Barratt Redrow said it delivered a ‘resilient performance in a subdued market’ during the 26-week period to 28 December, but the numbers just weren’t strong enough to convince investors, and shares fell 7% on Wednesday.

The housebuilder completed 7,444 homes in the 26 weeks to 28 December 2025, up 4.7% on the aggregated comparable period. However, adjusted operating profit edged down 0.3% to £210.2 million, with margins declining to 8.0% from 9.3% previously.

Adjusted pre-tax profit fell 13.6% to £199.9 million, whilst statutory pre-tax profit rose to £156.2 million from £113.4 million, benefiting from reduced integration costs and purchase price allocation adjustments.

“Barratt Redrow delivered a mixed set of first-half results, but there’s hope that momentum can pick up from here,” explained Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“Sales rates only dipped slightly over the period, despite rising uncertainty ahead of the UK Budget back in November. The order book and average selling price have both been trending higher. But that was in part down to Barratt’s increased use of incentives to convince buyers to sign on the dotted line for a new home.”

The market may be a little harsh in sending shares down 7%, given Barratt’s relatively stable sales and a reasonable outlook.

The underlying net private reservation rate held steady at 0.55 compared with 0.54 in the prior period. The overall rate slipped to 0.57 from 0.59, reflecting fewer private rental sector and multi-unit reservations.

Barratt Redrow maintained its strong balance sheet with net cash of £173.9 million after dividends and share buybacks. The company remains on track to deliver its £100 million cost-synergy target from the Redrow integration, with strong progress on revenue-synergy sites.

Forward sales at 1 February stood at 11,168 homes valued at £3.41 billion, up from 10,903 homes worth £3.35 billion a year earlier.

Chief executive David Thomas said the group expects to deliver 17,200-17,800 total completions in FY26, including roughly 600 joint venture completions. Full-year adjusted pre-tax profit is expected within the current range of consensus estimates.

PZ Cussons has upgraded its full-year profit guidance after delivering 9.5% like-for-like revenue growth and a 50.5% surge in pre-tax profit during the first half.

The group enjoyed a strong performance across most geographies and investors cheered the news with shares 10% higher at the time of writing.

The personal care group saw particularly strong growth in Nigeria, where double-digit volume growth and market-share gains drove performance. UK sales were led by Sanctuary Spa’s successful Christmas gifting range, whilst Indonesia benefited from innovation and improved commercial execution. Australia and New Zealand returned to category growth with a maintained market share.

Excluding Africa, like-for-like revenue rose 3.2%, with volume growth of 0.7%. Reported revenue increased 8.0%, though currency depreciation in the Australian dollar and Indonesian rupiah impacted translation.

Adjusted operating profit jumped £13.3 million, helped by non-cash foreign exchange gains on Nigerian naira trading liabilities. Pre-tax profit surged 50.5% on lower interest costs, whilst earnings per share climbed 12.3%.

The company has raised its full-year adjusted operating profit guidance to £53-57 million from £50-55 million previously. Net debt fell £27.7 million to approximately 1.0x EBITDA, supported by £23.2 million free cash flow and disposal proceeds.

PZ Cussons received £48.5 million from selling its 50% stake in the PZ Wilmar joint venture, with £3.4 million outstanding. Cost savings remain on track at £5-10 million for the year.

Jonathan Myers, Chief Executive Officer, commented: “We have delivered a strong performance in the first half of the year across our four lead markets.”

“This performance, with a healthy balance of price and volume increases, and growth in each of our largest ten brands, has been driven by targeted investment in innovation, brand-building and continued strong commercial execution. Combined with tight cost control, we delivered double-digit growth in adjusted operating profit and adjusted earnings per share allowing us to increase guidance for the full year.”

The FTSE 100 slipped on Tuesday as investors digested a raft of corporate updates from companies including Barclays, AstraZeneca, and BP.

Results from some of the FTSE 100’s largest constituents were mixed, resulting in an index that was 0.3% lower at the time of writing. 

Markets were also bracing for a volley of US economic data this week that could set the tone for the Federal Reserve interest rate decision. 

“The FTSE 100 slipped on mixed results from some of the big hitters in the index,” said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell. 

Barclays released Q4 and full-year 2025 numbers that neither wowed investors nor gave them a reason to sell. 

The bank marginally beat profit expectations and increased guidance for the year ahead. But the strength of the results was more a justification for the recent rally than a catalyst for further upside, and shares were largely flat at the time of writing. 

Coatsworth explained that: “Corporate and investment banking interests were strong while the UK retail banking and wealth management operations were lacklustre.

“Barclays has outlined near and medium-term targets which imply stronger returns and big share buybacks. The targets sound impressive, but the market seems nonplussed by the overall package.

“There wasn’t enough to blow the lights out in terms of recent performance, and so much good news is already in the price.”

BP was among the top fallers after the oil major reported lower profits and held off on new share buybacks. The impact of lower oil prices was evident in the numbers, and the decision to write down its clean energy business led to a retreat in Q4 profits.

“BP’s fourth-quarter results showed relative resilience in a weak pricing environment. Net debt is down again after a spike in the third quarter, but on a 12-month view, it’s not budged much,” said Derren Nathan, head of equity research, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“Management is taking some decisive action to fix the balance sheet, scrapping the buyback, doubling down on non-core disposals and upping structural cost-savings targets to $5.5-6.5bn by the end of next year.”

Although there may be future benefits for shareholders, they were clearly pertrubed by the decision to suspend buybacks and shares were down 5% at the time of writing.

AstraZeneca provided investors with plenty of reasons to be optimistic, with a strong pipeline of drugs that could provide a solid base for growth well into the future. 

