19th Aug 2025 07:45
(Alliance News) - The FTSE 100 was called higher on Tuesday, in light of the increasing likelihood of Ukraine-Russia talks amid Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's announcement that "we are ready for a bilateral meeting with Putin".
Zelensky added that "it is important that the US of America gives a clear signal that it will be among the countries that will assist, coordinate and also be participants in security guarantees for Ukraine," saying that plans would be "formalised in some way in the next week or ten days".
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 13.7 points, 0.2% at 9,171.44
GBP: lower at USD1.3499 (USD1.3517 at previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS
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UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has hailed "real progress" made during a White House summit with European leaders aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. He was one of several European leaders, including Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron and Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte, in attendance for the discussions in Washington on Monday. Speaking after the event, Starmer described the talks as "good and constructive", adding: "There was a real sense of unity between the European leaders that were there, and President Trump and President Zelensky". He highlighted "two material outcomes" from the talks, firstly that the coalition of the willing "will now work with the US" on security guarantees. "That's really important for security in Ukraine, for security in Europe, and for security in the UK," Starmer said. "The other material outcome was the agreement that there will now be a bilateral agreement between President Putin and President Zelensky...followed by a trilateral which will then add in President Trump. That is a recognition of the principle that on some of these issues, whether it's territory or the exchange of prisoners, or the very serious issue of the return of children, that is something where Ukraine must be at the table. These were the two outcomes that were the most important coming out of today. They're positive outcomes, there was a real sense of unity. We've made real progress today."
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BROKER RATINGS
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Peel Hunt cuts Fresnillo to 'hold' ('add') - target 1,493 pence
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RBC cuts Dowlais to 'sector perform' (outperform) - price target 77 (70) pence
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Jefferies cuts Synthomer price target to 76 (100) pence - 'hold'
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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International Workplace Group reported its half-year results. The hybrid workplace platform said pretax profit was USD12 million for the six months ended June 30, down from USD32 million. System-wide revenue however rose to USD2.16 billion from USD2.12 billion, while group revenue decreased to USD1.85 billion from USD1.87 billion. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose to USD262 million from USD247 million, and cashflow rose to USD48 million from USD36 million. For 2025, International Workplace expects cashflow to rise to at least USD140 million, and said it has increased the share buyback programme amount to at least USD130 million. It also forecast adjusted Ebitda of between USD525 million and USD565 million, although this is "likely to be towards the lower end of the range due to further investment in Managed and Franchise segment growth". The company also declared an interim dividend of 0.45 US cents per share.
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Assura announced that Chair Ed Smith has resigned with immediate effect. Smith's resignation comes after an offer from its peer Primary Health Properties became unconditional on Tuesday last week. Smith became a non-executive director of Assura in 2017 and took over as its chair in 2018. Assura also said it has promoted Senior Non-Executive Director Jonathan Davies to chair. Davies joined the board in 2018.
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OTHER COMPANIES
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Applied Nutrition released a trading update for the year ended July 31. It expects group revenue to be ahead of market expectations, with revenue up 24% on-year to approximately GBP107 million from GBP86 million, and adjusted Ebitda up approximately 19% from GBP26 million. It also expects net cash at the end of the year to be ahead of market expectations at approximately GBP18.5 million. Market forecasts are for GBP100.0 million in revenue and GBP16.6 million in net cash. For the year ending in 2026, Applied Nutrition said it now expects revenue to be ahead of current market guidance of GBP112.4 million. "The board remains confident that the group's core strengths, including its B2B-focused business model, breadth of high-quality products and industry leading new product development, will continue to drive sustained revenue growth and strong profitability over the long-term," the company said.
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Georgia Capital has launched a USD50 million share buyback programme, which "will remain in effect for a period of nine months". This follows the completion of its previously announced USD68 million programme. "Under the buyback programme, the maximum price paid per share will not exceed the latest reported NAV per share amount," the firm said.
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By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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