Brickability, a leading distributor and specialist products provider to the UK construction industry, reported substantial organic growth across all divisions for the 10-month period ending 31 January 2025 despite ‘challenging’ market conditions.

The AIM-listed firm announced a 12.3% like-for-like revenue increase in the four months to 31 January 2025 compared to the same period last year, with all four of the Group’s divisions contributing to this growth.

The company’s strategy of diversifying revenue streams has paid off, enabling the business to deliver solid performance during a difficult and uncertain period for the construction sector.

Particularly strong performers were the Bricks and Building Materials division and the Importing division, both of which recorded robust revenue growth compared not only with the prior period but also with the first half of the current financial year. However, the company noted that pricing has become increasingly competitive due to softer demand in the wider market.

Meanwhile, the Distribution division continues to benefit from strong interest in solar PV products through the Group’s renewables business, Upowa. The regulatory focus on building safety has also created a supportive environment for the Contracting division, which is benefiting from a multi-year pipeline and substantial order book within its specialist cladding and fire remediation businesses. This has contributed to divisional margins significantly ahead of the Group’s blended average.

Investors will be delighted to learn that the board now anticipates delivering adjusted EBITDA modestly ahead of market expectations for the year ending 31 March 2025.

“I am pleased by the way in which Brickability is performing and it is testament to our specialist, multi-channel Group structure and the  hard work of the Group’s teams across the four divisions that we are able to deliver growth through a tough cycle,” said Frank Hanna, Chief Executive Office.

“At the same time, we are investing in our IT systems and the standardisation of processes to improve operating efficiencies and data analytics to better serve our customers.”

Tesla shares sank overnight following news its sales had plummeted amid a backlash against Elon Musk’s interference in European politics. 

As of last night’s US close, Tesla is no longer a trillion-dollar market-capitalised company after its shares fell over 8%.

Tesla’s European sales tanked a whopping 45% in January compared to the same month a year ago. The painful thing for Tesla and its investors was the rejection of Tesla, which was underscored by a dramatic rise in competitor EV registrations. It appears there is strong demand for EVs across Europe, but consumers are now looking past Teslsa to different manufacturers.

Musk’s antics have accelerated the decline of Telsa’s strength in Europe. Competition in the EV space has been heating up for some time, with China’s BYD eating up market share with better-valued stylish models. Rivian is also making inroads into Europe and proving to be more of a thorn in Tesla’s side. 

Although the chainsaw-wielding billionaire will be concerned about the decline in sales, Musk’s focus has shifted to autonomous vehicles and establishing a global robotaxis business that could far outstrip his EV business.

However, investors may be worried that Musk is becoming distracted by his new friend in the White House. Musk has traditionally been deeply involved in driving his businesses forward, and with more time being spent at the newly formed DOGE, he will be unable to dedicate as much time to his business interests.

Staffline Group shares surged on Tuesday after announcing the sale of its PeoplePlus Group Limited subsidiary to a wholly owned subsidiary of Swipejobs Holdings Pty Ltd, in a deal valued at £12 million.

The transaction, completed on a cash free, debt free basis, includes £2 million in deferred consideration contingent on new contracts expected to commence within the next 12 months.

After accounting for £5.1 million in advanced payments received for future revenue, the net proceeds from the disposal are expected to be £6.9 million.

Staffline’s Board has indicated that the proceeds will be allocated to a combination of share buybacks and increased funding for the group’s organic growth strategy.

Staffline Group shares were 14% higher at the time of writing.

PeoplePlus, which specialises in workplace training and employability services, generated approximately £65 million in revenue and £1.3 million in profit before tax. At the end of December 2024, PeoplePlus held gross assets of approximately £16 million.

This disposal represents a strategic shift for Staffline as it looks to concentrate resources on its core recruitment business while returning value to shareholders through the planned share buyback programme.

Plans to streamline the business come after a period of poor share price performance for Staffline.

“PeoplePlus has played an important part in developing Staffline’s service offering over a number of years but with our strategic ambitions centred on our fast growing recruitment activities as opposed to training and education, now feels like the opportune moment to implement this change,” said Albert Ellis, Chief Executive Officer of Staffline.

Wood Group shares rallied again on Tuesday after the energy engineering and services group confirmed it had received an approach from UAE-based competitor Sidara.

A Financial Times report sparked a dramatic rally in Wood Group shares yesterday, which was met with an official statement from both Wood Group and Sidara.

Prior to the FT report on Monday, the UK Investor Magazine had published an article exploring Wood Group’s recent share price decline. The article suggested that those parties previously showing interest in the acquisition of Wood would be licking their lips at the recent demise of Wood Group’s share price.

It didn’t take long for Sidara to throw their hat back in the ring with a proposed cash offer for Wood Group after previously offering 230p per share for Wood Group last year. They are now looking at a share price of under 40p.

Private equity has also shown an interest in Wood Group, and the recent decline in shares will not have gone unnoticed.

