James Cropper shares jumped on Tuesday after announcing full-year performance comfortably ahead of market expectations, with adjusted EBITDA of £8.8 million for the year to 28 March 2026

Adjusted EBITDA was roughly 10% above consensus and more than 30% ahead of the prior year’s £6.67 million.

James Cropper shares reacted positively to the news, rising 17% in early trade.

Group revenue rose approximately 4% to £103 million, with Advanced Materials the standout performer, delivering low double-digit revenue growth and high single-digit EBITDA growth even as the division increased investment in operational costs to support medium-term expansion.

Paper & Packaging held revenue broadly flat despite the previously reported loss of a significant merchant customer, while EBITDA losses narrowed significantly across the year. Notably, the division moved into EBITDA profit in the second half.

Strong underlying performance helped strengthen the balance sheet, with Net debt falling to £8.3 million from £12.9 million, well ahead of expectations, bringing the net debt-to-EBITDA ratio below 1x, down from 1.9x a year earlier.

Encouragingly for investors, trading momentum has carried into the new financial year, with the board’s operational improvement programme tracking to plan.

David Stirling, Chief Executive Officer, said: “I am pleased to report a good performance in what remains a cautious and uncertain market environment. We have made structured progress in stabilising the business, which is reflected in the robust EBITDA and cash generated in the year. We remain confident in the medium-term outlook and are focused on maintaining a balanced approach, positioning the Group to benefit as conditions improve.”

On the outlook, the company reaffirmed its medium-term expectation of underlying double-digit growth in Advanced Materials, though near-term performance will depend on customer demand patterns and broader market conditions.

Imperial Brands is fast becoming a group focused on tobacco-free products as smoking rates fall, but the group is still managing to carve out revenue growth in its combustibles division.

The firm has issued a trading update confirming it remains on track to deliver its full-year targets, with the tobacco group pointing to robust pricing, next-generation product (NGP) growth and continued progress on its 2030 transformation strategy.

The company expects low-single-digit growth in tobacco and NGP net revenue for the first half, with tobacco performance underpinned by pricing and only modest volume decline in combustibles. The strength of the combustibles is notable given the rise of vaping, especially in developed countries.

NGP net revenue is growing at a mid-to-high single-digit rate, rising to double digits in both Europe and the AAACE regions, driven by heated tobacco gains with Pulze 3.0 in Italy and Greece, continued traction for the blu vape range, and new product launches in modern oral brands Skruf and Zone across the Nordics and UK.

Group adjusted operating profit is expected to be slightly ahead year-on-year in the first half, with a stronger second half to come. The company reiterated full-year guidance for low-single-digit tobacco and double-digit NGP net revenue growth, three to five per cent adjusted operating profit growth and at least high-single-digit earnings per share growth, all at constant currency. Free cash flow guidance of at least £2.2 billion for the year was also maintained.

In the US, the Zone modern oral brand is holding volume share, though NGP net revenue is expected to be lower in the first half due to heightened promotional activity. Imperial expects US performance to accelerate in the second half, supported by combustible price increases, the March launch of its new Malibu cigarette brand and recent flavour launches for Zone.

“The smoking habit faces increasing pressure from tightening consumer spending, rising taxation, and social change, and the long-term fate of the cigarette seems irreversible,” said Freetrade’s Duncan Ferris.

“The question for investors is how Imperial can continue to manage declining demand for its key product.

“In the face of this challenge, the company’s plan appears threefold. Extracting maximum value from cigarette markets, wooing investors with share buybacks and dividends, and ramping up plans for the future with its Next Generation Products. 

“Today’s reiteration of full-year guidance demonstrates the company’s ability to deliver on the first of these goals, with tobacco price increases driving steady revenue growth despite volume decline.

“A caveat is mixed market-share performance as Imperial admitted some reductions across key markets due to focus on profitability and its long-term value-focused approach.”

The group has completed £0.7 billion of its £1.45 billion share buyback programme for the year, representing around 3.2 per cent of issued share capital, as part of its ongoing “evergreen” return programme running to 2030.

Physiomics (AIM: PYC) has been awarded a new contract by its long-standing client, Numab Therapeutics, to develop a mechanistic pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) modelling framework to support proof-of-concept work for a new oncology programme.

Numab Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company focused on next-generation multispecific antibody-based therapeutics for inflammation and oncology. Under the contract, Physiomics will apply quantitative modelling approaches to interpret emerging data, optimise experimental design and development strategy, and inform key go/no-go decisions across the programme.

The project is expected to commence this month and be completed in the third quarter of 2026.

Dr Peter Sargent, CEO of Physiomics, said: “We are thrilled to extend our collaboration with Numab Therapeutics to provide insights that can support robust proof-of-concept decision-making for this early oncology programme.”

The new deal comes as Physiomics prepares to fight a requisitioned general meeting that seeks to remove and replace the current management.

The vote will take place later in April.

hVIVO (AIM: HVO) has signed a clinical trial agreement with Nasdaq-listed Traws Pharma to conduct a human challenge trial testing a novel influenza antiviral, in a deal that underscores continued commercial momentum for the Canary Wharf-based specialist.

TXM is an investigational oral, single-dose antiviral being developed to treat seasonal influenza and bird flu. The randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial will assess the drug’s safety, tolerability and effectiveness in reducing the incidence and severity of influenza in healthy adults.

The study will take place at hVIVO’s specialist quarantine facilities in Canary Wharf, with approximately 150 participants recruited through the company’s FluCamp arm. All associated laboratory work will be conducted by hVIVO’s in-house virology laboratory.

The trial is expected to commence in the first half of 2026, with the majority of revenue recognised this year.

