Raspberry Pi announced its FY 2024 results, showing a modest 2% decline in revenue to $259.5 million but a more substantial 57% drop in profit before tax to $16.3 million for its first year as a London-listed company.

However, the results were ahead of analyst expectations, and shares rose over 8%, helped by a bullish outlook for the year ahead.

Eben Upton, CEO of Raspberry Pi, was upbeat about the company’s prospects, saying: “I am confident that we will continue to see gradual improvements in end-demand during the current year and increased traction with direct-to-OEM engagement, effectively complementing our reseller and licensee channels.”

The computing firm weathered an industry-wide destocking phase following an exceptional 2023 performance. Unit sales fell by 5% to 7 million devices, while the company significantly expanded its product lineup with 22 new releases—a 267% increase from the previous year.

Despite these headwinds, the company projects a positive outlook for 2025, pointing to normalised channel inventory and strengthening end-market demand through Q4.

Raspberry Pi expects gross profit per unit to increase year-on-year, supported by secured memory supply through Q4. Management expressed confidence in “solid and sustainable sales growth” for 2025, with several promising OEM customer discussions potentially contributing significantly to performance in 2026 and beyond.

“Raspberry Pi has snuck over the line in narrowly beating analysts’ estimates in what is the company’s first full year report since its IPO. The bar was set pretty high given 2023 was a very strong year and inventory issues were a drag on profits for a large part of the year,” said Adam Vettese, market analyst at eToro.

“Sales of the flagship Raspberry Pi5 have been key to helping the new kids on the block establish a foothold in a market dominated by some very heavy hitters. Expanding their reach through strategic partnerships with a now boosted profile post-IPO seems to be working well.”

Sandwich maker Greencore and chilled foods specialist Bakkavor have struck a deal to create a food giant which will have over £4bn in combined revenues.

Greencore announced on Wednesday that it had reached an agreement in principle with Bakkavovor for an all share offer to be satisfied by a mix of shares and cash.

The 200p per share deal would value Bakkavor at £1.2bn on a fully diluted basis, and represent a 33% premium to Bakkavor’s share price of 151p as of the close 13th March when Greencore first made a move.

Today’s agreement follows a couple of earlier offers by Greencore that Bakkavor said undervalued them.

Bakkavor shares were 6% higher at 189p at the time of writing on Wednesday.

The deal has clear benefits. The newly combined entity would have a much bigger coverage of the convenience food market, and merging their supply chains will produce efficiencies across the group. 

Greencore’s strength in sandwiches will be complemented by a broad range of new products within the Bakkavor fold, including pizzas, soups, and salads.

The tie-up will also deepen Greencore’s geographical reach with additional exposure to the US and China.

Although the offer is exciting from an M&A perspective, it further highlights the vulnerabilities of UK-listed companies to takeover approaches due to their low valuation.

The FTSE 100 was firmly higher on Tuesday as investors buckled up for Donald Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ of economically damaging trade tariffs set to come into force tomorrow.

London’s leading index was 0.6% higher at the time of writing.

US indices reversed early losses yesterday to finish the session overnight in positive territory, which boosted European equities on Tuesday as bargain hunters stepped into beaten-down names across European indices.

“The fact the S&P 500 ended ahead on Monday, and chunks of Asia and Europe were in positive territory on Tuesday, goes to show that investors have indeed taken time to reflect on the state of events and moved out of panic mood,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

“The FTSE 100 bounced back with aplomb, rising 0.6% thanks to broad-based strength in the index. While pharma, banks and miners led the way, the fact only four FTSE 100 stocks were in negative territory in early trading suggests investors were fired up and ready to go.”

How equities will react to the confirmation of tariffs on some of America’s closest trading partners tomorrow is anyone’s guess.

There is a school of thought that the recent sell-off in global equities has priced in the impact of tariffs. On the other hand, there’s the complacency argument that the market is properly pricing the impact of tariffs because it still believes tariffs are being used as a negotiating tactic and won’t be around for long. 

Housebuilding shares rose on the latest house price data showing the average UK house price rose 3.9% over the past year, despite remaining unchanged on a month-on-month basis.

“UK house prices rose nearly 4% from last year, according to the Nationwide House Price Index, though growth paused month-to-month and there could be softness to come as buyers accelerated purchases to sidestep expected tax hikes,” explained Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“Despite this short-term slowdown, conditions look promising for a rebound as the year progresses, driven by a strong job market, increasing take-home pay, and the potential for cheaper loans if interest rates come down.”

Persimmon rose 1.3% and Taylor Wimpey added 0.6%.

Banks were higher as investors awaited the next step in the legalities related to the motor financing scandal. Should the courts rule against the banks, they could be on the hook for billions in redress. 

Lloyds shares were 0.7% higher despite it being one of the banks most heavily exposed to potential redress.

“It’s crunch time for UK banks as the supreme court starts hearings this week, looking into motor finance mis-selling and whether car dealers and lenders unlawfully hid commissions from consumers,” Matt Britzman said.

“There’s a lot on the line, especially Lloyds which was the most exposed of the major UK banks. It’ll likely be a few months before the outcome is known, but some estimates suggest it could cost Lloyds around £6bn if it’s forced to refund all motor finance commissions.”

Kingfisher was the top riser, continuing its recovery from a recent selloff. Shares were 2.9% higher.

The difficulties faced by the construction industry are well-documented and today, are clearly visible in Travis Perkins’s full-year results.

Volumes were weaker as builders held off on new construction projects. However, the real blow for Travis Perkins’ financials is that after years of price inflation, the company is experiencing price deflation, especially in timber goods.

This is welcome news for the construction industry as a whole, but increased competitiveness in the merchanting business means Travis Perkins has to pass on the lower prices to their customers.

