24th Sep 2026 07:58
(Alliance News) - Halma raises its full-year margin guidance following strong first-half trading. Pub operator Mitchells & Butlers reports a return to sales growth in its fourth quarter, while Vistry swings to a substantial first-half loss as it outlines plans to become a smaller business.
Here is what you need to know before the London market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: called down 0.3% at 10,674.06
GBP: lower at USD1.3245 (USD1.3254 at previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS
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The UK government and defence industry agree a scheme aimed at creating employment and work experience opportunities for 40,000 people aged 18 to 24 by 2030, rising to 50,000 by 2035, according to the Ministry of Defence. Major defence companies including BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin and Airbus will participate in the initiative, which seeks to expand routes into apprenticeships and provide more work experience. The agreement, signed by Defence Secretary Wes Streeting and industry leaders in London on Wednesday, will also direct unsuccessful applicants towards other opportunities across the defence sector. It follows the government's GBP182 million defence skills package announced last year and forms part of efforts to tackle youth unemployment while increasing the supply of skilled workers to the defence industry.
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BROKER RATINGS
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Bernstein cuts Segro to 'market-perform' (outperform) - price target 960 (900) pence
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Jefferies raises everplay price target to 540 (380) pence - 'buy'
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Halma raises its adjusted Ebit margin guidance for the financial year ending March 2027 after what it calls strong, broad-based growth in the first half. The Amersham, England-based safety products manufacturer now expects an adjusted Ebit margin of between 23.5% and 24%, up from previous guidance for around 22.7%. It continues to expect low double-digit organic constant-currency revenue growth for the full year, including around five percentage points of premium growth from its photonics business, where growth is expected to be around 30%. Order intake remains ahead of both revenue and the comparable period a year earlier. Halma says it has completed six acquisitions so far this financial year, investing a record GBP515 million. It has also completed three disposals, generating around GBP83 million net of disposal costs. Halma notes that the recent appreciation of sterling against the dollar and euro, if maintained, is expected to have a negative currency translation effect on its results.
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Legal & General expects to cut around 1,000 jobs by the middle of next year. Chief Executive Officer Antonio Simoes told staff in an email on Wednesday that the life insurance and pensions firm needs to "become a leaner organisation". L&G said it will start by first offering voluntary redundancy to its UK workers, although its asset management division will not be affected. It is understood the move will affect around a 10th of its total workforce, PA reports. The proposed cuts come amid efforts to simplify the structure of the organisation, with the group already being trimmed from four businesses into three divisions.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Mitchells & Butlers says like-for-like sales rise 2.1% in the 51 weeks to September 19, with growth returning in the fourth quarter as weather-related pressures ease. Like-for-like sales increase 1.4% in the fourth quarter, including growth of 5.3% over the August Bank Holiday weekend. Year-to-date drink sales rise 2.7% and food sales increase 1.8%, while total sales are up 1.2%. The pub and restaurant operator remains confident that its full-year performance will be in line with consensus expectations. Looking to financial 2027, it continues to expect cost headwinds to moderate to around GBP95 million from GBP120 million in financial 2026, equivalent to around 4% of its cost base, and expects further operating profit growth. Mitchells & Butlers has completed 222 conversions and remodels during the year to date and acquired 11 new sites.
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Raspberry Pi Holdings reports record first-half revenue and profit, with revenue rising 90% to USD256.9 million in the six months ended June 30 from USD135.5 million a year earlier. Pretax profit more than triples to USD19.6 million from USD6.2 million, while adjusted Ebitda more than doubles to USD40.3 million from USD19.4 million. Gross profit rises 79% to USD59.4 million, although gross margin falls to 23% from 25%. The maker of low-cost computer boards says unit shipments increase 17% to 4.2 million, supported by strong demand from original equipment manufacturers and resellers, while its customer order backlog doubles to 2.6 million units. Raspberry Pi highlights particularly strong demand from the smart home and aerospace and defence sectors, while strategic memory inventory helps maintain product availability amid significant supply-chain disruption. Raspberry Pi expects unit volumes to be higher in the second half than the first, supported by its order backlog and expanding production capacity. While it says the "exceptional" unit economics achieved in the first half have moderated, it now expects full-year Ebitda to be ahead of market consensus and sees rapid growth in unit shipments continuing into 2027 and beyond.
