Weekly review
By Josh White
Date: Friday 15 May 2026
(Sharecast News) - The FTSE 100 ended the week down 38.19 points, or 0.37%, closing at 10,195.37 on Friday.
Equity view
Construction products distributor Grafton Group said it delivered a "resilient" start to 2026 and guided to an improvement in profits this year, but warned that rising cost pressures due to the Iran war could dent market demand and volumes. Reported revenues were up 3.2% year-on-year at £830.1m over the first four months of the year, though average daily like-for-like sales were unchanged as declines across the UK offset growth elsewhere.
Student accommodation group Unite said it is on track to hit full-year guidance with reservations for the 2026/27 academic year in line with expectations. The company, which has 208 properties across 29 university towns and cities in the UK, said that 79% of beds are now reserved for the upcoming academic year, more or less in line with this time last year (80%), with direct-let sales ahead of last year due to targeted pricing initiatives in some markets. As of 31 March, the reservation rate was 74%.
TT Electronics said on Friday that trading in the first four months of 2026 was in line with expectations, as weaker demand in its electronic manufacturing services markets offset continued strength in aerospace and defence. The London-listed engineer and manufacturer of electronic solutions for critical applications said group revenue for the four months to 30 April was down 4.8% year-on-year on an organic basis, reflecting softer EMS end-market demand that had been flagged at the time of its 2025 results.
FRP Advisory said on Friday that it expected annual revenue and adjusted underlying EBITDA to be at least in line with market expectations, after a year of growth across its advisory services. The AIM-traded specialist business advisory firm said revenue for the year ended 30 April was expected to be at least £176m, up 16% from £152.2m a year earlier.
Aviva said it was on track to meet full year targets after a large jump in first quarter premiums, despite global market volatility. Gross written premiums rose 18% to £3.4bn in the period supported by the acquisition of Direct Line and growth in intermediated business, including the addition of the Home partnership with Nationwide, the company said on Thursday.
Utility giant National Grid reported another year of solid progress on Thursday, underpinned by record capital investment and increased regulatory visibility across its UK and US networks. Underlying earnings per share came in at 78p, up 8% year-on-year at constant currency, with its strong operational performance tempered by recent divestments, higher storm‑related costs, a larger share count and the impact of a FERC order, while statutory EPS rose 9% to 65.5p. Gross revenues from continuing operations, on the other hand, slipped 4% to £17.68bn.
Land Securities forecast further growth in rents on Thursday, despite the macroeconomic backdrop, on the back of robust customer demand and record occupancy levels. Posting numbers for the year to 31 March, the blue chip landlord said EPRA earnings came in at £382m, up from £374m a year previously, while earnings per share rose 2.2% to 51.4p, at the top end of guidance.
Luxury watch retailer Watches of Switzerland said on Thursday that full-year adjusted underlying earnings were now expected to come in ahead of previous guidance after group revenue and sales grew. Watches of Switzerland said revenues grew 13% at constant currency to £1.83bn, or 11% excluding its 53rd week, with demand for key luxury brands remaining robust across the UK and US. Luxury watch sales also grew 13% at constant currency, while luxury jewellery outperformed with an 18% uplift.
Steam management systems manufacturer Spirax Group said on Wednesday that it had delivered mid‑single‑digit organic revenue growth and an improvement in adjusted operating margins in the first four months of the year, prompting it to reiterate full‑year guidance despite a persistently weak industrial production backdrop. Spirax said trading continued to run ahead of global IP, which remained subdued at 1.4% in the first quarter and particularly soft across key European markets. Excluding China, IP was 1.5%, with the full‑year forecast of 1.9% unchanged and weighted to the second half. Spirax added that macroeconomic uncertainty remained elevated, with the ongoing Middle East conflict, tariff developments and higher energy costs continuing to weigh on industrial activity.
Marshalls backed its full-year expectations on Wednesday while acknowledging the potential for volatility due to the Iran war. In an update for the four months to 30 April, the company - which supplies hard landscaping, building, and roofing products - said trading was in line with the board's expectations, with group revenue down 1% on the same period a year earlier at £205m.
BP said on Wednesday that it has acquired an interest in six oil and gas exploration blocks in Uzbekistan. The blue chip has entered into a production sharing agreement (PSA) with state-owned peers Uzbekneftegaz and Azerbaijan's state-owned oil company Socar. Under the terms of the PSA, BP will hold a 40% interest after acquiring 20% from each of Uzbekneftegaz and Socar, both of which now have a 30% stake.
Real estate services firm Savills said on Wednesday that trading so far this year had been marginally ahead of internal expectations, prompting it to reaffirm its outlook for 2026 despite heightened geopolitical volatility and uncertainty over the impact of the Middle East conflict on interest‑rate expectations outside the US. Savills said global investment activity continued to be led by strong growth in the US, where volumes rose more than 20% year‑on‑year in the first quarter, although the group noted it currently has limited exposure there ahead of the planned acquisition of Eastdil Secured. Investment in EMEA fell 4% on a constant‑currency basis, including a 3% decline in the UK, while Asia‑Pacific saw a strong start to the year with investment up 16% and broad‑based sector growth.
