GenIP has reported approximately 330% revenue growth and 150% gross margin expansion compared with FY2024, driven by increasing adoption of its AI-powered innovation intelligence platform.

Shares were 12% higher at the time of writing.

The company’s active client base grew by over 225% whilst maintaining retention at approximately 90%.

Increasing engagement reflects growing traction for GenIP’s integrated invention intelligence suite, particularly its recently launched Invention Prioritiser product.

Brazil’s National Nuclear Energy Commission (CNEN) has ordered the Invention Prioritiser to assess an initial portfolio of 20 technologies, with potential to extend the engagement to a further 20 technologies subject to performance.

The product has already been deployed across several hundred technologies for a leading Saudi Arabian research university, which has also generated client introductions to additional regional institutions.

Although the firm is focused on Universities, GenIP says it is making progress in its strategy to broaden its corporate client base. This is likely to be lucrative.

Initial corporate orders have been secured through the partnership with 360 Impact Studio and a direct engagement involving AI-based computer vision technology. Further corporate discussions are underway.

Academic demand remains robust. New orders have been secured from a major US university in a leading innovation hub, a Chilean university for a two-year engagement, and a Singapore university recognised for design-centric research.

It hasn’t been a good period for housebuilding trading updates so far in 2026, and Taylor Wimpey added to the gloom on Thursday.

Taylor Wimpey has reported a 6% increase in total completions for 2025, delivering 11,229 homes across the group, including joint ventures, up from 10,593 in the previous year. But margins have been hit, and the outlook is soft.

The housebuilder completed 10,614 UK homes excluding joint ventures, representing a 6.4% rise from 9,972 completions in 2024. This figure came in at the middle of the company’s guidance range, with affordable homes accounting for 21% of total UK completions at 2,220 units.

The growth in completion came despite challenging market conditions in the second half of the year. “Uncertainty ahead of the late Autumn Budget impacted sales through the second half of 2025 and our order book coming into 2026,” the company stated.

Revenue increased to approximately £3.8 billion from £3.4 billion, driven by higher volumes and average selling prices. The UK average selling price on private completions rose to £374,000 from £356,000 in 2024.

However, operating profit margin compressed to around 11% from 12.2% in the prior year, partly offset by strong land sales which contributed a 60 basis point enhancement to margins.

“The only hiccup in today’s results was the outlook for 2026, where the company expects profit margins to be lower than the prior year,” said Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“Lower pricing on its bulk deals is largely to blame, alongside low single-digit build-cost inflation. As a result, performance is likely to be more heavily weighted towards the second half than usual. While that’s not what investors were hoping for, the balance sheet remains in a great place, arguably one of the strongest in the sector.”

Taylor Wimpey expanded its outlet network to 219 sites by year-end, up from 213 at the end of 2024, as part of its growth strategy. The company reported increasing momentum in planning determinations during the final quarter, benefiting from changes to the National Planning Policy Framework.

Hays highlighted the strains of a slowing global recruitment market on Wednesday as the firm revealed the impact of economic uncertainty and the changing face of recruitment. 

Net fees were down 10% on a like-for-like basis in the fourth quarter, with all geographies experiencing declines. Germany was particularly heavily hit.

Although a softer jobs market can be blamed for some of the slowdown, Hays faces a bigger threat from businesses that choose to seek out talent without involving professional recruiters.

Platforms such as LinkedIn and a plethora of AI tools mean in-house recruiters have never been better placed to conduct their talent searches.

This is a threat to Hays that isn’t going away and will likely lead to lower revenues in the coming years. It goes without saying that this is highly unattractive to investors, and today’s update has proved to be the final nail in the coffin for some. Shares were down 4% at the time of writing. 

“Things are starting to look very serious for Hays, what began as a slowdown has turned into a rout. After a series of profit warnings and repeated downgrades, net fees and operating profit have continued to fall sharply,” said Mark Crouch, market analyst for eToro.

“Permanent recruitment, the engine room of the business, suffered a double-digit decline, ripping through earnings and leaving little room for optimism.

“Global economic uncertainty, weak business confidence and sector-specific pressure have all bitten Hays hard. The UK public sector remains subdued, while Germany, a critical market, has been dragged down by an automotive industry that last year posted its worst quarterly profits since the 2009. At the same time, companies are increasingly bypassing traditional recruiters altogether, leaning on in-house teams, AI-driven platforms and direct hiring models to cut costs and move faster.”

The FTSE 100 rose to a fresh record high on Wednesday as strong metals prices lifted miners, and AstraZeneca rose after announcing an AI acquisition.

London’s leading index was 0.3% higher at 10,171 at the time of writing.

“The FTSE 100 is going from strength to strength, hitting yet another new record high,” said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell. 

“The blue-chip index of UK stocks hit 10,171 in early trading, propelled by a good spread of industries. Endeavour Mining was boosted by ongoing strength in the gold price, with the metal hitting $4,639 per ounce. Gold has become an investor favourite over the past year thanks to a backdrop of uncertainty around geopolitics, inflation and a weakening US dollar.”

Endeavour Mining was the top riser at the time of writing.

Days after miners Glencore and Rio Tinto announced discussions about a potential merger, the two heavyweight miners played a central role in the FTSE 100, touching fresh record highs in reaction to strong Chinese trade data. Both were up around 2% at the time of writing.

“China’s exports have surprised on the upside, with a 6.6% rise in December compared to a year earlier,” said Susannah Streeter, Chief Investment Strategist, Wealth Club.

“Far from crushing China’s might as factory of the world, flush with overseas orders, US trade policy seems just to have cemented its position.  China posted a record $1.189 trillion trade surplus in 2025, with exports rising 5.5% while imports stayed pretty static.”