It won’t be surprising if Wood Group receives takeover approaches from multiple parties keen to acquire the beleaguered group at bargain basement prices.

Wood Group has high debt levels that will be difficult for them to manage as a standalone entity but will be light work for a larger group or private equity.

The Wood Group share price was trading up 2% at 38p at the time of writing. A formal offer hasn’t been made yet, but it is reasonable to think that when it is, it will be at a higher price than Wood trades today.

Wood Group has previously resisted takeover approaches, but recent developments may make it a little more open to proposals.

The FTSE 100 again reversed early losses on Tuesday as investors assessed the latest geopolitical and macroeconomic developments.

London’s leading index was up 0.3% at the time of writing after falling in very early trade on Tuesday.

“The lower opening echoes performance in European markets, and a retreat in US and Asian stocks overnight, reflecting unease over looming US tariff policies and their potential ripple effects on global growth and inflation,” said Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.

The difficulty for traders at the moment is to gauge how much of what Donald Trump says he actually means and will deliver on and how much he is positioning for his self-proclaimed role as a deal maker.

Nonetheless, markets are proceeding cautiously, with a string of potentially economically harmful events on the horizon.

“Suggestions the Trump administration would toughen existing restrictions on exporting semiconductors to China and hints tariffs on Canada and Mexico, initially delayed, were still coming down the track hit sentiment,” explained AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

Despite the lower opening, strong corporate earnings and interest in the FTSE 100’s banks helped the FTSE 100 into positive territory as the session progressed.

The FTSE 100’s banks were the driving force, with heavyweight HSBC jumping 2% and Standard Chartered rising 1.8%. Lloyds shares also rose, taking the stock to the highest levels for five years.

Smith & Nephew was the best performer after the medical device company reported strong sales activity in the US, which helped offset slower trading in China. 

“There were three cheers due for Smith and Nephew’s hip and knee replacement business over in the US, which was the main driver of growth, with overall sales and profit topping analysts’ estimates,” said Adam Vettese, market analyst at eToro.

“The firm offered up 5% growth despite facing challenges in its China business as well as FX headwinds. They are currently dealing with a significant demand fall-off in China resulting in their distributors sitting on unusually high levels of inventory, which are beginning to come down but are still way above what would be considered normal. These issues are expected to continue into Q1 2025 but Smith and Nephew will be keen to resolve them as soon as possible so the region does not continue to drag on performance.”

Miners had another soft trading session which dragged on the index, while Scottish Mortgage Trust fell to the bottom of the leaderboard amid a sell-off in US tech shares.

From a long-term shareholders’ perspective, Vela Technologies may as well be trading at zero.

The company has made some terrible investment decisions, and investors are paying the price. In their last quarterly update, the executive director suggested the UK small-cap market was the problem. This argument has some merit, but the real problem is disastrous investment selection and poor portfolio management. 

Investors are understandably calling for a change in management after shares lost 93% of their value over the past five years.

Vela Technologies’ recent RNS archive is a catalogue of disasters and bad news. Quarterly investment updates reveal a steady decline in the portfolio’s value. The investment company has revealed that private company investments are going into administration, and one of their other holdings, Tribe Technology, recently announced it was delisting.

There are valid questions about the overall strategy and the leadership team’s ability to manage a portfolio of early-stage companies. 

An investment in NASDAQ-listed Conduit Pharmaceuticals was an utter catastrophe, with a multi-million dollar investment declining to be worth under £100,000.

In a recent update, the company said it planned to recycle capital into new investments while avoiding crystallising material losses. This isn’t very encouraging, as it suggests they lack confidence in their current portfolio.

As an investment company, Vela should seek out innovations and exciting management teams to make meaningful investments. Instead, through their most recent investment, they have effectively outsourced this job to another investment company, Igraine. 

It seems like the Vela management team has given up.

Vela recently announced the sale of a proportion of their stake in Ensilica at 46p, netting just £10k profit after holding the stock and adding to it since the beginning of 2022.

The company said it needed the cash for working capital purposes. This means the company is selling down investments to keep the lights on, which clearly isn’t a sustainable strategy.

After the sale of the stake in Ensilica and the delisting of Tribe Technology, the company’s listed equity portfolio is now only worth around £1m.

If things keep going as they are, it is only a matter of time before they delist or conduct a heavily discounted placing that obliterates any remaining value in shares. It’s also difficult to see investors having much interest in funding a placing at this point.

Vela desperately needs a big winner in its portfolio. Unfortunately, where that comes from isn’t immediately obvious.

Vela has invested heavily in Aquis-listed Igraine and is required to make further cash investments in the company, totalling £150,000, through convertible loan notes. There is an option for Vela to invest a further £300,000, but they would have to flatten several of their other positions to do so.

Igraine has exclusive investment rights in battery storage company GEM Energia Limited, which is establishing battery systems across the UK. Vela’s investment in Igraine will likely fund the construction of this network. It’s an interesting business, but it’s capital-intensive and unlikely to produce any meaningful returns for many years.

Vela Technologies is on thin ice.