Tobacco company Imperial Brands backed its full-year outlook on Tuesday as it posted an uptick in first-half revenues, but warned that if the conflict in the Middle East persists, it could have a more meaningful impact on costs and consumer demand. In the six months to the end of March, adjusted operating profit nudged up 0.6% to £1.6bn, while revenue rose 0.8% to £14.7bn. Reported operating profit fell 36.5%, reflecting the costs of the Delaware settlement and 2030 Strategy activities.
Telecommunications giant Vodafone posted a solid set of full year results on Tuesday, with revenue and earnings both improving as the consolidation of Three UK and continued service‑revenue momentum underpinned performance. Vodafone said total revenues rose 8% in FY26 to €40.5bn, supported by an 8.8% increase in service revenue to €33.5bn and contributions from the Three UK deal.
Low cost airline Wizz Air on Tuesday said it expects to report breakeven to slightly positive earnings for its 2025/26 financial year, despite the impact of the Iran war. It said the conflict had introduced near-term uncertainty around fuel costs and customer demand but was around 70% hedged for its summer fuel needs.
Software and security firm Bytes Technology reported further top‑line growth for the year ended 28 February on Tuesday, with gross invoiced income rising 11.5% as both software and services delivered double‑digit increases. Bytes Technology said revenue edged 1.6% higher to £220.5m, while gross profits improved 2.5% to £167.3m. Operating profits, on the other hand, fell 5.6% to £62.7m, which Bytes attributed to slower gross profit growth and increased investment in people to support future expansion.
Games Workshop said group operations director Neil Tomlinson has been appointed as chief operating officer. Tomlinson will be responsible for the company's design studios, extending his remit across the full design to manufacture team, the company added in a statement on Monday.
Residential landlord Grainger said on Monday that it has agreed an extension on £540m of its core banking facilities to 2033 with AIB, Barclays, HSBC and NatWest. It said the extensions further strengthen the company's balance sheet with weighted average facility maturity including extension options increasing to 4.6 years.
Drugmaker GSK said on Monday that it has struck an exclusive agreement with Sino Biopharmaceutical subsidiary Chia Tai Tianqing Pharmaceutical to accelerate its chronic hepatitis B treatment, bepirovirsen, in mainland China. GSK said that under the agreement, CTTQ will be responsible for importation, distribution, hospital access, and promotional and non-promotional activities for bepirovirsen in mainland China, while it will remain the marketing authorisation holder and retain responsibility for regulatory, quality, pharmacovigilance and global medical strategy.
Catering giant Compass Group boosted its full-year outlook on Monday following a robust first half. The blue chip saw underlying revenues rise 9% on a constant currency basis in the six months to 31 March to $25bn, with organic revenues up 7.2% and new business wins totalling $4.1bn, a 14% hike. Underlying operating profits were 12% stronger at $1.8bn.
Economic news
The British economy expanded in the first quarter, official data showed on Thursday, despite the outbreak of war in the Middle East. According to the Office for National Statistics, GDP increased by 0.6% in January to March, in line with consensus, following a revised 0.2% uplift in the fourth quarter.
UK house prices faltered in April, industry data showed on Thursday, as higher mortgage rates and a volatile geopolitical backdrop weighed on the market. According to the latest residential market survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the headline house price indicator fell to -34 from -25 in March, while new buyer enquiries, although marginally improved month-on-month, remained firmly in negative territory at -34.
UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting was reportedly set to resign on Thursday in order to launch a leadership challenge against embattled Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Streeting, seen as the unpopular Starmer's main rival for the job, held a 16-minute meeting in Downing Street with the leader on Wednesday morning before emerging grim-faced and saying nothing to the waiting media outside.
Goldman Sachs said in a note on Wednesday that it still expects the Bank of England to leave rates unchanged this year - even if a new leader emerges for Labour - as financial conditions have tightened and the labour market continues to loosen. "That said, we see a low hurdle for the BoE to deliver a couple of hikes during the summer if energy price pressures continue to build," the bank said. "But we see no immediate implications from higher political risk for the BoE."
Food and drink prices across the UK hospitality sector dipped in March, according to the latest figures out on Wednesday from NIQ and Prestige Purchasing, though the decline was likely only temporary with inflationary pressures having ramped up over recent months as a result of the Iran war. The latest Foodservice Price Index showed that prices fell 1.4% month-on-month in March. While the conflict in the Middle East began at the start of the month, the impact of the subsequent energy crisis took a while to trickle through to consumers in the UK.
