Watches of Switzerland shares jumped after rounding off FY26 with record revenue of £1.83bn, up 13% in constant currency, and lifted profit guidance powered by robust demand in the US and the UK.

The US remains the group’s primary growth engine. Revenue there rose 24% in constant currency to $1.24bn, with the region now accounting for more than half of group sales and profit just over eight years after entering the world’s largest luxury watch market.

Growth was broad-based across categories, brands, price points and regions, while the Roberto Coin wholesale division delivered a strong +22%.

UK revenue grew 5% as luxury watches and pre-owned remained strong, with luxury jewellery gathering momentum in the second half against a still-challenging consumer backdrop.

Adjusted EBIT for the year is now expected to come in at £152m–£155m, ahead of previous guidance, reflecting the stronger sales performance.

The group also sees further growth beyond this year, with FY27 guidance pointing to revenue growth of 5–10% at constant currency, alongside 40–80 bps of adjusted EBIT margin expansion, capex of £60m–£70m, and around 70% free cash flow conversion.

Overall, an upbeat set of results from Watches of Switzerland, which sent shares 15% higher on Thursday.

Spire Healthcare shares leapt higher on Thursday after confirming it is in advanced discussions over a possible 250p per share cash offer from Toscafund Asset Management, representing a significant premium to the private hospital group’s closing price yesterday.

But the offer isn’t too different from the share price Spire was trading at before they announced a formal review process last year, following the stock’s decline over the past 6 months.

Nonetheless, the Spire said it has concluded the proposed price is one it would be minded to recommend to shareholders should Toscafund make a firm offer. The 250p offer follows a series of earlier approaches by Toscafund as part of the firm’s ongoing strategic review.

The deal could include the option for shareholders to elect for an unlisted rollover equity alternative on some or all of their holdings, should they wish to retain exposure to the business post-deal.

A trading update was released alongside the takeover offer, in which Spire’s start to the year was in line with expectations.

Spire has delivered adjusted free cash flow growth at a 32% CAGR between FY22 and FY25, with ROCE rising from 6.2% to 8.0% over the same period.

Spire Healthcare shares were 40% higher at the time of writing.

ITV held its ground in the first quarter, with growth at its production arm and streaming business doing the heavy lifting while linear television advertising continued to drift lower.

Group external revenue edged up 1% in the three months to 31 March, with chief executive Carolyn McCall pointing to a meaningfully better Q2 ahead.

Today’s trading update was a steady-as-you-go statement that gave little reason for major moves in shares.

Total advertising revenue is expected to rise around 10% in the second quarter, with a particularly strong July as advertisers pile in around the men’s football World Cup. For the first half overall, TAR is expected to be up roughly 4%.

ITV Studios continues to be the bright spot. The division grew total revenue 4%, but the standout number was external revenue up 8%, helped by the timing of deliveries to global streamers. Productions include Skyscraper Live for Netflix, Rivals series two for Disney+ and another run of Love Island US: Beyond the Villa for Peacock.

Media & Entertainment was the more mixed picture. Headline revenue slipped 2%, but underneath that, digital revenue grew 12% and digital advertising specifically jumped 14%. ITVX had its best-ever start to a year, with streaming hours up 13% on the back of the drama Gone, Love Island: All Stars and the Six Nations. Linear ads remain soft, and non-advertising M&E revenues were down 8% as flagged.

The continued divergence of the media and studios business underscores the opportunity for a break-up. ITV mentioned the possible sale of M&E to Sky, confirming talks are still live and promising an update in due course.

Guidance for the year is unchanged: good revenue growth at Studios, ahead of the market, with margin at the lower end of the 13–15% range and profits weighted to the second half as the bigger scripted deliveries and licensing deals land.

M&E is still expected to deliver strong, profitable digital growth, led by ITVX and the Planet V ad platform.

Mercantile Ports and Logistics (LON: MPL) has appointed former US government and CIA administrator Marty Martin to the board and Karanpal Singh has stepped down. The company believes that Marty Martin will help with the ongoing legal process in relation to try to regain control of the Karanja Terminal & Logistics subsidiary. Mercantile says it can repay the related debt, but the proposal was rejected by the consortium of banks. They prefer an alternative plan from Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited and that has been approved by the courts. The company has appealed and a further hearing is due on 8 June. The share price jumped 176.5% to 1.175p.

Bradda Head (LON: BHL) and Tyfast Energy have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a domestic US lithium supply chain for next-generation LVO battery anodes. Bradda Head has lithium assets in Arizona and Nevada, and he will assess feedstock and processing pathways. Tyfast will focus material qualification and performance testing. The share price rose 26.2% to 3.85p.

Orosur Mining Inc (LON: OMI) has released further positive results from drilling at Pepas West on the Anza gold project in Colombia. The rig has moved to south of Pepas and will return to Pepas West in a few weeks. The share price increased 13.3% to 21.75p.

Arrow Exploration (LON: AXL) says that the Icaco-1 vertical exploration well encountered net oil pay in three of four targeted formations. This should enable an uplift to additional reserves, and they could go into production in the near future. Flow testing will last two weeks. The share price gained 5.75% to 23p.

FALLERS

Premier African Minerals (LON: PREM) has raised £1m at 0.0185p/share. Further progress has been made with the Zulu lithium and tantalum plant. The operational performance has been encouraging in the initial commissioning stages. The share price declined 14.6% to 0.0205p.

Oil and gas explorer Enwell Energy (LON: ENW) says full year revenues fell from $44.9m to $3.3m because the Ukrainian government suspended licences. There was a swing from a net profit of $23.7m to a net loss of $4.5m. Cash is currently $92m. The current development programme will be funded from cash. The share price fell 10.9% to 12.25p.

