Eco Buildings Group has continued its global expansion with the agreement to establish a new Indonesian subsidiary, backed by $5 million from its local partner, Messrs Cooper & Accors.

Eco Buildings is executing its global growth strategy at a pace, with the Indonesian operation adding to recently announced modular building projects in Senegal and Albania.

The UK-listed modular construction company will establish Eco Buildings Indonesia to capitalise on significant market opportunities for modular housing in the region. MCA will subscribe $5 million for a 49% stake in the venture.

The investment will fund the complete installation of a new production line in Indonesia, with the facility expected to be operational by the end of 2026. Eco Buildings will retain a 51% controlling stake whilst MCA handles day-to-day operations, including manufacturing facilities.

Crucially, all operational costs, expenses, and local cash flows will be funded by MCA, eliminating group-level funding requirements for Eco Buildings.

The new production line is expected to deliver the scale necessary to support broader housing delivery programmes across the region.

Barratt Redrow said it delivered a ‘resilient performance in a subdued market’ during the 26-week period to 28 December, but the numbers just weren’t strong enough to convince investors, and shares fell 7% on Wednesday.

The housebuilder completed 7,444 homes in the 26 weeks to 28 December 2025, up 4.7% on the aggregated comparable period. However, adjusted operating profit edged down 0.3% to £210.2 million, with margins declining to 8.0% from 9.3% previously.

Adjusted pre-tax profit fell 13.6% to £199.9 million, whilst statutory pre-tax profit rose to £156.2 million from £113.4 million, benefiting from reduced integration costs and purchase price allocation adjustments.

“Barratt Redrow delivered a mixed set of first-half results, but there’s hope that momentum can pick up from here,” explained Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“Sales rates only dipped slightly over the period, despite rising uncertainty ahead of the UK Budget back in November. The order book and average selling price have both been trending higher. But that was in part down to Barratt’s increased use of incentives to convince buyers to sign on the dotted line for a new home.”

The market may be a little harsh in sending shares down 7%, given Barratt’s relatively stable sales and a reasonable outlook.

The underlying net private reservation rate held steady at 0.55 compared with 0.54 in the prior period. The overall rate slipped to 0.57 from 0.59, reflecting fewer private rental sector and multi-unit reservations.

Barratt Redrow maintained its strong balance sheet with net cash of £173.9 million after dividends and share buybacks. The company remains on track to deliver its £100 million cost-synergy target from the Redrow integration, with strong progress on revenue-synergy sites.

Forward sales at 1 February stood at 11,168 homes valued at £3.41 billion, up from 10,903 homes worth £3.35 billion a year earlier.

Chief executive David Thomas said the group expects to deliver 17,200-17,800 total completions in FY26, including roughly 600 joint venture completions. Full-year adjusted pre-tax profit is expected within the current range of consensus estimates.

PZ Cussons has upgraded its full-year profit guidance after delivering 9.5% like-for-like revenue growth and a 50.5% surge in pre-tax profit during the first half.

The group enjoyed a strong performance across most geographies and investors cheered the news with shares 10% higher at the time of writing.

The personal care group saw particularly strong growth in Nigeria, where double-digit volume growth and market-share gains drove performance. UK sales were led by Sanctuary Spa’s successful Christmas gifting range, whilst Indonesia benefited from innovation and improved commercial execution. Australia and New Zealand returned to category growth with a maintained market share.

Excluding Africa, like-for-like revenue rose 3.2%, with volume growth of 0.7%. Reported revenue increased 8.0%, though currency depreciation in the Australian dollar and Indonesian rupiah impacted translation.

Adjusted operating profit jumped £13.3 million, helped by non-cash foreign exchange gains on Nigerian naira trading liabilities. Pre-tax profit surged 50.5% on lower interest costs, whilst earnings per share climbed 12.3%.

The company has raised its full-year adjusted operating profit guidance to £53-57 million from £50-55 million previously. Net debt fell £27.7 million to approximately 1.0x EBITDA, supported by £23.2 million free cash flow and disposal proceeds.

PZ Cussons received £48.5 million from selling its 50% stake in the PZ Wilmar joint venture, with £3.4 million outstanding. Cost savings remain on track at £5-10 million for the year.

Jonathan Myers, Chief Executive Officer, commented: “We have delivered a strong performance in the first half of the year across our four lead markets.”

“This performance, with a healthy balance of price and volume increases, and growth in each of our largest ten brands, has been driven by targeted investment in innovation, brand-building and continued strong commercial execution. Combined with tight cost control, we delivered double-digit growth in adjusted operating profit and adjusted earnings per share allowing us to increase guidance for the full year.”

The FTSE 100 slipped on Tuesday as investors digested a raft of corporate updates from companies including Barclays, AstraZeneca, and BP.

Results from some of the FTSE 100’s largest constituents were mixed, resulting in an index that was 0.3% lower at the time of writing. 

Markets were also bracing for a volley of US economic data this week that could set the tone for the Federal Reserve interest rate decision. 

“The FTSE 100 slipped on mixed results from some of the big hitters in the index,” said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell. 

Barclays released Q4 and full-year 2025 numbers that neither wowed investors nor gave them a reason to sell. 

The bank marginally beat profit expectations and increased guidance for the year ahead. But the strength of the results was more a justification for the recent rally than a catalyst for further upside, and shares were largely flat at the time of writing. 

Coatsworth explained that: “Corporate and investment banking interests were strong while the UK retail banking and wealth management operations were lacklustre.

“Barclays has outlined near and medium-term targets which imply stronger returns and big share buybacks. The targets sound impressive, but the market seems nonplussed by the overall package.

“There wasn’t enough to blow the lights out in terms of recent performance, and so much good news is already in the price.”

BP was among the top fallers after the oil major reported lower profits and held off on new share buybacks. The impact of lower oil prices was evident in the numbers, and the decision to write down its clean energy business led to a retreat in Q4 profits.

“BP’s fourth-quarter results showed relative resilience in a weak pricing environment. Net debt is down again after a spike in the third quarter, but on a 12-month view, it’s not budged much,” said Derren Nathan, head of equity research, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“Management is taking some decisive action to fix the balance sheet, scrapping the buyback, doubling down on non-core disposals and upping structural cost-savings targets to $5.5-6.5bn by the end of next year.”

Although there may be future benefits for shareholders, they were clearly pertrubed by the decision to suspend buybacks and shares were down 5% at the time of writing.

AstraZeneca provided investors with plenty of reasons to be optimistic, with a strong pipeline of drugs that could provide a solid base for growth well into the future. 

“The numbers this morning continue to show how AstraZeneca seems to have its house in order when it comes to its drug pipeline,” said Chris Beauchamp, Chief Market Analyst at IG.

“The outlook and recent performance more than justifies the recent surge in the share price which has finally seen it break higher after years of sideways trading. As Novo and others show, it’s not easy to maintain investor interest, but Astra’s broad stable of drugs shows it continues to deliver. 

Standard Chartered shares fell after an executive widely seen as the successor to the current CEO announced their resignation. Shares were down 5% at the time of writing. 

Babcock was the FTSE 100’s top faller, down 6%.