Embattled UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Tuesday refused to resign despite growing calls from within his own ruling Labour Party to step aside - effectively laying down a challenge to potential rivals to unseat him. After a hammering at local elections last week to compound months of policy failures and plunging popularity, at least 70 lawmakers and ministers overnight called on Starmer to go and one junior minister quit on Tuesday.
Retail sales fell in April, industry data showed on Tuesday, rocked by the early timing of Easter and mounting consumer uncertainty. According to the latest BRC-KPMG retail sales monitor, UK total sales were 3% lower year-on-year, well below the 12-month average of 1.8%. Food sales fell 2.5%, while non-food sales shed 3.3%.
Keir Starmer insisted he would not walk away from Number 10 on Monday, but acknowledged that the UK would go down "a very dark path" if the government did not start to do better. Local elections on Thursday saw Reform take more than a 1,000 council seats while Labour lost a similar amount, including in traditional left-leaning areas such as Greater Manchester, where long-term rival Andy Burnham is mayor. The Green Party also made significant gains across the country, while in Wales, a traditional Labour stronghold, first minister Eluned Morgan lost her seat.
International events
Oil prices rose on Friday after US President Donald Trump said that China had agreed to buy oil from the US. In an interview with Fox News, Trump said: "They've agreed they want to buy oil from the United States, they're going to go to Texas, we're going to start sending Chinese ships to Texas and to Louisiana and to Alaska."
US retail sales rose 0.5% month‑on‑month in April, according to the Census Bureau, matching expectations but easing from a downwardly revised 1.6% increase in March. Sales jumped 2.8% at gasoline stations as fuel prices continued to climb amid the US and Israel's conflict with Iran. Excluding gas stations, retail sales were up 0.3%.
Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at an accelerated pace in the week ended 9 May, according to the Labor Department, with initial claims jumping by 12,000 to 211,000 - above market expectations of 205,000. Continuing jobless claims also increased, rising by 24,000 to 1.78m, slightly below expectations of 1.79m, while the four-week moving average, which aims to strip out week-to-week volatility, increased by 750 to 203,750.
Bank of Japan board member Kazuyuki Masu has called for an interest-rate hike to get ahead of an impending surge in inflationary pressures, so long as the economy remains resilient. In a speech on Thursday, Masu noted that there were "mixed views" among policymakers at the April monetary policy meeting on whether a rate hike was necessary, with three of the BOJ's nine board members calling for an increase in the policy rate to 1.0%. Instead, rates were held steady at 1.0%.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has cut its oil demand growth projection this year but raised its outlook for next year as it continues to assess the impact of a months-long near closure of the key Strait of Hormuz. In its monthly report on Wednesday, OPEC predicted that oil demand would grow by just 1.17m barrels of a day worldwide in 2026, down from an earlier forecast of 1.38m barrels.
War in the Middle East will see demand for oil outstrip supply this year, while prices continue to spike, the International Energy Agency warned on Wednesday. Publishing its latest monthly report, the influential Paris-based body said mounting supply losses from the Strait of Hormuz were depleting global oil inventories "at a record pace"".
US producer prices rose sharply in April, with last month's headline producer price index for final demand increasing 1.4% month‑on‑month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, up from gains of 0.7% in March and 0.6% in February. April's increase also marked the largest monthly rise since March 2022.
Elsewhere on the macro front, mortgage applications increased by 1.7% in the week ended 8 May, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, despite consistently high borrowing costs, with benchmark mortgage rates rising to their highest level in more than a month. Applications to buy a new home rose 4%, reflecting some traction for new residences, while applications to refinance a mortgage, which are typically more sensitive to short-term interest rate changes, softened by 1%.
The eurozone economy grew by 0.1% in the first three months of the year compared to the final quarter of 2025, according to official flash estimates published on Wednesday. Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, seasonally adjusted GDP increased by 0.8% in the euro area and by 1.0% in the European Union.
Norway lifted oil and gas production revenue forecasts as it benefited from the surge in energy prices caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran. The government said it now expected revenue from the petroleum sector of 721 billion Norwegian crowns, up from an initial estimate of 557 billion.
US consumer prices rose 0.6% in April on a seasonally adjusted basis, easing from the 0.9% increase recorded in March, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Energy remained a key driver of the monthly rise, with the index climbing 3.8% and accounting for more than 40% of the overall increase. Shelter costs also continued to push higher, rising 0.6% on the month. Food prices advanced 0.5%, with food at home up 0.7% and food away from home up 0.2%.
Investor sentiment in Germany improved slightly over the past month, according to the latest ZEW survey, but remains firmly in negative territory amid ongoing uncertainty regarding geopolitical developments in the Middle East. The ZEW economic sentiment indicator came in at -10.2 in May, up from a three-year low of -17.2 in April. The consensus estimate was for a further deterioration to -19.8.
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