Compass Group shares rose on Monday after delivering a strong first half and lifted its full-year guidance, with underlying operating profit up 12% on a constant-currency basis and revenue momentum building across all regions.

Mark Crouch, market analyst for eToro, said: “Compass Group’s latest results underline why the catering giant continues to command a premium valuation in the FTSE 100.”

“At a time when many firms are grappling with weaker consumer demand and economic uncertainty, Compass is still producing a dependable mix of growth, rising margins and strong cash generation. The figures also challenge the narrative that hybrid working and advances in AI will materially weaken demand for workplace catering.”

A run-through of Compass Group’s first-half numbers reveals a broad-based improvement in financial performance driven by new business and structural industry tailwinds.

“The standout metric was the surge in new contract wins, up 14% to $4.1 billion, with roughly half coming from organisations outsourcing food services for the first time,” Crouch said.

“That points to a structural shift rather than a short-term boost, particularly as businesses continue looking for ways to cut costs and improve efficiency. Strong client retention of 96% also suggests Compass is deepening relationships with existing customers while continuing to win market share globally.”

The M&A engine continues to whir. The integration of Vermaat in the Netherlands is progressing well, and the group has now acquired Pro Care Management in Germany for $270m, taking its Group Purchasing Organisation footprint into five of its top ten markets. Total M&A spend reached $2.3bn alongside $0.8bn of capex.

On guidance, management has nudged up its 2026 underlying operating profit growth target from around 10% to above 11%, underpinned by c.7% organic revenue growth, c.2% from M&A and ongoing margin progression.

In the longer term, CEO Dominic Blakemore reiterated confidence in mid-to-high-single-digit organic revenue growth and profit growth ahead of revenue. This is reason enough to stick with Compass Group shares, which were 4% higher on Monday.

Aurrigo International has secured a £4.5m three-year framework agreement to supply high-performance electrical systems for a vehicle OEM’s next-generation supercar programme.

Today’s contract follows the March announcement of the group’s largest-ever contract win of £6.28m.

The £4.5m deal is a record contract for Aurrigo’s Automotive Division and a strong vote of confidence from a long-standing customer. Around £0.81m of contracted orders will land in FY26, with the balance scheduled across FY27 and FY28 in line with the customer’s production rollout, providing Aurrigo with good revenue visibility through 2028.

Prof. David Keene MBE, CEO of Aurrigo International, said: “This contract is further proof of our world-class engineering and delivery capability. Our Automotive team is the innovation engine behind our autonomy capabilities, with a vertically integrated R&D function where advances in hardware, software, and AI are engineered into real-world autonomous systems, turning complex programmes into deployments built to exacting standards.”

Strategically, the win plays directly into Aurrigo’s growth ambitions across both the high-performance automotive and autonomous vehicle sectors, with the Automotive arm strengthening the engineering, integration, and programme delivery capabilities that also underpin the Autonomous division.

Coppa Collective has posted a solid first-half trading update, with its flagship Coppa Club brand continuing to outperform a tough wider hospitality market.

Although revenue gains were small, the premium hospitality group is bucking the trend of a deteriorating backdrop.

Coppa Club delivered like-for-like sales growth of 3.2% in the 26 weeks to 29 March 2026, comfortably ahead of the NIQ RSM restaurant tracker, which averaged -0.2% over the same period. Performance was broad-based, with several sites posting strong double-digit LFL growth.

The company believes this is evidence that the all-day format is landing well in the current consumer environment.

Group LFL was up 1.8% (excluding Tavolino, which has reduced capacity during landlord works), with revenue edging up to £25.0m from £24.7m.

Noci, the smaller and earlier-stage Italian concept, was modestly behind on LFL as casual dining conditions remained soft. A broader food offer has been rolled out across the estate post-period, with early signs encouraging. The second half will be the real test.

Coppa Collective is selectively picking out new locations and businesses while improving exisiting sites as part of its growth strategy.

The acquisition of The Linwood Collection has completed, establishing a third operating brand, and integration is on track. Post-period, the conversion of 31 Below to Coppa Club Marylebone was finalised. Discussions on The Queen’s Head in Surrey continue.