The result was a 98% drop in operating profits for the year and 9% drop in Travis Perkins shares as of the time of writing on Tuesday.

“Travis Perkins’ full-year results make for grim reading, with the company reporting a 23% drop in annual profits. Shareholders cannot seem to catch a break as Travis Perkins shares have sunk to a 16-year low in 2025, hammering home the difficulties the company is facing,” said Mark Crouch, market analyst at eToro.

“The building materials supplier attributes the disappointing performance to a slow recovery in the construction sector, as the UK economy continues to struggle. With interest rates remaining stubbornly fixed in place, uncertainty is weighing heavily on both investors and consumers, leaving them hesitant to act.”

The company’s outlook underlines how desperate they are for interest rate cuts. Unfortunately, the Bank of England seems to have other ideas, and we may only see one or two more in the rest of 2025.

Travis Perkins said: ‘the pace and rate of an overall recovery in construction activity levels remains uncertain and will likely need further cuts to interest rates and an uplift to consumer confidence levels to stimulate a meaningful increase in demand’.

1Spatial, the global leader in Location Master Data Management software, has secured a 12-month contract with Kent County Council worth £0.5 million for its 1Streetworks solution.

This is the third major contract for 1Spatial’s 1Streetworks platform, following significant deals with other councils announced last year. The company seems to be building a head of steam.

The cloud-based SaaS solution pioneers full automation of traffic management plans, diversion routing, and asset inventory lists. Its platform-sharing capabilities allow multiple users to view plans and locations. Implementation requires minimal disruption to existing operational processes.

Kent residents, like many of us across the UK, face substantial disruption from numerous annual road closures. 1Spatial’s solution is designed to reduce this disruption.

The council estimates that using 1Streetworks to review and adjust road closure requests could reduce closures by at least 40%.

“We are delighted to secure our third material contract for 1Streetworks,” said 1Spatial CEO, Claire Milverton.

“We are seeing growing appreciation of the product and its value to customers. Adoption by a second council will help accelerate growing market awareness of the benefits it brings. The Board will continue to focus on executing on the substantial addressable market opportunity.”

1Spatial announced a similar deal with Surrey County Council last year that was worth £1m.

GenIP has released its maiden unaudited results for its first year of operations, outlining early traction and a healthy cash position.

The AIM-listed firm provides solutions to organisations seeking to accelerate the commercialisation of new technological discoveries through AI-enhanced analytics services.

The Generative AI analytics firm generated $144k revenue in the period to 31 December, producing a gross profit of $37k. New services were launched towards the end of the year, with initial orders and associated revenue reported in maiden results reflecting the early stages of their rollout.

GenIP has since announced orders exceeding $400k, suggesting the company’s marketing efforts are having the desired effect. Recent announcements highlight an active approach to winning new clients through event sponsorship and engaging directly with technology transfer professionals.

Material losses were recorded during its first year of operations, but these were mainly the result of the listing process. Costs relating to the AIM IPO and fundraise totalled $896,322, while the total operating loss for the year was $806,815. This implies that much of last year’s overall loss would have been incurred as part of the IPO rather than ongoing costs.

The accounts revealed around $270k in share-based payments to contractors and staff as part of the IPO, which make up a large part of the IPO costs.

This meant GenIP entered 2025 with just under $1m in cash after raising net proceeds of £1.1m from the IPO. Assuming a similar pace of underlying operational cost has been incurred since, the company will be in a healthy position given the level of recent orders.

The company is confident in its growth trajectory and believes it ‘is well-positioned to drive sustainable growth by catering to B2B clients who benefit from repeat usage of GenIP’s services’.

GenIP’s customers include some of the world’s largest technology companies and leading research organisations such as Universities.

“I am delighted with the progress GenIP has made since its successful start-up in February, followed by the acquisition of Invention Evaluator and Vortechs in June, and our listing in October 2024,” said Lord David Willetts, Chairman of GenIP.

“The Company is now well-positioned to achieve commercial success and expand its global footprint by leveraging our AI-enhanced solutions within the technology transfer market.”

GenIP recently announced a $350,000 order from a Saudi Arabian client and a $65,000 order from a Singapore-based research institution, demonstrating a sharp change in order levels from the early months as a listed company.

Wood Group shares plummeted on Monday after the energy services and engineering firm announced damaging findings from a review of its finances. The findings cast doubt over whether Sidara’s takeover deal will go ahead.

Wood Group shares were 30% lower at the time of writing.

Deloitte’s review of the company’s financials ‘identified material weaknesses and failures in the Group’s financial culture within the Projects business unit and engagement between Group Finance and Projects’.

As a result, Wood Group said the P&L and balance for the past three years would be adjusted, and EBITDA would also be revised.

“The situation continues to deteriorate at energy services business Wood Group which is damaging its credibility not just with investors but crucially potential customers too and its current suitor, Sidara,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

“The deadline for Sidara to formalise a takeover deal has been pushed to 17 April but whether the latest revelations cause a rethink for the Dubai-based group or complications in the timetable remains to be seen.”

“While the issues revealed in a draft review of the business mainly relate to historical performance at its Projects business unit and do not relate to cash flow, they raise questions of culture given the failure to maintain robust accounting standards. The shares now face a suspension while historic accounts are restated.”

Investors who bought into the stock in the hope of a takeover deal now face a nervy wait for any update on the talks between Wood Group and Sidara. Dubai-based Sidara may be inclined to hold off making a move now to see what the fallout for Wood Group will be – and ultimately if they’re able to secure the group at a lower price.

Wood Group’s shares will be suspended from 30th April if the company does not publish FY24 accounts by 30th April. This is expected to be the case.