm Renew has delivered interim results in line with revised expectations following a profit warning in January, with the company raising its dividend despite flat profits in the first half. The company, which provides engineering services for critical UK infrastructure, experienced an "unprecedented delay and deferment within certain Rail renewals programmes" during the six months to 31 March, meaning adjusted operating profits were down 1% on the previous year at £32m.
Anglo American has announced that Tom McClulley, the former head of its Peruvian division and a member of its executive leadership team, has been appointed as its new technical director. In a statement on Monday, the diversified mining giant said its current technical director of two years, Matt Daley, has decided to take up a senior executive role elsewhere.
Online trading platform IG Group said it expected annual earnings and revenue to meet or slightly exceed the upper end of consensus forecasts after volatile markets caused by US tariffs drove higher-than-expected levels of client trading in the fourth quarter. Forecasts for revenue and adjusted profit before tax are in a range of £1.026bn - £1.051bn and £489.1m - £516.3m respectively.
UK-listed tech group Alphawave has confirmed that it is still engaged in talks with semiconductor giant Qualcomm about a possible takeover as the takeover panel extended the 'put up or shut up' deadline by two weeks. Qualcomm first announced on 1 April that it was considering making an offer for Alphawave, which designs high-speed connectivity solutions for data centers, autonomous vehicles and 5G wireless infrastructure.
Capita said on Monday that it has agreed a three-year extension to continue delivering the Primary Care Support England (PCSE) service on behalf of NHS England (NHSE), from 1 September 2025. The first 18 months of the contract extension is worth £82.5m and will be followed by a further 18-month transition assistance period. Capita will continue to deliver digital, logistical and support services for primary care practitioners working in the NHS in England, including General, Dental, Ophthalmic and Pharmacy Practices.
Economic news
The UK economy grew more than expected in the first three months of the year, according to data released on Thursday by the Office for National Statistics. Gross domestic product rose 0.7% in the first quarter, up from 0.1% growth in the final quarter of last year and ahead of consensus expectations for 0.6% growth. The ONS said growth was driven largely by a 0.7% increase in the services sector, while production grew 1.1% and the construction sector showed no growth.
Bank of England policymaker Catherine Mann, who last week was outvoted in the central bank's decision to cut interest rates, has said that the UK labour market has been more resilient than expected while household inflation expectations have increased. The BoE voted to lower the Bank Rate from 4.5% to 4.25% on 8 May, claiming that there had been "substantial progress on disinflation".
Wage growth slowed and unemployment edged higher in March, official data showed on Tuesday, as the UK labour market softened in the face of higher taxes and a weaker economic outlook. According to jobs data from Office for National Statistics, annual growth in average weekly wages was 5.6%, excluding bonuses, in the three months to March. That was down from the 5.9% seen in the three months to February, and broadly in line with expectations.
A later Easter and the sunniest April on record helped UK retail sales surge last month, according to the British Retail Consortium, with growth picking up strongly after a weak showing in March. Total retail sales rose at a year-on-year rate of 7% in April, following a 1.1% increase in March, according to the BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor released on Tuesday.
International events
Microsoft offered a series of new concessions to the European Commission on Friday, in a bid to settle a long-running antitrust investigation into the bundling of its Teams communications app with Office 365. Its proposal reportedly included unbundling Teams from its Office and Microsoft 365 software suites, offering those products at a lower price without Teams, and enhancing interoperability for rival services.
American Axle & Manufacturing will seek a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange, it emerged on Friday, as it moves forward with its $1.4bn acquisition of Dowlais Group, the UK-based owner of GKN Automotive. The Detroit-based driveline systems supplier, already listed on the New York Stock Exchange, said the move would broaden access to the combined group's shares, allowing existing Dowlais shareholders and new investors in the UK to participate in the merged entity's future growth.
High end jewellery, watch, fashion giant Richemont beat consensus forecasts with a solid increase in full-year sales, though profits declined as tough conditions in the luxury sector continued. The Swiss company said it delivered a "robust" performance over the 12 months to 31 March despite a "persistently uncertain macroeconomic and geopolitical environment", with sales growth picking up in the second half.
US sports retailer Dick's Sporting Goods said on Thursday that it has agreed to buy Foot Locker for $2.4bn. Under the terms of the transaction, Foot Locker shareholders will elect to receive either $24 per share in cash or 0.1168 shares of Dick's common stock for each of their shares. The cash consideration represents a premium of about 66% to Foot Locker's 60-trading day volume weighted average price.
