Weekly review
By Josh White
Date: Friday 05 Sep 2025
(Sharecast News) - The FTSE 100 ended the week up 20.87 points, or 0.23%, closing at 9,208.21 on Friday.
Equity view
Housebuilder Berkeley has reiterated its full-year profit guidance after "stable" trading over the first four months of its financial year. The company said it is on target to hit the pre-tax earnings guidance of £450m for the 12 months to 30 April 2026, 85% of which is already secured through exchanged sales contracts, with a similar profit expected next year.
Emerging market specialist Ashmore reported a large cut in annual outflows as investors started to turn away from US investments amid global turmoil cause by President Donald Trump's trade war. Net outflows for the year to June fell by 32% to $5.8bn. Assets under management were 3% lower at $47.6bn, resulting in a 15% decline in pre-tax profit to £108.6m for the year to June 30.
Extracts and ingredients specialist Treatt said Friday it has appointed an interim chief financial officer. The London-listed firm said Manprit Randhawa would take over the role from Ryan Govender, who is stepping down at the end of this month.
Tullow Oil announced the appointment of Ian Perks as its new chief executive officer on Friday, effective September 15. He would also join the board the same day. Richard Miller, who had been serving as interim chief executive while continuing as chief financial officer, would return to his finance role.
Anglo American has raised $2.5bn from the sale of its remaining stake in Valterra Platinum, fully exiting the South African mining company after its demerger earlier this year. The company sold 52.2m shares via an accelerating bookbuild offering to institutional investors at a price of ZAR845 a share, generating cash proceeds of ZAR44.1bn.
Self-storage firm Safestore said Thursday it had seen continued momentum across stores in all markets in the three months ended 31 July, supported by growth from opened developments. Safestore said total revenues were up 5.8% year-on-year in its third quarter at £59.6m, while like-for-like revenues advanced 3.5% to £57.9m. Year-to-date revenue was 4.2% higher at £172.4m.
Shares in Genus jumped on Thursday after the animal genetics company reported "substantial strategic progress" over the year to 30 June, as it revealed a big jump in profits and a positive update to its joint venture in China. Full-year adjusted pre-tax profits came in at £74.3m, up 24% on a reported basis and 38% higher at constant currencies, helped by a £3.7m FDA milestone receipt from Genus's Chinese partner Beijing Capital Agribusiness (BCA).
Equipment and services provider Speedy Hire said on Thursday that overall market conditions had remained "subdued" year-to-date. Speedy Hire stated that while Downing Street's commitment to growth had "yet to translate into meaningful stimulus across key sectors", it was "well positioned" for the opportunities this should provide in its end markets.
Construction equipment rental specialist Ashtead Group reiterated its full-year outlook on Wednesday, despite a dip in first-quarter earnings. Revenues at the blue chip - which is in the process of moving its primary listing to New York - improved 2% to $2.8bn in the three months to 31 July.
M&G on Wednesday reported steady profits for the first half, though the investment manager saw strong net flows from open business. Adjusted operating profit before tax came in at £378m for the six months to 30 June, more or less unchanged from £375m the year before, as growth was held back by a £8m FX loss in asset management.
Cairn Homes reported a drop in first-half revenues on the back of lower property sales, though a big increase in the order book has bolstered the outlook for the second half, prompting an upgrade to guidance for the full year. The Irish housebuilder now expects 2025 operating profits to be between €160m and €165m, compared with previous guidance of €160m. Revenues are tipped to come in at €945m, representing growth of around 10%.
Convenience food maker Bakkavor Group boosted its full-year profits forecast on Wednesday, following a strong first half. Like-for-like revenues from continuing operations at the FTSE 250 firm improved 1.2% to £1.1bn in the 26 weeks to 28 June, while reported revenues rose 0.9% to £1.1bn. Adjusted operating profits jumped 9.8% to £61.5m.
Plus500 said it has secured a new clearing membership with ICE Clear Europe, part of the Intercontinental Exchange Group, one of the world's largest exchange operators and clearing houses for listed derivatives. "This clearing membership enables the group to strategically expand its futures business to new territories and customers, further scaling its clearing services to cover a broader range of futures products across multiple asset classes, offering customers a more seamless trading experience," it said.
