The FTSE 100 was heading for another positive week as London’s leading index notched up marginal gains in early trade on Friday. That was before Trump posted on social media that he was recommending a 50% tariff on the EU starting 1st June.

The FTSE 100 gains evaporated, and the index sank over 1% after Trump fired his latest shot in the trade war with the rest of the world.

Despite gyrations in global equities caused by concerns around US debt this week, the FTSE 100’s resilience and weighting towards defensive ‘safe-haven’ stocks overcame the worst of the concerns.

However, the threat of such a large tariff on the EU blew this out of the water, and the index was down 1.1% at the time of writing on Friday.

Trump’s social post undid strong gains recorded on Friday morning, with the FTSE 100 trading down 150 points from the highs.

“The FTSE 100 was propelled by AstraZeneca and Rolls-Royce which made the biggest contribution in terms of index points. The more domestic-focused FTSE 250 also nudged ahead, driven by a range of sectors including financials and real estate,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

Miners were stronger on Friday morning with Anglo American topping the leaderboard as shares gained more than 4%. The sector was mostly negative following Trump’s post.

easyjet was higher as it rebounded from a sell-off yesterday on the back of its half year report. A number of positive broker price target upgrades would of helped attract interest in the stock. Bernstein raised its target to 575p and Barclays now has a 730p target. Goldman Sachs reduced their target slightly to 624p.

Games Workshop was the top faller after the tabletop gaming firm said they didn’t expect the sharp increase in licensing fees to continue into the next year.

“Games Workshop has enjoyed terrific success with licencing assets for the Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 video game,” Russ Mould explained.

“There’s a warning that licencing gains seen over the past 12 months won’t be matched in the new financial year, which explains why the shares have pulled back on the trading update. However, the pipeline looks strong enough to keep most investors on side. In addition to another Space Marine game being developed, it has all the licencing income from a deal with Amazon to look forward to.”

Games Workshop shares were down 4.8% at the time of writing.

Tekcapital shares were firmly higher on Friday after the technology investment company announced a dramatic increase in the value of its portfolio and touched on plans to focus its future investment strategy on artificial intelligence.

The group’s investment portfolio valuation increased 49.6% to US$61.5m in 2024, while Net Assets increased 46.3% to US$70.1m.

Tekcapital shares were 14% higher at the time of writing.

“We are excited to provide this 2024 summary report which describes a few of our portfolio company achievements and their contribution to our profitability and growth. In 2024 our net assets reached US $70.1m, an increase of ~46%, over the previous year, an annual record since the Company’s inception. NAV per share was US $0.33,” explained Dr. Clifford Gross, Executive Chairman of Tekcapital.

Gross continued to outline the progress of its portfolio companies – the driving force behind the sharp rerating of the group’s net assets in 2024.

“Our performance reflects strong commercial progress through the completion of two AIM listings (MicroSalt plc & GenIP plc), and as a result, four of our five portfolio companies are now listed,’ Gross said.

“Additionally, we observed significant commercial traction for Innovative Eyewear Inc. as they achieved several new product and go-to-market milestones.

“We were also pleased to note MicroSalt has received new and follow-on B2B orders from a major snack food manufacturer. Further, we believe that Guident Corp’s commercial advancements, coupled with improving performance and market traction in the autonomous vehicle industry, have created a fertile opportunity for Tekcapital to potentially further crystallise its balance sheet in 2025.”

The fertile opportunity mentioned by Gross relates to Guident’s proposed NASDAQ IPO. Tekcapital recently announced that Guident had filed confidentially for its IPO, an increasingly popular way of listing in the US that allows companies to undergo preparations away from the public eye.

Listing portfolio companies has been hugely successful for Tekcapital in terms of asset value creation, with the IPOs of GenIP and MicroSalt crystallising a combined £18.3m of portfolio value in 2024. The value of Tek’s stake in MicroSalt increased substantially after its February 2024 IPO as shares rallied through the year.

The Guident IPO promises another uptick in Tekcapital’s net assets as the autonomous vehicle safety company seeks to list amid a wave of increasing adoption of AVs.