EnergyPathways (LON: EPP) will be awarded a gas storage licence by the North Sea Transition Authority for its MESH project. It covers up to 60 salt storage caverns. This is part of a project in the East Irish Sea. The gas storage facility could double the UK’s gas storage capacity. The share price jumped 51.5% to 10p.

Maven Renovar VCT has trimmed its stake in EnSilica (LON: ENSI) from 4.61% to 3.77%, while Richard Marley cut his shareholding from 4.05% to 3.96%. Despite this, the share price rose 47.2% to 106p.

Truetide (LON: TRUE) chief executive Trevor Brown bought 175,000 shares at 1.9p each. He owns 28.2% of the investment company. The share price increased 47.1% to 2.5p.

Investment that Light Science Technologies (LON: LST) made into gaining approvals in additional sectors for its contract electronics manufacturing business is starting to pay off. An initial order has been won from a medical devices supplier. This is worth £160,000 and could be worth up to £650,000 annually. This follows an order earlier this week worth £410,000 for the supply of Injectaclad material for fire protection. The acquisition of the Injectaclad business was completed on 14 April. The share price recovered 45.2% to 2.25p. The recent fundraising was at 1p/share.

FALLERS

Ethernity Networks (LON: ENET) has not received warrant exercises that it was counting on for cash, and the level of the share price means it is unlikely to happen in the short-term. Management costs are being reduced with the chief executive and R&D boss are reducing time on the business by 80%. Full year revenues are likely to be in the range of $1.6m to $1.8m. The share price halved to 0.0012p.

GreenRoc Strategic Minerals (LON: GROC) says Morrow Batteries, which was a potential partner, has filed for bankruptcy. GreenRoc Strategic says that this should not have a significant influence on the potential production of graphite active anode material. The company will host the opening of its pilot graphite processing plant in Horsholm, north of Copenhagen on 2 June. A warrant exercise at 2p/share raised £231,000. The share price dipped 21.7% to 4.15p.

Nicholas Slater has cut its stake in Blue Star Capital (LON: BLU) from 5.39% to 4.74%. The share price fell 17.8% to 9.25p.

Guardian Metal Resources (LON: GMET) is making progress with the pre-feasibility study for the Pilot Mountain tungsten project in Nevada. All drilling has been completed, and the project is set to be open pit. Plant design is advancing and groundwater availability is being assessed. An exploration update will be published after the pre-feasibility study. The share price declined 15.1% to 202p.

The FTSE 100 recovered early losses on Friday, trading little changed as traders assessed the latest developments in the Middle East.

We’re in a strange situation where Donald Trump is suggesting the US is nearing a deal with Iran while at the same time restarting military action against them.

The escalation of military action in the Strait of Hormuz caused a wobble in stocks, with the FTSE 100 falling to a low of 10,184 in early trade before rebounding to 10,262 at the time of writing.

“The FTSE 100 started Friday on the back foot as local election results trickled in and tensions simmered in the Middle East,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

“While officially the ceasefire between the US and Iran remains in place, an exchange of fire in the Strait of Hormuz has helped to extinguish some of the hope that a deal between the parties might be close.

“For now, the move higher in Brent crude oil prices is relatively modest and still substantially below last week’s highs, suggesting commodity traders still see a chance for de-escalation in the region.”

JD Sports was the top riser again, as investors continued to buy into the sports-fashion brand following a relatively upbeat trading statement yesterday. JD Sports was 4% higher on Friday.

IAG shares were slightly weaker after the company lowered its profit guidance due to higher fuel prices. But the group had a good start to the year, and shares have fallen sharply since the start of March, suggesting much of the bad news around fuel prices is already priced in.

“British Airways owner IAG had a strong first quarter, with operating profits rising sharply thanks to slim revenue growth and very tight cost controls,” explained Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“Given the timing of the Middle East conflict, it’s had very little impact on first-quarter results. Much more important is the outlook for the rest of the year, and so far, IAG is largely on schedule. Yes, full-year profits and free cashflows will be lower than originally expected, and capacity growth this year has been wound back a touch from its original 3% target.”

Intertek was the FTSE 100’s top faller after rebuffing a third 5,800p offer from EQT. EQT has made offers of 5,150p and 5,400p, which were rejected.