Games developer Everplay Group, formerly known as Team17, said Tuesday that full-year adjusted underlying earnings were expected to be slightly ahead of current market expectations, despite reporting a decline in interim revenues. Revenues fell 10% to £72.4m in the six months ended 30 June, due to the timing of license revenues, new title launches, declines in physically distributed sales and the "very strong" prior year back catalogue performance. Adjusted underlying earnings slipped by 1% to £19.2m. However, gross profits rose 2% to £33.7m, as did adjusted pre-tax profits at £19.7m, while gross profit margins improved from 40.8% to 46.5%.
Centrica said two UK nuclear power stations in which it has a 20% share had been given life extensions of a year. Heysham 1 and Hartlepool are now expected to generate electricity until March 2028, one year later than previously expected. The British Gas owner added that there is currently no change to the expected March 2030 closure date of Heysham 2 and Torness, announced last December.
Shawbrook said Tuesday it has agreed to buy specialist lender ThinCats for an undisclosed sum. Shawbrook said the deal represents a strategic investment in accelerating the growth of its existing presence in the specialist SME lending market, "underlining the group's commitment to supporting UK SMEs with highly tailored finance facilities and relationship-led service".
Quality assurance provider Intertek has acquired Australian environmental testing and analysis provider Envirolab for an undisclosed sum, exposing it to the "fast growth and attractive" Asia-Pacific environmental testing market. Intertek said on Monday that Envirolab, which has over 200 staff across five laboratories in Australia and New Zealand, generated revenues of £28m in the financial year ended June 2025. It also noted that over the past three years, Envirolab has delivered "consistent double-digit revenue growth", strong margins and "robust cash generation" with solid returns on invested capital.
Domino's Pizza Group has announced a £20m share buyback as it makes the most of a big plunge in its share price over recent weeks. The UK-based master franchise of the American fast-food chain had hinted at resuming share buybacks at its half-year results in early August. It said that while acquiring a second brand remained a core part of its strategy, if no acquisition was announced by the end of 2025 then it would restart repurchasing shares.
Genuit said Monday that it has bought Monodraught - a UK commercial ventilation solutions provider - for £55.6m. Monodraught focuses on solutions involving natural and hybrid ventilation. Genuit said it has a specific focus on the education sector, where it provides a "market leading" proposition.
IT provider Kainos Group said on Monday that it now anticipates full-year revenues to be at the upper end of consensus forecasts, driven by "stronger sales" in the period. Kainos said revenues would be at the higher end of revenue estimates of £378.0m to £393.4m, while adjusted pre-tax profits were expected to be in line with current consensus forecasts of between £65.1m and £74.7m.
Economic news
Retail sales rose more than expected in July, according to delayed data published by the Office for National Statistics on Friday. Retail sales volumes are estimated to have risen 0.6% in July, following an 0.3% increase in June. Analysts had been expecting a smaller 0.2% rise. Year-on-year, sales were 1.1% higher, marginally below forecasts for a 1.3% uplift.
UK house prices rose in August for the third month in a row, to a new record, according to figures released Friday by Halifax. House prices ticked up 0.3% on the month following a 0.4% jump in July. On the year, prices were up 2.2% in August, easing from 2.5% growth the month before.
Retail footfall across the UK fell again in August, according to the British Retail Consortium, which called on the government to lend more support to help struggling retailers. Total UK footfall fell at a year-on-year rate of 0.4% last month, the BRC said on Friday, unchanged from the 0.4% decline seen in July, marking the fourth straight annual decrease. High street footfall was 1.1% higher than last year, bouncing back after a 1.7% year-on-year decline in July, helped by warm weather during August.
Lloyd's of London reported a first-half of "resilience" on Thursday, with solid investment gains helping offset a weaker underwriting performance following heavy catastrophe losses. Gross written premiums rose 6.2% year-on-year to £32.5bn, supported by volume growth of nearly 12% from new and existing syndicates. The increase was partly offset by adverse currency movements and a 3.5% decline in average pricing across the market.
UK new car registrations fell 2.0% year-on-year in August to 82,908 units, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, as fleet demand softened and buyers awaited the September number plate change. Fleet volumes declined 4.6% to 48,980 vehicles, although the segment still made up 59.1% of the market. Private registrations edged up 0.7% to 32,319, while business sales surged 41.6% to 1,609 units, albeit from a low base.