US interest rates are more likely to be higher over the longer term as the global economy faces more frequent and persistent supply shocks, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Thursday. In a speech on the Fed's first policy framework review since mid-2020, Powell said the economic environment "has changed significantly" since then and the central bank's stance would "reflect our assessment of those changes".
Big box retailer Walmart warned on Thursday that customers could still face higher prices, despite Washington and Beijing temporarily agreeing to slash tariffs. Speaking to CNBC, chief executive Doug McMillon said: "We will do our best to keep our prices as low as possible, but given the magnitude of the tariffs - even at the reduced levels announced this week - we aren't able to absorb all the pressure given the reality of narrow retail margins."
Industrial production unexpectedly soared in the Eurozone in March, official data showed on Thursday, boosted by strong demand from the US and a resurgent Germany. According to Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, manufacturing output rose 2.6% in the Eurozone and by 1.9% across the wider bloc. Analysts had been expecting a notably more modest 1.8% uplift. Industrial production rose 1.1% in February in the Eurozone.
Shares in server and storage systems group Super Micro Computer surged on Wednesday after the Wall Street firm inked a $20bn deal to supply Saudi Arabian data centre giant DataVolt with components for its AI campuses. The companies announced that SMC would deliver "ultra-dense GPU platforms and rack systems" for DataVolt's hyperscale AI campuses in Saudi Arabia and the US.
Mortgage applications in the United States edged higher in the seven days to 9 May following a big jump the previous week, according to data out on Wednesday from the Mortgage Bankers Association. The Market Composite Index, which tracks mortgage loan application volumes, rose 1.1% on a seasonally adjusted basis, following an 11% surge in the week ended 2 May.
Germany's DHL Group is to take a "significant" minority stake in British parcel delivery firm Evri, it was announced on Wednesday. Under the terms of the deal, DHL's UK e-commerce arm will merge with Evri, which was acquired by US private equity firm Apollo in 2024 from Advent International for around £2.7bn. Financial terms were not disclosed, although DHL confirmed that Evri - which rebranded from Hermes in 2022 - would remain majority-owned by Apollo.
German inflation eased in April, official figures showed on Wednesday, after energy prices cooled. According to Destatis, the Federal Statistical Office, the consumer price index ticked lower in April year-on-year, to 2.1% from 2.2% in March and 2.3% in February. The print was in line with expectations. Month-on-month, inflation was 0.4%.
Shares in TUI fell sharply on Wednesday after the German travel group reported a slowdown in summer bookings and a wider quarterly net loss, although it maintained its full-year guidance. Bookings for the upcoming summer season were 1% below the prior year's levels, a deterioration from growth reported in earlier updates, with weakness particularly evident in Germany, where sales were down 3%.
China has lifted its ban on Boeing deliveries, it was reported on Tuesday, as tensions between Washington and Beijing continued to ease. Jet maker Boeing was hit with a ban on imports as part of the escalating trade war between the two economies, the world's biggest. Last month the US firm said it would look to resell potentially dozens of aircraft after customers in China refused to take delivery.
German investor sentiment improved more than expected in May, according to a survey released by the ZEW Center for European Economic Research in Mannheim. The economic sentiment index rose to 25.2 from -14 in April, coming in above expectations for a reading of 11.9. Meanwhile, the current situation index declined to -82 in May from -81.2 the month before.
Following the US-China tariff deal announced on Monday, Goldman Sachs has lifted its S&P 500 return and earnings forecasts to incorporate lower tariff rates, better economic growth, and less recession risk than it previously expected. "The Trump administration announced a 90-day pause in the retaliatory tariffs imposed in April, which will leave the US and China with 2025 tariff increases of +30pp and +15pp, respectively," the bank said.
US President Donald Trump on Monday said he would "equalise" drug prices, accusing pharmaceutical companies of deep discounts in return for access to foreign markets. Trump signed an executive order that said his administration would take action to ensure foreign countries are not engaged in any act, policy, or practice ... that has the effect of forcing American patients to pay for a disproportionate amount of global pharmaceutical research and development, including by suppressing the price of pharmaceutical products below fair market value in foreign countries".
Email this article to a friend
or share it with one of these popular networks:
You are here: news
10 Lower Thames St,
London EC3R 6EN