“The numbers this morning continue to show how AstraZeneca seems to have its house in order when it comes to its drug pipeline,” said Chris Beauchamp, Chief Market Analyst at IG.

“The outlook and recent performance more than justifies the recent surge in the share price which has finally seen it break higher after years of sideways trading. As Novo and others show, it’s not easy to maintain investor interest, but Astra’s broad stable of drugs shows it continues to deliver. 

Standard Chartered shares fell after an executive widely seen as the successor to the current CEO announced their resignation. Shares were down 5% at the time of writing. 

Babcock was the FTSE 100’s top faller, down 6%.

BP shares fell on Tuesday after the oil major halted share buybacks amid falling profits and weaker performance across most business units.

BP reported a fourth-quarter underlying replacement cost profit of $1.5 billion, down from $2.2 billion in the previous quarter, as lower upstream realizations and reduced refinery throughput weighed on performance.

The company posted a reported loss of $3.4 billion for the quarter, compared with a profit of $1.2 billion in Q3, after accounting for inventory holding losses and net impairments of around $4 billion related to its gas and clean energy transition businesses, as the group front-loaded its retreat from lower emissions business accelerated.

Across BP’s operating segments, gas & low carbon energy delivered an underlying profit before interest and tax of $1.4 billion, down from $1.5 billion in the third quarter, reflecting lower realisations and an average gas marketing and trading result.

Oil production & operations saw underlying profit before interest and tax fall to $2.0 billion from $2.3 billion, impacted by lower realizations, production mix effects, and reduced income from equity-accounted entities, though this was partly offset by lower exploration write-offs.

Customers & products segment posted underlying profit before interest and tax of $1.3 billion, down from $1.7 billion, as weaker midstream performance, including a temporary outage at the Whiting facility, offset stronger refining margins.

“BP’s fourth-quarter results showed relative resilience in a weak pricing environment. Net debt is down again after a spike in the third quarter, but on a 12-month view, it’s not budged much,” said Derren Nathan, head of equity research, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“Management is taking some decisive action to fix the balance sheet, scrapping the buyback, doubling down on non-core disposals and upping structural cost-savings targets to $5.5-6.5bn by the end of next year. 

“In an effort to clear the decks ahead of the arrival of new CEO Meg O’Neill on 1^st April, BP’s also written down its underperforming solar and renewable natural gas businesses by around $4bn. This leaner meaner approach could pave the way for more sustainable payouts to shareholders further down the line, but with investment spend coming down, investors will want some assurance on BP’s plans to remain an energy leader over the long-term.”

Jangada Mines (LON: JAN) has secured an option to acquire 100% of the Molly gold project in Tapajos Brazil. Once the agreement is signed there will be a cash payment of $100,000 and shares issued worth $250,000. There will be a further cash and shares payment of $650,000 after one year plus resource-based payments. The initial JORC inferred resource is 130,000 ounces of gold but gold mineralisation is more extensive than the past drilling indicates. The share price increased 17.2% to 1.7p.

Cosmetics supplier Warpaint London (LON: W7L) has acquired the Barry M brand from the administrator for £1.4m, but 2025 figures will be just below expectations. Cavendish has cut its 2025 pre-tax profit forecast from £20.7m to £19.2m, although the 2026 figure is maintained at £26m. Net cash was better than expected at £16m. Barry M is a value cosmetics brand and had revenues of £15m. It is likely to be loss making. The share price recovered 8.75% to 217.5p.

Pathos Communications (LON: NEWS) has entered a partnership with Flippa.com, a marketplace for buying and selling online businesses. This will allow the latter’s 1.6 million registered users to become a client of Pathos Communications’ PR services. This is part of an invitation-only Flippa partner programme. The share price is 7.84% higher at 27.5p. The December placing price was 30p.

More positive new for Fulcrum Metals (LON: FMET) concerning gold and other product recoveries at the Teck Hughes tailings project. Gold recovery has been increased to 78% with up to 95% silver recoveries. There are also high recovery rates for tellurium and copper and 20% recoveries of gallium – that could be improved. There is a potential recoverable value of more than $550m of all these metals. Further testing will be undertaken. The share price rose 5.71% to 9.25p, which is near to its high for the year.

Power Metal Resources (LON: POW) says drilling will start at the Badger Lake uranium property in Canada on 1 March. The joint venture will undertake 2,100 metres of drilling testing two shear zones and the S-Zone, which differs from most unconformity-related uranium targets in the Athabasca Basin. The share price improved 3.13% to 16.5p.

FALLERS

Phoenix Copper (LON: PXC) has suspended chief executive Marcus Edwards-Jones and finance director Richard Wilkins due to their recent conduct and past payments. A n investigation is underway. The company has limited cash available, and it will last until the second quarter of 2026. The share price slumped 47.5% to 1.05p, having been below 1p earlier in the day.

ADM Energy (LON: ADME) returned from suspension down 36.4% to 0.0035p after annual accounts and subsequent interims were published. There was £1,000 in cash at the end of 2025. The company’s name is being changed to Vega Energy.

Cora Gold (LON: CORA) is raising £12.9m-£13.7m through a subscription by Singapore-based Eagle Eye Asset Holdings at 6p/share. There will be a retail offer to raise up to £2m. Eagle Eye’s investment will depend on the take up of the retail offer, so that it does not go above 29.9%. The definitive feasibility study for the company’s Sanankoro project in south Mali indicated a NPV8% of $221m, but that was at a gold price of $2,750/ounce. The money raised covers nearly 50% of the cash required to construct the mine. The share price fell 18.6% to 8.75p.