The downturn in the UK construction sector continued in August, according to a survey released Thursday. The S&P Global construction purchasing managers' index ticked up to 45.5 from 44.3 in July, but remained below the 50.0 mark that separates contraction from expansion for the eighth month in a row. July's reading was the lowest for just over five years.
The UK is reportedly in advanced talks to build warships for Denmark and Sweden. The Financial Times said people familiar with the talks have confirmed the discussions. They follow the announcement on Sunday of the UK's largest ever warship export deal, with Norway. According to the FT, one of the people briefed on the talks said an agreement between London and Copenhagen was "very close, almost nailed on".
Activity in the UK's services sector accelerated more than expected in August, according to final estimates out on Wednesday from S&P Global, with growth hitting a 16-month high. The services purchasing managers' index (PMI) for August was revised up to 54.2, from the flash estimate of 53.6 which had already smashed market forecasts of 51.8 when it was released two weeks ago.
UK 30-year bond yields hit their highest level in 27 years Tuesday after the government's surprise reshuffle. The 30-year gilt yield hit 5.71% - the highest since 1998. Bond yields move inversely to bond prices. Meanwhile, sterling was down 1% against the dollar at 1.3415, on track for its biggest one-day decline since April.
International events
Factory orders in Germany unexpectedly fell in July, declining by their most in six months, following a significant drop in transport orders. Price-adjusted new orders in manufacturing fell by 2.9% in July after seasonal and calendar adjustments, according to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).
Service sector activity in the US held up better than expected last month, the results of a closely followed survey showed. Nonetheless, many respondents indicated that tariffs were increasingly on their minds and that their impact was only now starting to be felt. The Institute for Supply Management's purchasing managers' index rose from a reading of 50.1 for July to 52.0 in August.
Economic activity across the American services sector grew slightly less than expected in August, according to final estimates out on Thursday from S&P Global. The S&P Global US services purchasing managers' index came in at 54.5 for last month, down from the year-to-date high of 55.7 seen in July.
The US trade deficit in goods widened by $18.7bn month-on-month to $103.6bn in July, easily ahead of expectations of $89.5bn, according to a preliminary reading from the Census Bureau. July's print marked the largest gap in four months, nearing the record-high deficit of $162bn in March as businesses front-loaded their inventory in an effort to get ahead of new US tariffs.
Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at an accelerated pace last week, according to fresh data from the Department of Labor, reflecting a softening labour market and giving weight to the Federal Reserve's rhetoric that a deteriorating jobs backdrop could warrant lower rates. Initial jobless claims rose by 8,000 to a seasonally adjusted 238,000 in the week ended 30 August, the highest number since June and firmly above consensus forecasts of a smaller increase to 230,000, while continuing claims, which track those still receiving benefits, fell for a second week, dropping to 1.94m, better than the 1.96m expected.
Private sector employment in the US rose less than expected in August, according to figures released Wednesday by ADP. Employment increased by 54,000 from July, versus expectations for a 75,000 jump. Meanwhile, the July figure was revised to show 106,000 were added, up from 104,000. Small businesses with fewer than 50 employees added 12,000 jobs, while medium businesses with 50 to 499 employees added 25,000 jobs.
The Ifo Institute cut its German growth forecasts Thursday, pointing to the impact of US tariffs. The institute now expects the German economy to grow 0.2% this year and 1.3% in 2026. This is down 0.1 and 0.2 percentage points respectively from its summer forecast. The growth forecast for 2027 is 1.6%.
The Eurozone's construction sector remained under pressure this summer, a closely-watched survey showed Thursday, though the pace of decline softened. August's HCOB Eurozone construction PMI total activity index came in at 46.7, still below the neutral 50.0 benchmark but up on July's 44.7.
US job openings fell to their lowest level since September 2024 in July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Job openings fell by 176,000 to 7.18m in July, well below market expectations of 7.4m, with both hires and total separations unchanged at 5.3m. The hiring rate was also flat at 3.3%.
Gold prices continued to climb Wednesday, hitting fresh highs amid ongoing political and economic concerns. Having broken past $3,500 an ounce on Tuesday, as at 0930 BST gold was trading at $3,559. It has now put on 41% over the last year.
Wholesale industrial prices across the eurozone increased more than anticipated in July, according to Eurostat data released on Wednesday, though price pressures still eased over the month. The single-currency region's producer price index - which tracks changes in selling prices received by domestic producers - increased at a month-on-month rate of 0.4% in July, Eurostat reported.
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