Shoe Zone has warned that profits will be significantly lower than expected following challenging trading conditions in June and July.

The retailer now expects adjusted profit before tax for the year ending 27 September 2025 to be approximately £2.5m – half its previous forecast of £5.0m.

Shoe Zone shares were down 20% at the time of writing on Wednesday.

The company blamed weakening consumer confidence following the Government’s October 2024 budget announcement, saying customers have reduced discretionary spending amid ongoing inflation, higher interest rates and increased savings rates, resulting in lower footfall and reduced revenue.

Shoe Zone has also withdrawn its current dividend policy in light of the disappointing performance.

In addition to the external factors impacting sales, it’s clear that the Shoe Zone brand is becoming tired, which they have recognised with a wave of store refits.

The retailer opened its 200th new format store this month and remains debt-free with cash levels higher than the same period last year.

The group will likely have to spend some of this cash on revitalising its market positioning.

Housebuilder Persimmon is benefitting from the early signs of a revival in the UK property market as completions and profits rose in its half-year period.

The FTSE 100 company completed 4,605 homes in the six months to 30 June, up 4% year-on-year, driven by a 7% increase in private completions to 3,987 units. Revenue surged 12% to £1.31bn as average selling prices rose 8% to £284,047.

Underlying operating profit jumped 13% to £172.0m.

Private average sales prices on completions climbed 7%, reflecting a higher proportion of Charles Church developments and what the company described as “robust pricing”. The group’s net private sales rate excluding bulk deals improved 5% to 0.62 per outlet per week.

These are all strong numbers and make the 2% drop in Persimmon shares on Wednesday seem unjustified, given the main drag on EPS was a one-off charge related to a CMA investigation.

Encouragingly, Persimmon maintained its full-year guidance of 11,000-11,500 completions, with housing operating margins expected between 14.2% and 14.5%. The company is now roughly 80% secured on private completions for the year.

“Persimmon’s half-year numbers underline a steady recovery in the UK housebuilding sector, with rising revenues, higher selling prices and robust forward sales giving the group confidence in its full-year targets,” said Axel Rudolph, Senior Technical Analyst at IG.

“While the flat statutory profit figure and cash outflow highlight the ongoing challenges of affordability and market uncertainty, the stable dividend and solid completions guidance suggest Persimmon is well placed to deliver on its growth ambitions into 2026.”

Expansion continues

The builder expanded its outlet network by 4% to 277 sites as it progresses towards a target of at least 300 outlets. Land investment remained strong at £210m during the half-year, whilst the company secured detailed planning for 5,066 plots – equivalent to 110% of completions.

Looking ahead, Persimmon expects volumes to grow to approximately 12,000 units in 2026, though it cautioned that margin progression may slow due to diminishing build cost inflation and affordability constraints.

The group’s forward order book stands at £1.86bn, up 9% year-on-year, providing solid visibility for the remainder of 2025.

Tekcapital plc has announced a major breakthrough for its portfolio company, Guident, as the AV safety company gears up for its proposed US IPO.

Guident has secured an agreement with the City of Boca Raton, Florida, to deploy the city’s first autonomous shuttle-based public transportation service.

The autonomous shuttle will serve a 2.6-mile loop connecting Mizner Park to Royal Palm Place, providing residents and visitors with cutting-edge transportation options. The service is scheduled to launch in fall 2025 and represents a significant step forward in smart city transportation solutions.

Although the company didn’t mention the upcoming proposed NASDAQ listing, the Boca Raton deal and further commercial traction will undoubtedly help boost the potential valuation of Guident on listing. Guident filed for its proposed NASDAQ confidentially, so the full details of the flotation will remain private until the final stages.

Fresh strategic partnership

Guident will collaborate with Circuit, the current operator of existing shuttle services in Boca Raton, to combine Guident’s autonomous vehicle technology with Circuit’s proven operational expertise in electric shuttle services.

The initial phase will focus on a 0.6-mile loop within Mizner Park before expanding to the full route. The service is contracted for one year with options to extend beyond that timeframe, allowing both parties to evaluate performance and community impact.

“The growth and innovation happening in Boca right now is incredible, as the operator of BocaCONNECT locally, it’s a natural and exciting next step to bring this autonomous shuttle service to life. Boca continues to lead the way in mobility, and we’re proud to be part of what’s next,” said Alex Esposito, CEO and Co-Founder of Circuit

Circuit brings valuable experience to the partnership, having provided over 10 million eco-friendly rides across eight states, including California, Florida, Massachusetts, New York, and Texas. The company specialises in addressing the critical first and last-mile transportation gap that often limits public transit effectiveness.

This autonomous shuttle service aligns with broader trends toward sustainable urban mobility and demonstrates the commercial viability of Guident’s autonomous vehicle technology.

The AV sector is heating up with names such as Tesla being matched in technological advancements and real-world deployments by early-stage start-ups.

Today’s news follows a string of updates by Guident, including patent awards and new use cases such as robotic surveillance.

“Launching the MiCa transportation project in Boca Raton represents a significant step toward making autonomous public transportation a reality. Our collaboration with our esteemed partners underlines a shared vision: to create a safer, more efficient, and connected urban future,” said Harald Braun, Chairman & CEO of Guident.

