AIM-quoted Franchise Brands (LON: FRAN) combined organic growth and a ten-week contribution from Pirtek, which was acquired during the first half, to grow interim revenues 57% to £69.8m. The consumer business is no longer being marketed for sale.

Franchise Brands had intended to sell the consumer franchise brands, but it is no longer actively marketing the businesses. Offers did not meet expectations. These operations were previously disclosed as discontinued in the 2022 results but are not in the interims.

In the six months to June 2023, underlying pre-tax profit rose 45% to £8.6m, although a higher tax charge and the additional shares in issue to fund the Pirtek acquisition meant that earnings were 4% ahead at 4.24p/share. The interim dividend is 11% ahead at 1p/share. Net debt was £79.1m at the end of June 2023.

The drainage businesses Metro Rod and Metro Plumb businesses grew system sales by 24% to £35.3m. The kitchen services business Filta grew system sales by 16% even though the price of waste oil fell.

Pirtek Europe provides on-site hydraulic hose replacement and other services through 217 service centres and 843 mobile service vans. There are franchisees in eight countries and the company has the right to enter eight other European countries. There is still a long way to go with integrating the business so that it shares resources with other parts of the group.

Stifel forecasts a jump in full year pre-tax profit from £12.8m to £20.5m, while earnings would be 6% higher at 8.9p/share. The full benefits of Pirtek will come through in 2024.

The share price dipped 0.5p to 147.5p, which is down one-quarter on the start of the year. The large share issue to fund the Pirtek acquisition has held up the share price, but it should recover as the benefits of the acquisition show through.

Shell’s 33% drop in Q2 2023 adjusted EBITDA will not come as a surprise to investors as oil prices slip and the higher energy price environment of 2022 becomes a distant memory.

Shell’s shares were down 1.5% in early trade on Thursday as the energy major said lower oil prices, refining margins and gas trading activity curtailed earnings in the second quarter.

The oil major’s Q2 earnings teaser released earlier this month alluded to lower earnings, and with Shell shares a way off recent highs, a muted market reaction to today’s announcement was expected.

Despite lower adjusted EBITDA in the second quarter, Shell produced another monster quarter for free cash flow, which rose to $12.1bn from $9.9bn in Q1.

Shell will have pleased income seekers with another quarterly dividend hike. Shell will pay 33.1¢ per share to those holding the stock on the 10th August ex-dividend date.

Barclays shares were weaker on Thursday after the FTSE 100 bank reported lower total income in the second quarter as investment banking activity slowed.

Total income for the second quarter slipped to 6% to £6.4bn as investment banking activity revenue fell 3%. Investors will also be concerned Barclays have revised their net interest margin guidance for the full year to 3.15% from 3.20%.

Net interest margin is a key profitability metric, and the downgrade will be a blow for the bank as global interest rates look set to plateau.

Another big disappointment for investors was the subdued performance in their investment banking unit as deal flow slowed. Barclays’ Corporate and Investment Bank (CIB) income decreased by 3% to £3.2bn, as lower Global Markets and Investment Banking fees outweighed a strong transaction banking performance.

Barclays is setting aside a further £400m in charges for bad debts as the economic backdrop becomes cloudier.

Lower operating costs helped profit before tax rise to £2bn in Q2, up from £1.5bn in the same period a year ago. However, lower costs and a £750m share buyback were not enough to offset concerns about the outlook, and Barclays shares were down 6% at the time of writing on Thursday.

Empresaria shares sank on Thursday after the recruitment group said fee income was falling amid weak trading conditions.

Empresaria’s net fee income fell 9% year-on-year to £29.7m in H1 as the global specialist staffing group continues to face difficult market conditions. Permanent recruitment saw the greatest impact, with a 24% decline. The US has been especially challenging, particularly for IT recruitment.

Empresaria now expects full year adjusted profit before tax of approximately £5m, well below previous forecasts.

Empresaria shares were down 27% after suggesting the weak trading climate is expected to persist into the second half.

Adjusted net debt rose slightly to £8.7m in H1, though headroom increased to £18.4m thanks to tighter cash management. Offshore Services, of which Empresaria owns 72%, saw 15% net fee growth driven by UK Healthcare demand. But US IT hiring remained soft. Ongoing cost cuts won’t fully mitigate trading weakness. Empresaria needs hiring demand to rebound globally to get profits back on track. The staffing group reports interim results on 22 August.

Rhona Driggs, CEO of Empresaria, commented:

“We continue to face challenging market conditions which developed through the second half of 2022 and remained throughout the first half of 2023.  We have not seen the anticipated signs of sustained improvement as client confidence remains low and candidates continue to be reluctant to move in the current environment.  With the ongoing macro-economic uncertainty, we now expect these factors to continue to have an adverse impact on the Group’s profits in the second half of 2023.

We have taken action on our cost base and will continue to maintain tight control over costs while ensuring that we are able to maximise opportunities as and when market confidence returns.  While we are disappointed with these results, we are continuing to execute on our strategic initiatives and are confident in the medium and longer-term prospects of the Group.”

Lloyds shares were firmly lower on Wednesday amid lower profits and concerns the bank would face several challenges in the second half of the year.

Although first-half 2023 profit before tax rose 23% compared to the same period last year due to higher interest rates, Lloyds experienced a sharp drop in Q2 2023 profit compared to Q1.

Q2 profit before tax fell 29% to £1.6bn from £2.26bn in Q1.

Lloyd’s fall in profits resulted from a £700m impairment charge to their retail loan book as the bank prepares for an increase in bad debts such as mortgage defaults.

Lloyds’ net income was pretty consistent in Q2 2023 compared to Q1 at £4.5bn. However, it was slightly lower than previously and will not inspire investors.

“Much will be made of Lloyds Banking Group’s 23% jump in first-half profit amid the backdrop of a cost-of-living crisis and increased pressure from regulators to share the benefits of interest rate hikes with savers,” said Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell.

“The net interest margin, the difference between what a bank earns in interest from loans and what it pays out, is slightly higher than analysts had forecast for the quarter, though down on where it had been in the three months previously.”

“There are storm clouds gathering as the country’s biggest mortgage lender has to consider how many of its customers are likely to struggle as they face a jump from ultra-low fixed rates to the unexpected ‘new normal’.”

Lloyds shares were down 3.2% at the time of writing.