Artificial intelligence investment strategy

While investors will be encouraged by net asset growth in 2024, Tekcapital doesn’t appear to be resting on its laurels and provided a fascinating insight into things to come.

After the successful IPO of AI analytics firm GenIP in 2024, Tekcapital’s outlook hinted at increased investment in AI companies that are transforming workflows across various sectors.

“We intend to aggressively pursue further investments in pre-existing generative artificial intelligence companies (GenAI). Our potential targets are expected to include companies that are focused on the transformative impact of GenAI on business workflows across a number of sectors,” the Tekcapital report read.

In addition to hints at the group’s future investment strategy, Tekcapital reaffirmed its strategy to return cash to shareholders through special dividends, once significant capital growth is achieved.

“Once material levels of capital are monetized from our portfolio companies, we will seek to provide a special dividend. We remain committed to this long-term objective, and our portfolio companies’ progress in 2024 is a good step in that direction,” Tekcapital Executive Chairman Clifford Gross said.

Troubled Totally has issued a warning to investors that shareholders may recover nothing from their investment as the company desperately attempts to sell off subsidiaries to prevent financial collapse.

The healthcare outsourcing company launched a strategic review three weeks ago to strength its balance sheet through asset sales. After appointing Ernst & Young to advise on the disposals, Totally said it has now received multiple offers for various business units but directors have painted a grim picture of the likely outcomes.

In a brief statement released today, the board made clear that asset disposals represent “the only realistic route” for meeting the group’s obligations.

Unfortunately for investors, the solution to meeting these obligations will leave little or no value in the company’s shares which fell over 30% on Friday. Totally shares have lost 95% of their value since the beginning of the year.

What began as a strategic review has evolved into what appears to be a fire sale of assets, with the company racing to raise cash.

The major issue for Totally is that even if the company successfully completes the disposal programme, the expected proceeds will fall well short of covering all future liabilities.

The group’s trading statement released in early May highlighted they were trading profitably on a monthly basis. This will be of little consequence if these income generating assets are sold to cover debts.

Totally may well be one of the next firms to leave London’s AIM.

Games Workshop Group has delivered a trading statement for the FY2025 highlights further progress in revenue growth with the company’s core revenue reaching an estimated £560 million, representing a 13% increase from the previous year’s £494.7 million.

Games Workshop typically release short trading statements. Nonetheless, there is a lot to unpack in the latest installment.

The Nottingham-based manufacturer of table top gaming products has demonstrated increasing demand for its Warhammer games, producing growth across its key revenue streams, with licensing income proving particularly robust.

Licensing revenue surged to approximately £50 million, marking a significant 61% increase from the £31.0 million recorded in 2023/24. However, the company did say it didn’t expect surging growth to be repeated in the year ahead.

The outlook for licesning fees may be behind the 3% decline in shares in early trade on Friday.

Higher revenues are translating through to increase profits. Core operating profit is estimated to be a minimum of £210 million, up from £174.8 million in the previous financial year. Licensing operations contributed approximately £45 million to operating profit, representing a substantial 67% increase from the £27.0 million achieved in 2023/24.

Games Workshop’s profit before taxation is estimated to reach at least £255 million, compared to £203.0 million in the prior year.

Record Licensing Performance

The company has achieved record-breaking licensing revenue during the period, underlining the growing commercial appeal of the Warhammer intellectual property across various media and product categories. However, Games Workshop has cautioned that this exceptional licensing performance is not expected to be replicated in the 2025/26 financial year.

Despite this caveat, the company has emphasised that licensing remains a significant strategic focus, suggesting continued investment in expanding the reach and commercial application of its intellectual property portfolio.

Employee Recognition and Shareholder Returns

In recognition of staff contributions to these outstanding results, Games Workshop distributed approximately £20 million in Group Profit Share payments, up from £18 million in the previous year. These payments are distributed equally amongst all staff members in cash.

Shareholders have also benefited substantially from the company’s performance, with total dividends declared and paid during the year reaching £171.4 million, equivalent to 520 pence per share. This represents a notable increase from the £138.3 million (420 pence per share) distributed in 2023/24.

Games Workshop plans to publish its 2025 Annual Report on 29 July 2025, which will provide comprehensive details of the company’s performance and strategic direction.