17th Sep 2025 07:59
(Alliance News) - Barratt Redrow says its profit beat guidance despite home completions falling short, Moonpig affirms guidance, and Galliford Try announces a new buyback.
Here is what you need to know before the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: called up 0.2% at 9,211.16
GBP: lower at USD1.3639 (USD1.3642 at previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS
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The UK consumer price inflation rate was steady in August, landing slightly cooler than expected, numbers on Wednesday showed. The pace of annual consumer price inflation was 3.8% in August, unchanged from July. The latest reading fell short of the FXStreet-cited consensus, as an acceleration to 3.9% was forecast by consensus. On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.3% in August, as expected, after a 0.1% rise in July from June. Annual service price inflation eased to 4.7% in August, from 5.0% in July. The reading comes a day before the next Bank of England decision, where the central bank is expected to leave rates unchanged at 4.00%.
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BROKER RATINGS
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Deutsche Bank cuts Eurowag to 'hold' (buy) - price target 110 (90) pence
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Jefferies cuts Sage Group price target to 1,320 (1,480) pence - 'buy'
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Barratt Redrow reports annual profit ahead of its expectation, but home completions below its outlook as it grapples with a "tough market". The housebuilder says its pretax profit in the year to June 29 amounted to GBP273.7 million, which would be a 61% rise from the GBP170.5 million Barratt Developments reported alone in the year prior, but down by a quarter from GBP363.2 million when including what the legacy Redrow also achieved. A combination between Barratt and Redrow was sealed in October 2024. Revenue for the year just ended declined 2.0% to GBP5.58 billion from the GBP5.69 billion the duo had achieved combined in the year prior, but is up 34% from the GBP4.17 billion reported by Barratt alone. Barratt Redrow's posts adjusted pretax profit of GBP488.3 million, or GBP591.6 million before purchase price adjustments. Back in July, it predicted an adjusted pretax profit before PPA in line with consensus of GBP582.6 million. Total home completions were 16,565, down from 17,972 achieved by Barratt and Redrow together in the prior year, but up from 14,004 from Barratt alone. "We have delivered a solid performance in a tough market, with adjusted profits ahead of expectations despite home completions coming in slightly below our guided range. The acquisition of Redrow is transformative for the group, and I am pleased with the progress we have made on delivering synergies ahead of our targets and executing a successful integration, which is now largely complete. I'd like to thank our employees, subcontractors and supply chain partners for the huge contributions they made to our performance this year," Chief Executive David Thomas says. "While the housing market remains challenging and we anticipate limited growth in FY26, the long-term fundamentals of the sector remain compelling." The company lifts its total dividend to 17.6 pence per share from 16.2p. It expects home completions between 17,200 and 17,800 in the new year. It adds: "This also assumes a normal autumn selling season, our current expectation, however the extended period through to the budget and related uncertainties around general taxation and that applicable to housing, has introduced additional risk."
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Moonpig says it is on track to achieve annual guidance as it reports order growth and a "continued expansion of our active customer base". The greetings card and gifting firm says so far in its financial year, which began on May 1, "trading momentum has continued". "Moonpig continues to deliver consistent revenue growth at approximately 10% year on year. Greetz trading has improved sequentially, with revenue now showing modest year on year growth on both a reported and constant currency basis," it adds. "Growth in orders is underpinned by the continued expansion of our active customer base. Customers are increasingly embracing our innovative personalisation features to express themselves, with adoption continuing to rise - around 50% of all cards now including options such as AI-generated stickers, audio or video messages, or personalised handwriting. Moonpig and Greetz Plus subscriptions have now surpassed one million members with numbers continuing to grow each month. Together, rising adoption of personalisation and the expansion of Plus are deepening customer engagement and strengthening purchase frequency." Moonpig still expects adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to rise at a "mid-single digit" percentage rate for the full-year, and adjusted earnings per share to climb between 8% and 12%. Moonpig adds: "Strong free cash flow generation is expected to fund both ongoing investment in our growth strategy and returns to shareholders, comprising dividends and our FY26 share repurchase programmes of up to GBP60 million."
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OTHER COMPANIES
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Construction firm Galliford Try hails a "confident outlook" and says it is trading ahead of expectations so far in its new financial year. For the year just ended June 30, Galliford reports revenue growth of 6.3% to GBP1.88 billion from GBP1.76 billion, helping pretax profit more than double to GBP44.1 million from GBP19.2 million. "Galliford Try has continued its progress, achieving a fifth consecutive year of strong financial and operational performance, with an increase in revenue, profit, margin and cash," CEO Bill Hocking says. "With 92% of projected revenue of the current financial year and 75% of FY27 already secured, the government's future spending plans and our aligned sector focus, particularly in AMP8, we are confident in the outlook for the group, in our strategy to 2030 and in our ability to continue to deliver long-term sustainable value for all our stakeholders." Galliford says its order book stands at GBP4.1 billion, up from GBP3.8 billion a year prior. It adds: "Trading momentum has continued into the new financial year, trading slightly ahead of expectations." Galliford ups its final dividend to 13.5p per share from 11.5p. Its total dividend is higher at 19.0p from 15.5p. The firm also announces a new GBP10 million share buyback.
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Labour supply firm Hercules says it has won "major" contracts in the UK water sector. The new deals, within Thames Water, Severn Trent Water and Anglian Water regions, are worth GBP6.5 million in total. "The award of these contracts from Galliford Try, Costain, Tilbury Douglas, MWH Treatment, Glanua and Thames Water demonstrates the strength of Hercules' position within the UK water sector as a trusted delivery partner," it adds.
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Private label cleaning and hygiene products manufacturer McBride reports an increase in annual profit and the reinstatement of its dividend. The owner of brands including Oven Pride and Actiff suspended its payout in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. McBride announces a 3.0p per share final dividend for the year ended June 30. "The reinstatement of dividends reflects our confidence in the business' trajectory and our commitment to delivering long-term shareholder value," CEO Chris Smith says. McBride's full-year pretax profit rises to GBP49.0 million from GBP46.5 million, though revenue edges down to GBP926.5 million from GBP934.8 million. "McBride has delivered another year of strong operational and financial results, marking five consecutive half years of these materially improved profitability levels. This sustained performance reflects the effectiveness of our strategy and the dedication of our teams across the group, further strengthening our industry leadership across Europe," Smith says. McBride says the early months of the new year are seeing "volumes in line with expectations".
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By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor
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