Weekly review
By Benjamin Chiou
Date: Friday 25 Sep 2026
(Sharecast News) - The FTSE 100 ended 0.1% higher at 10,695.25 on Friday.
Equity view
Vistry unveiled heavy first-half losses and cut full-year profit guidance as it launched a major overhaul of the business. The housebuilder reported a statutory pre-tax loss of £661.3m, compared with a £40.9m profit a year earlier, while revenue fell 9% to £1.7bn. It cut adjusted pre-tax profit guidance for the year to around £165m from £200m and said it would consolidate its 25 regions into 12 operating areas as part of plans to cut annual costs by around £50m.
Kingfisher lifted its annual guidance on Tuesday after half-year adjusted earnings rose 9.9% to £404m. The B&Q and Screwfix owner now expects adjusted pre-tax profit of £595m to £635m, compared with £565m to £625m previously, while free cash flow guidance was also upgraded.
Whitbread came under renewed activist pressure later on Tuesday after shareholder Corvex Management demanded a general meeting to vote on appointing partner James Gemmel to the Premier Inn owner's board, escalating its campaign over strategy and capital allocation. Corvex owns around 6.4% of the company's ordinary shares and has an economic interest of roughly 7%.
JD Sports Fashion reported a slide in first-half earnings on Wednesday and warned that difficult trading conditions were likely to continue. Sales fell 0.7% to £5.9bn and operating profit dropped 20.5% to £294m, while the retailer reiterated recently reduced full-year profit guidance of £700m to £800m.
Renishaw posted a 27% rise in annual pre-tax profit to £150m as strong demand from semiconductor, AI data-centre, aerospace and defence customers drove revenue 14% higher to £816m. The precision engineer also said the new financial year had started strongly.
Airtel Money confirmed plans to float on the London Stock Exchange, with reports suggesting the mobile-payments company could be valued at between $8bn and $9bn. Majority owner Airtel Africa said the listing would help support the company's next phase of growth.
Legal & General said on Wednesday it planned to cut around 1,000 jobs by the middle of 2027 as part of efforts to simplify the business and concentrate resources on areas offering stronger long-term growth opportunities.
Raspberry Pi surged on Thursday after lifting its full-year profit outlook and reporting record first-half revenue and profit, helped by strong OEM and reseller demand and increased unit shipments.
ASOS shares jumped after the online fashion retailer said full-year adjusted EBITDA was likely to come in above the midpoint of its £150m to £180m guidance range. Fourth-quarter gross merchandise value returned to growth, while adjusted gross margin topped 50%, ahead of previous guidance.
Halma raised its full-year targets after what it described as a strong first half. The safety equipment and life-saving technology group reiterated expectations for low double-digit organic revenue growth and lifted its expected adjusted EBIT margin to around 23.5%-24%.
CVS Group shares fell sharply after statutory profits declined as costs linked to the Competition and Markets Authority's veterinary-sector investigation weighed on earnings, while like-for-like sales growth slowed during the second half.
Victrex dropped more than 10% after unveiling a new five-year transformation strategy and revised capital-allocation policy that failed to impress investors.
DFS Furniture reported a sharp increase in annual profit and said it expected further progress in the current year, although the furniture retailer remained cautious about the consumer environment. Underlying pre-tax profit and brand amortisation rose 48.7% to £44.9m, while revenue increased 2.6% to £1.06bn.
Bango shares surged on Friday after first-half adjusted EBITDA rose 34% to $9m despite group revenue increasing only 3% to $25.9m. Subscription revenues rose 13%, while the payments division continued to shed lower-margin legacy business.
Ferrexpo reported a 54% slump in first-half commercial production and a 57% fall in revenue to $196m amid disruption from the war in Ukraine and the continued withholding of VAT refunds. The miner posted an underlying EBITDA loss of $4m but said a recently completed $100m equity raise had strengthened liquidity.
UK economic news
UK government borrowing came in well above expectations at the start of the week as expenditure rose faster than tax receipts. Public sector net borrowing was £18.3bn in August, £2.9bn higher than a year earlier and £3.5bn above the Office for Budget Responsibility's forecast, while debt-interest payments reached a record August high of £8.8bn.
UK private-sector growth slowed in September, according to the flash S&P Global purchasing managers' survey. The composite output index dropped to 51.7 from 52.5 in August and undershot expectations, while businesses also reported mounting cost pressures.
UK manufacturing subsequently showed signs of stabilising, with the CBI's total order-book balance improving to -9% from -25% in August, its strongest reading since July 2023. Output continued to fall, but at the slowest pace in more than a year.
UK consumer confidence weakened according to the BRC-Opinium survey, with expectations for the economy deteriorating to -34 from -28, ending four consecutive months of improvement. Households also became more pessimistic about their personal finances.
UK retail conditions deteriorated further on Thursday. The CBI's distributive trades survey showed the retail sales balance dropping to -55 from -48, while orders placed with suppliers plunged to -62 from -29, the weakest reading since the survey began in 1983.
A separate GfK survey released on Friday was somewhat more encouraging, showing a modest improvement in overall UK consumer sentiment, although households remained cautious.
International events
Eurozone private-sector activity expanded at its fastest pace in nearly three-and-a-half years early in the week. The flash composite PMI rose to 53.1 from 52.0, its highest since April 2023, as growth strengthened across both manufacturing and services and new orders increased at the quickest pace since May 2022.
German business sentiment then improved more than expected in September, according to the Ifo Institute, providing a more positive signal on Europe's largest economy.
US business activity strengthened markedly, with S&P Global's flash composite PMI rising to 58.4 from 56.0, its highest reading in more than five years. Services activity accelerated while manufacturing output also strengthened.
US mortgage demand weakened for a third consecutive week as borrowing costs rose. Mortgage applications fell 1.5% in the week to 18 September, with the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate climbing above 7%.
US borrowing costs surged later in the week as stronger economic data and renewed oil-price inflation prompted a sharp Treasury sell-off. The 10-year Treasury yield moved above 5.1% and reached its highest since 2007, while the 30-year yield climbed to levels not seen since 2004.
Central banks elsewhere in Europe were also in focus. Norges Bank raised its deposit rate by 25 basis points to 4.5%, its second increase of the year, while Sweden's Riksbank and the Swiss National Bank left their respective policy rates unchanged.
German consumer confidence suffered a sharp setback on Friday. The NIM/GfK forward-looking indicator dropped 3.8 points to -30.6 for October, its lowest since May, as higher energy prices weighed heavily on household income expectations.
The Chicago Federal Reserve's national activity index also moved back into negative territory in August, pointing to a modest slowdown in US economic activity before the stronger September survey data.
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