John Samuel, former finance director of Renew (LON: RNWH) and Hargreaves Services (LON: HSP) has been appointed to the board of eEnergy (LON: EAAS). Dr Nigel Burton will leave the board after the AGM. The share price slipped 2.5% to 5.85p.

Motor dealer Vertu Motors (LON: VTU) grew full year revenues by 1.5% to £4.83bn, but pre-tax profit fell from £29.3m to £24.5m due to pressure on margins, particularly on electric vehicles. That includes £3.4m of business interruption insurance. Fleet and aftersales revenues were strong. Net debt was £61.3m at the end of February 2026. Tangible net assets are 75.9p/share. The share price dipped 0.61% to 65.1p, having been below 64p.  

Marshalls said its trading is in line with expectations for the first four months of 2026 and maintained its full-year outlook despite continued end-market uncertainty.

Group revenue came in at £205m for the four months to 30 April, just 1% below the £207m posted in the same period last year. Falling revenue was largely attributed to the slow economic environment, which is weighing on most construction-related companies.

Marshalls said it’s addressing cost inflation driven by the Middle East conflict through targeted commercial actions and close customer engagement.

The company is operating against a difficult backdrop, and investors shouldn’t be too upset with today’s update. Indeed, shares were 3% higher at the time of writing as bargain hunters took the opportunity to pick the stock up near multi-year lows.

Among the individual product lines, the Landscaping Products division had the most encouraging part of the story. Revenue was flat at £86m, but the business has clawed back market share without eroding margins. This area of the business remains on track to deliver £11m of annualised cost savings by year-end.

In Building Products, revenue was also flat at £56m. Roofing Products dipped 3% to £63m.

Simon Bourne, Chief Executive Officer, said: “Trading in the first four months of the year has been in line with our expectations, and our teams are making clear progress in the areas within our control. 

“The disciplined execution of our ‘Transform & Grow’ strategy is strengthening our market position, improving service and operational performance, alongside maintaining a tight focus on cash, cost and capital allocation.”

Babcock International had a strong 2025 underpinned by sustained demand amid rising global tensions, even as a charge on the Type 31 frigate programme weighed on headline numbers.

Strip out the £140m Type 31 hit, and Babcock is in rude health.

Underlying operating profit rose 19% at constant currency to £433m on revenue up 10% organically to £5,273m, with the underlying operating margin reaching 8.2%. This is comfortably ahead of the FY26 target of 8.0% and meaningfully closer to the medium-term 9% goal.

Including the charge, operating profit came in at £293m, with a 5.7% margin. These should be seen as solid results by the market.

Nuclear revenue rose 14% to £2.07bn, with underlying operating profit up 23% and the margin reaching 9.5% while Aviation revenue rose 34% on the ramp-up of the Mentor 2 programme in France and British Columbia helicopter contract in Canada. Marine grew 8% on an underlying basis, before the Type 31 reversal. Land returned to growth in H2.

The pipeline is also looking healthy. A Letter of Intent has been signed in Indonesia for two more Arrowhead 140 frigate licences under the £4bn Maritime Partnerships Programme.

In the US, the strategic tie-up with HII has been expanded, with Babcock now authorised to manufacture complex submarine assemblies at Rosyth for Virginia Class Block VI subs. Post year-end, the Cavendish Nuclear / Amentum JV ‘Litmus Nuclear’ was selected as Owner’s Engineer for the UK’s first SMR project at Wylfa. This contract is worth up to £300m over 14 years.

The Type 31 charge reflects higher-than-expected rework on outfitting and commissioning of ship one, with knock-on impacts on ship two. The hit is fully recognised in FY26, though cash costs will spread across the rest of the programme.

On outlook, FY27 expectations are unchanged, with around 70% of revenue already under contract heading into the year.

EnergyPathways has signed a collaboration agreement with Associated British Ports to jointly evaluate ABP’s Port of Barrow as the onshore base for its Marram Energy Storage Hub (MESH) project.

MESH is set to become Britain’s largest integrated energy storage facility.

The two parties will assess the feasibility of building a sizeable footprint at the port, including a CAES storage operations base, gas and hydrogen storage operations, connection infrastructure for the offshore storage facilities, hydrogen and graphite production capacity, and supporting sustainable industrial and export facilities.

Subject to a commercial agreement, financing and planning approvals, the project is targeted to enter operation in 2031.

MESH is designated by the UK Government as “nationally significant”, combining compressed air energy storage with natural gas and hydrogen storage to soak up Britain’s currently wasted wind generation. This costs consumers billions each year.

The project would more than double UK gas storage capacity, providing around six days of national supply, and deliver multi-day dispatchable power at lower cost and emissions than gas-fired plants.

EnergyPathways is progressing MESH with a Tier-1 partner group of Siemens Energy, Wood, Costain and Zenith Energy. Today’s ABP agreement adds another meaningful piece to the jigsaw as the project moves toward Final Investment Decision in 2028.

Ben Clube, CEO of EnergyPathways, said: “We are delighted to be working with ABP, the UK’s leading and largest ports group. This relationship highlights the significant opportunities that our MESH integrated energy storage project can bring to Barrow-in-Furness and the UK’s energy and industrial sectors. MESH can play an important role in supporting Barrow’s long-term development as a key hub for energy infrastructure and its potential to play a central role in the UK’s future energy system.”

“ABP’s Port of Barrow provides access to our offshore storage development areas in the East Irish Sea alongside strategically located land, port facilities and export infrastructure that could be well suited to supporting MESH’s onshore facilities and production units.

“This marks another important milestone for the MESH Project as it progresses towards Final Investment Decision, building momentum across key development workstreams.”