Source: Sharecast
Stocks to watch
Softcat lifted its full-year profit outlook as it said it continued to perform well in the third quarter, delivering strong double-digit year-on-year growth in gross profit and underlying operating profit. The company, which provides IT infrastructure technology and services, said growth remains broad-based with particular strength in corporate, supported by customer demand for AI-enabled infrastructure and continued pull forward of some orders due to memory shortages. "The board is pleased with progress to date and now expects mid-teens growth in underlying operating profit for the full year, up from high single-digit previously," it said.
Automotive distributor Inchcape said it has agreed to buy Silver Star, the official distributor of Mercedes-Benz passenger vehicles and Daimler trucks and buses in Bulgaria, for an undisclosed sum. Inchcape, which has operated in Bulgaria since 1996, said the acquisition will further scale its share of passenger vehicles in the market there, and expand its presence into the truck category. Chief executive Duncan Tait said: "This acquisition is a clear example of our Accelerate+ strategy in action: selectively building scale in small to medium markets where we can create value for our OEM partners and customers. Silver Star will strengthen our Mercedes-Benz relationship, enable us to expand into the truck category in Bulgaria and materially increase our market presence."
Games Workshop, the maker of Warhammer, said it expected annual core revenue to be not less than £625m, compared with fiscal 2025’s £565m and licensing revenue of not less than £30m, against £52.5m last time. Profit before tax is estimated to be at least £265m compared with £262.8m last year.
Newspaper round-up
Cancelled government projects such as the Rwanda deportation scheme and the road tunnel under Stonehenge are wasting billions of pounds of taxpayer money a year, parliament’s spending watchdog has found. About £6.6bn was written off by government departments last year alone – state spending that did not achieve its intended objectives or create any value for the taxpayer, the public accounts committee said. – Guardian
Rachel Reeves has launched a fresh tax raid on energy giants, including BP and Shell, to fund £1.8bn of cost of living support. Ms Reeves has scrapped a tax rule allowing oil and gas companies to offset profits made in Britain against losses made by foreign subsidiaries. Cutting the Foreign Branch Exemption is expected to raise hundreds of millions of pounds a year for the Treasury, and the Chancellor said the money would fund a £1.8bn package of support for families and businesses, announced on Thursday. – Telegraph
A British brick-maker is closing its 139-year-old factory after housebuilding levels across the country collapsed. Michelmersh Brick Holdings said it would cease operations at its Charnwood Plant, in Shepshed, Leicestershire, where it produces traditional, handmade red bricks, by the end of this month. It said the decision followed weaker demand for building materials and warned that “a lack of confidence” among consumers was holding back construction activity across the UK. – Telegraph
The risk of the UK entering a recession is rising as higher oil prices fuel inflation, potentially forcing the Bank of England to raise interest rates this year, a Bank of England policymaker warned. Alan Taylor, an external member of the Bank’s nine-strong monetary policy committee, said that the worst of the central bank’s possible scenarios for the war in Iran, where oil prices remain above $100 for the rest of the year, was “likely correct”. – The Times
Michael Thomson, the former head of a collapsed investment company, has been jailed for six months after he breached a court order by selling items including a hot tub and horse saddles. Lawyers for the Serious Fraud Office told a hearing at Southwark crown court in London yesterday that the former boss of London Capital & Finance should be sent to prison for the second breach of a restraint order. – The Times
US close
US stocks saw moderate gains on Thursday, but that was enough to send the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its highest-ever closing level, as oil prices retreated on the back of tentative hopes of a possible peace deal between Washington and Tehran.
The Dow finished 0.6% higher at a new high of 50,285.66, topping earlier records reached in February, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq gained 0.2% and 0.1% respectively.