Iain D. Dukes, Chief Executive Officer of Traws Pharma, said: “This agreement represents an important step forward for Traws as we advance our programme and seek to generate high‑quality, efficacy clinical data efficiently. Partnering with hVIVO enables us to leverage a proven human challenge platform to support our development strategy and accelerate progress towards our next value‑inflection point.”

Seasonal influenza is responsible for an estimated one billion cases annually, with 3–5 million severe cases and up to 650,000 deaths worldwide each year.

hVIVO has inoculated more than 5,000 participants across 2,477 influenza, RSV and other viral human challenge trials to date.

The company also announced a corporate rebranding on Tuesday, which will see all operating companies trade under the hVivo brand.

Mercantile Ports and Logistics (LON: MPL) shares continue to rise while investors await a decision from the meeting of a consortium of banks to consider Mercantile’s debt proposal on Friday 10 April. The share price added 71% to 2.65p, which is a 715% rise over the past four days.

Trellus Health (LON: TRLS), which developed the Trellus Elevate platform to manage complex chronic conditions, has renewed its licence agreement with Pfizer Inc. Pfizer will continue to use the technology in its inflammatory bowel disease digital application. Trellus Health has reduced monthly cash burn to $300,000 and cash will last into May. The share price increased by one-quarter to 0.25p.

IT services provider SysGroup (LON: SYS) traded strongly in the second half, helped by the acquisition of Saxis. Full year revenues were 7% higher at £22.1m – they were previously expected to be flat. Pre-tax profit is set to be one-third higher at £400,000. Net cash was £2.7m. Pre-tax profit is forecast to rise to £900,000 in 2026-27. The share price rose 18.5% to 16p.

MTI Wireless Edge (LON: MWE) has won a further $2m order for antennas. This follows $6m of orders for the group last week. The share price improved 14.4% to 70.5p.

Eco (Atlantic) Oil and Gas (LON: ECO) has agreed to farm down a 60% participating interest in its three Namibian licences to BP, which will take on operatorship. There will be a one-off cash payment of $2.7m. BP will carry Eco through the current exploration phase. Eco will retain 25% and if the licence is renewed it can sell a further 10% interest to BP for a full carry for each well on each of the licences, with a cap of $21m for each well. The share price gained 8.91% to 59.9p, having been around 61.5pearlier in the morning.

Telecoms test equipment supplier Calnex Solutions (LON: CLX) says full year trading was slightly better than expected. More business is coming from datacentres and defence, rather than the original telecoms customer base. A new partnership with VIAVI Solutions will help to broaden the client base. Cavendish increased forecast 2025-26 pre-tax profit by 59% to £1.2m. Cash is £9.3m. The share price is 10.3% higher at 53.5p.

FALLERS

Retailer Mothercare (LON: MTC) says trading conditions are still difficult with no sign of a recovery. The problems are exacerbated by exposure to the Middle East. System sales in the year to March 2026 fell 22% to £180m last year. The forecast loss has been increased to £2.4m and a loss of £2.8m is expected next year. Net bank debt is estimated to be £5.7m. Pension contributions have been deferred for a further year. The share price slumped 21.4% to 1.105p.

Embedded computing products supplier Concurrent Technologies (LON: CNC) increased full year revenues 145 to £45.9m and pre-tax profit by one-quarter to £6.5m, which was slightly better than forecast. The new US facility came on stream in December. Pre-tax profit is expected to rise to £8m in 2026. The share price dropped 7.71% to 191.5p.

Barclays has cut its target share price for Jet2 (LON: JET2) from £17 to £16, but the recommendation remains overweight. The share price declined 3.59% to £11.69.

The FTSE 100 slipped on Monday after US-Iran talks over the weekend ended without a deal, prompting Trump to threaten to blockade the Strait of Hormuz.

Oil prices surged on the news, but the FTSE 100 slipped just 0.4%, suggesting either equity traders believe Trump may chicken out again or that there’s a degree of complacency in trade on Monday after a rip-roaring rally last week for global stocks.

Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist, Wealth Club, said: “Trump’s high stakes gamble aimed at forcing Iran to bow to his demands has sent oil prices rocketing. It’s sent a fresh jolt of pessimism through financial markets with the FTSE 100 opening lower.”

“Brent Crude, the benchmark, shot up by 8% to 103 a barrel, with prices fluctuating around this highly elevated level. By blockading the Strait of Hormuz, Trump is turning Iran’s chokepoint into a US stranglehold. The prospect of all tankers ceasing transit through this key waterway is making the energy crisis even more acute.”

The blockade is set to come into force at 3.00pm BST today, and markets may become choppier as the session progresses. US futures were pointing to a 0.5% lower open for the S&P 500 at the time of writing.

That said, losses are relatively contained, given the potential risks to the global economy if the US and Iran don’t reach a deal in the near-term.

“The stagflation word is being widely aired once again as geopolitical turmoil threatens to stymie international growth and stoke inflationary pressures,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

Talk of stagflation meant it was a familiar story for several interest-sensitive sectors on Monday. Higher oil prices stoked inflation fears, leading to declines for housebuilders and retailers.

Barratt Redrow shares were 2.4% lower as Persimmon lost 2.2%. The pair stormed higher when the ceasefire was announced last week, but the rally is fading, and they’re edging back towards the lows.

Barratt Redrow and Persimmon are the two worst-performing FTSE 100 stocks since the US and Israel attacked Iran.

Blockading the Strait of Hormuz could cause real problems for airlines, which reportedly have only 3 or 4 weeks before jet fuel shortages start to disrupt operations. Naturally, this made airline shares less attractive and IAG shares fell 2.1%.

BP and Shell were among the top risers with oil back around the $100 mark.

Admiral was the FTSE 100’s top riser as the insurer continued its march higher after releasing strong results last month, which have seen the stock immunised against concerns around the Middle East. Admiral was 2.8 higher at the time of writing.