Pearson shares were rooted to the bottom of the leaderboard, down 6%, after releasing a downbeat trading statement that outlined slower growth than some investors may have liked.

The impact of a $5bn write-down of BP’s green energy assets sent shares in the oil major marginally lower, as it sought to front-load bad news on the unit, which is set to be less of a priority for the new CEO.

“The logic behind BP’s about-turn on its green energy push is reaffirmed by impairments in a teaser ahead of quarterly results,” Dan Coatsworth said.

“Put the write-downs together with a weak showing for its oil trading arm and the impact from weaker oil prices looks like the final set of quarterly results before Meg O’Neill steps into the hotseat in April will be downbeat. 

“From O’Neill’s perspective this is no bad thing as it gives her a low base from which to build. However, it does illustrate the scale of the challenge in front of her.”

AstraZeneca helped add a number of points to the FTSE 100 after announcing the acquisition of Modella AI to help oncology research.

Eqtec (LON: EQT) is broadening its strategy to gain exposure of critical and precious metals, while continuing with the core waste to energy technology business. They are viewed to be complementary segments of the energy transition sector. Lenders are supporting the move. The share price jumped 63.6% to 0.09p.

Truetide (LON: TRUE) investee company Paraytec, where it owns 100%, has started a development programme for a high-throughput, real-time fluorescent assay for alpha-synuclein fibril formation using the CX300 detection system. This will be used for neurological diseases. The target is development of a low cost rapid assay that will be a screening tool. The share price gained 39.5% to 3p.

Data analysis software developer Cirata (LON: CRTA) nearly trebled data integration bookings to $13.2m in 2025. It has signed the largest contract in its history worth $3.1m. Cash overheads have been slashed by more than two-thirds from their peak. Cirata should be cash flow positive in the first quarter of 2026. Cash was $4m at the end of 2025. The share price increased 15% to 23.25p.

GEO Exploration (LON: GEO) has paid A$100,000 for the exploration licence E08/3737, which is the Gorge project in Western Australia, and holds 48.13 million shares issued at 4p each in escrow until 13 January 2027. It has also issued 18.5 million shares to Callum Baxter at 0.00135p each for a A$50,000 consultancy fee. Gold occurrences have been recorded at the Gorge project. The share price rose 7.84% to 0.1375p.

Pizza restaurants operator DP Poland (LON: DPP) gained momentum in the fourth quarter of 2025 and this has continued into this year. System sales were 14% higher on a constant currency basis and 22% on a reporting currency basis. Full year system sales were 8% higher at £16.4m on a constant currency basis. The growth rates in Poland and Croatia were similar. Group EBITDA rose from £4.8m to £6.3m. Cash was £1.6m at the end of 2025. Consolidation of commissary and dough production in a single facility should be completed in the first half. There are 135 Domino’s and 75 Pizzeria 105 locations. Panmure Liberum forecasts a reduced pre-tax loss of £300,000 in 2026, down from £500,000 in 2025. The share price improved 6.9% to 7.75p.

FALLERS

Virtual product advertising Miriad Advertising (LON: MIRI) says 2025 revenues fell from £1m to £400,000. It expects a much stronger performance in 2026 with positive signs for February and March. There are joint venture discussions for emerging markets. Cash was £1.2m at the end of £1.2m and the monthly cost base is £220,000. The share price declined 13.3% to 0.0065p.

United Oil and Gas (LON: UOG) says that the survey vessel for the offshore piston coring and surface geochemical survey on the Walton Morant Licence, offshore Jamaica will leave Trinidad next week. The share price fell 6.9% to 0.135p.

Estate agency M Winkworth (LON: WINK) had a difficult second half in 2025 after strong sales activity in the first half. Lettings business continues to grow. Second half revenues were broadly the same as the second half of 2024. Full year network revenues were 6% higher. There were additional costs in 2025 that should not be repeated. Pre-tax profit is set to fall from £2.35m to £2.1m. Net cash was at least £3.9m at the end of 2025. The quarterly dividend is maintained at 3.3p/share. Shore has cut its 2026 pre-tax profit from £2.9m to £2.4m. The share price dipped 4.45% to 182.5p.

EQTEC shares jumped on Wednesday after announcing a strategic expansion into critical and precious metals, complementing its core waste-to-energy gasification technology, as the company seeks earlier cash flow whilst its longer-term project pipeline matures.

Although the company calls the move ‘complementary’, it does mark a dramatic change in strategy. After a period of poor share price performance, it may be what the company needs to turn its fortunes around.

Investors seem to agree, and shares were 80% higher at the time of writing.

The clean energy technology provider, which converts waste and biomass into syngas, power and renewable fuels, will pursue capital-light resource assets targeting copper, gold, rare earth elements and specialty metals essential to global electrification and grid infrastructure.

The diversification comes as EQTEC anticipates several material gasification project wins in the near term, while maintaining confidence that a portfolio of commissioned reference plants will deliver scalable returns over time.

However, the company recognises that large-scale infrastructure projects require extended development timelines before reaching full commercial operation. This has long been a major concern for investors, leading to poor share price performance.

The strategic rationale centres on shared end markets, with both critical metals and gasification technology serving the renewable power, electrification and energy storage sectors. The company argues that this creates a coherent circular-economy positioning across complementary segments of the energy transition value chain.

EQTEC will prioritise opportunities that are cash generative or near-term production, capital-light at entry, situated in established lower-risk mining jurisdictions, and positioned for operational value uplift. The company confirmed it already has an active pipeline under evaluation, supported by recent leadership appointments with extractive industry backgrounds.