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Vistry Group swings to a pretax loss of GBP661.3 million in the six months ended June 30 from a profit of GBP40.9 million a year earlier, as revenue falls 13% to GBP1.42 billion from GBP1.64 billion. The house builder also swings to an operating loss of GBP624.2 million from an operating profit of GBP58.1 million. The reported loss reflects exceptional items including a GBP475.0 million goodwill impairment and an additional GBP73.2 million building safety provision. On an adjusted basis, Vistry swings to a pretax loss of GBP83.3 million from a profit of GBP80.6 million, while adjusted revenue falls 9.0% to GBP1.70 billion from GBP1.87 billion. Total completions decline 8.0% to 6,304 homes from 6,889. Vistry says its GBP3.3 billion forward order book leaves it 91% forward sold for financial 2026, although open-market conditions became more challenging over the summer amid lower customer confidence, affordability constraints and wider economic uncertainty. It now expects a broadly neutral cash position at the end of 2026, below previous guidance, and says adjusted pretax profit would be around GBP165 million excluding strategic review-related items and a GBP40 million downward revision from partner deals no longer targeted for this year. Following a review by Chief Executive Adam Daniels, Vistry plans to become a smaller and more focused business, targeting around 12,000 annual completions over the medium term and reducing its operating regions to 12 from 25. It identifies GBP50 million of additional annual overhead savings, on top of GBP25 million previously announced, and targets an operating margin of 12% and return on capital employed above 30% by financial 2031. Subject to broadly stable market conditions, Vistry expects adjusted pretax profit of around GBP185 million in financial 2027.
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OTHER COMPANIES
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On the Beach Group expects adjusted pretax profit of between GBP22 million and GBP23 million for the financial year ending September 30, in the top half of its previous GBP18 million to GBP25 million guidance range. Bookings rise 9.0% during the year, while total transaction value increases 6.0% to a record GBP1.3 billion. Summer 2026 bookings finish 4.0% ahead of the prior year, having been 1.0% behind at the time of its half-year results in May. The online package holiday retailer expects to end financial 2026 debt-free with around GBP60 million in cash, having returned around GBP67 million to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks over the past two years. It says booking momentum remains strong heading into financial 2027, with total bookings up 17% over the past eight weeks. On the Beach guides for adjusted pretax profit of GBP28 million to GBP35 million in financial 2027, representing growth of around 25% to 55% from its expected financial 2026 result. It says the outlook reflects current trading momentum while taking into account the continuing conflict in the Middle East and the broader UK consumer backdrop.
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Fashion retailer Asos says it expects adjusted Ebitda for financial 2026 to be above the midpoint of its GBP150 million to GBP180 million guidance range, after increasing by more than 25% year-on-year. The frim says adjusted gross margin exceeds 50%, above its previous 48% to 50% guidance, while gross merchandise value returns to low-single-digit growth in the fourth quarter. Full-year GMV falls 5.0%, although womenswear GMV rises 3.0%, accelerating to 8.0% growth in the second half. Net debt falls to around GBP110 million at August 30 from GBP184.7 million a year earlier.
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Zegona Communications announces a EUR400 million shareholder return, split equally between a EUR200 million ordinary dividend and a new EUR200 million share buyback. The Vodafone Spain owner introduces a progressive dividend policy and says it intends to return all free cash flow to shareholders over time. Zegona targets net debt to Ebitdaal of between 2.25 and 2.75 times, after leverage falls to 2.3 times at June 30 from 3.1 times when it acquired Vodafone Spain in May 2024 from Vodafone Group.
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By Eva Castanedo, Alliance News senior economics reporter
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BAE SystemsEverplay GroupSegroLegal & GeneralHalmaMitchells & ButlersRaspberry PiVodafoneZegona ComASOSOn The Beach