Bunzl H1 operating profits down, Halma acquires Brownline for €150m
By Iain Gilbert
Date: Tuesday 26 Aug 2025
(Sharecast News) - LONDON PRE-OPEN
The FTSE 100 was expected to open 22.8 points lower ahead of the bell on Tuesday, after wrapping up the previous session 0.13% higher at 9,321.40.
STOCKS TO WATCH
Distribution giant Bunzl said on Tuesday that reported adjusted operating profits fell by 11.2% in the six months ended 30 June to £404.5m, as a one percentage point contraction in operating margins to 7.0% offset a 0.8% increase in revenues to £5.75bn.
Halma announced on Tuesday that it had bought Netherlands-based gyroscopic locating system maker Brownline for €150m. Founded in 1994, Brownline's main markets are energy, fibre connectivity and water. Its sales are principally to North America, continental Europe and the UK, and it has offices in the Netherlands, the US, Canada, the UK and Australia.
Workspace Group has announced a new five-year lease at its Kennington Park site in London, giving up its own headquarters to Wild Cosmetics as the office management company relocates to Camden. Following its acquisition by Unilever, Wild Cosmetics is nearly doubling its space in Kennington Park from 7,500 square foot to 14,000 square feet, while Workspace will move its base operations to The Centro Buildings.
NEWSPAPER ROUND-UP
Donald Trump has moved to fire the Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook over allegations she committed mortgage fraud, the latest escalation in the US president's attack on the central bank's independence. Trump wrote to Cook on Monday, telling her that he was removing her from her position "effective immediately" based on the allegation from one of his allies that she had obtained a mortgage on a second home she incorrectly described as her primary residence. - Guardian
Marks & Spencer is opening a secondhand clothing store on eBay to find new homes for "old favourites" as the household name taps into booming demand for preloved clothing. The retailer has collected 36.5m secondhand clothes since it launched its "shwopping" clothing recycling scheme - now called Another Life - over a decade ago. Most of that clothing has been resold by charity partner Oxfam. - Guardian
Royal Mail is to stop accepting parcels bound for the US as it braces for the impact of new tariffs announced by Donald Trump. The postal service has joined a number of operators across Europe in suspending most shipments to the US from Tuesday, amid uncertainty sparked by incoming new laws. - Telegraph
Britain's biggest windfarm operator has been plunged into crisis after Donald Trump halted its main US project. Danish energy giant Ørsted - which generates 7% of Britain's power - has seen its share price slump to the lowest level on record after the Trump administration blocked work on the $4bn (£2.9bn) Revolution windfarm off the coast of New England. - Telegraph
Vacancies for entry-level jobs in the UK have dropped to their lowest level in five years in a further sign of a cooling labour market and falling demand for young lower-paid staff in the wake of government tax hikes. The latest survey data from Adzuna, a jobs-matching search engine, showed vacancies across the economy had declined by 1.24% in the three months to July to 865,000, reversing gains made in the previous three-month period and corroborating official data showing a steady fall in advertised jobs over the past two years. - The Times
US CLOSE
Major indices closed lower on Monday after the blue-chip Dow Jones rocketed to fresh intraday and closing records in the previous session.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.77% at 45,282.47 and the S&P 500 shed 0.43% to 6,439.32, while the Nasdaq Composite gave up earlier gains to wrap up the session 0.22% weaker at 21,449.29.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
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