The FTSE 100 rallied towards record highs on Tuesday as a sense of calm descended over equity markets amid easing geopolitical concerns.

Trade tariffs remain a concern, but there is a sense that we have passed the worst of the uncertainty, and Trump’s meeting with Putin later this week could lay the foundations for future peace in Europe.

London’s flagship index rose 0.3% in early trade after another strong session for US stocks overnight.

“There’s more optimism in the air as a tariff truce between the US and China holds, with hopes the global economy will withstand the trade blow a little better. Oil prices have crept higher in expectation of higher demand for energy around the world,” said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets, Hargreaves Lansdown.

UK stocks were also supported by hopes of additional interest rate cuts after another poor assessment of the UK jobs market. The Bank of England has pointed to the labour market as a central driver of their thinking on rates, and the recent rise in job vacancies suggests the voting committee could be forced to cut rates again.

Investors will have one eye on US inflation data due for release later on Tuesday, and any signals of when the Fed will next cut interest rates.

Spirax was the FTSE 100’s top riser as organic revenue and adjusted EBITDA rose amid strength in its Electric Thermal Solutions segment. The group’s shares have suffered over the past 18 months as results underwhelmed and investors will hope the organic growth reported for the half year is a sign of things to come.

Spirax shares were 12% higher at the time of writing.

Housebuilders Persimmon, Barratts and Taylor Wimpey were higher following the release of a trading statement by peer Bellway. Bellway’s completions rose 14% over their full year period, and the group was relatively upbeat about their outlook.

Despite gains on Tuesday, Taylor Wimpey and Barratt Developments were still among the worst-performing FTSE 100 stocks of 2025 so far.

Bellway has delivered impressive results for the year ended 31 July 2025, with housing completions surging 14.3% to 8,749 homes.

The UK homebuilder exceeded previous guidance across multiple key metrics, signalling a resilience amid challenging market conditions that other listed housebuilders have lacked.

The company’s housing revenue jumped 17% to over £2.76 billion, while the underlying operating margin approached 11%, up from 10.0% in the previous year. Average selling prices also increased to around £316,000, reflecting a higher proportion of private completions.

Customer appetite remained robust throughout the year, supported by good mortgage availability and relatively stable interest rates. Other housebuilders have used these factors as an excuse for poor performance, and it’s refreshing to see Bellway view the glass half full.

Private reservation rates climbed 12.1% to an average of 139 per week, with the rate per outlet reaching 0.57 compared to 0.51 in 2024.

The company’s forward order book strengthened to 5,307 homes valued at £1,519.4 million, providing a solid foundation for future growth. This represents an increase from 5,144 homes worth £1,412.9 million in the previous year. Investors should be encouraged by this key metric.

Bellway’s balance sheet improved significantly, ending the year with net cash of £42 million compared to net debt of £10.5 million in 2024. The company said it maintained a disciplined approach to land acquisition, contracting to purchase 8,120 plots during the year.

Looking Ahead to 2026

For the upcoming financial year, Bellway expects to maintain approximately 245 outlets on average and deliver around 9,200 homes. The company remains focused on increasing return on capital employed while driving higher cash generation for shareholder returns.

Management acknowledged current industry headwinds but expressed confidence in the group’s position. Recent government planning reforms should benefit the sector long-term, though local authorities are still adapting to new frameworks.

RC Fornax shares are down heavily since listing in early 2025 after a string of unconvincing updates and a warning about revenues. RC Fornax’s IPO valuation was far too rich, and the company has failed to live up to expectations.

In April, when the company released half-year results, we warned that the company was overvalued and growth didn’t justify the share price at the time. Revenue grew just 8% in their first half despite promising ‘rapid growth’ by disrupting the defence contracting industry.

RC Fornax shares are down two-thirds since then.

With the market now valuing the firm at around £7m, is it time to buy RC Fornax shares? Possibly, but we’d argue that RC Fornax is nothing more than a short-term rebound opportunity.

Any strength in the stock will likely be sold into by investors who wish they’d sold earlier. Traditionally long-term investors are already dumping their shares. 

There may be money to be made for swing traders, but the outlook for the company is badly damaged. And there is a severe lack of evidence to suggest they are turning a corner.

The group put out a trading statement in June that effectively said it had misjudged the key drivers of the sole market it operates in, and the COO responsible for sales wasn’t up to the task, and was taking a career break.

Revenue guidance issued in the statement suggested the company would generate minimal revenue in the second half of the year.

Since June’s disastrous trading statement, the company has said very little, apart from the CEO being up for an award and an MP visiting their HQ to discuss the Strategic Defence Review (SDR), following the company’s admission in June that their analysis of the impact of SDR on the defence market was badly wrong. 

The biggest asset of consultancies such as RC Fornax is their people and the expertise they can deliver to their clients. On this front, RC Fornax has demonstrated that its asset base is subpar, especially from a strategic perspective.

There is a lot of hype around the defence sector currently. But there are probably better ways to play the uptick in defence spending than this over-egged consultancy.