Watch the latest manager update video with abrdn UK Smaller Companies Growth Trust Co-Manager Abby Glennie as she talks about volatility, resilience, and opportunity.
Boohoo shares surge as turnaround gathers pace
Boohoo shares surged on Thursday as the group outlined progress in its turnaround strategy, as the Debenhams brand offsets tumbling sales for the group’s youth brands.
Boohoo Group, which now trades as Debenhams, has reported significant progress in its strategic transformation, with all brands now profitable on an adjusted EBITDA basis as the company pivots towards a marketplace-led business model.
The group posted adjusted EBITDA of £20.0m for the six months ended 31 August 2025, up 5% on the prior year period.
Crucially, it achieved a positive adjusted EBIT of £1.8m, compared with a £9.2m loss a year earlier. An EBIT of £1.8m isn’t anything to shout about, but in the context of Boohoo’s woes, it’s a big win.
Boohoo shares surged 25% on the news.
At the heart of the turnaround sits the Debenhams brand, which delivered 20% GMV growth and 50% EBITDA growth in the half, achieving an EBITDA margin of around 15%.
The company said it now has “clear line of sight” to Debenhams, reaching £1bn in GMV and over £50m in EBITDA within three years.
The marketplace model, which is described as “stock lite, capital lite, margin rich and highly cash generative”, now accounts for 32% of GMV, up from 19% a year ago.
The partner ecosystem has doubled to around 20,000, with all group brands now marketplace-enabled through proprietary technology.
Youth brands Boohoo, PrettyLittleThing, and MAN’s sales performance was dismal, but the group was that these particular brands are undergoing a “significant multi-year transformation”. The market is giving them the benefit of the doubt today.
Whilst revenue is being allowed to “right size”, the focus on profit and cash generation is bearing fruit, with GMV declines improving quarter on quarter.
“First-half losses have slimmed thanks to a significant streamlining of the business, which has seen its fixed cost base almost halve in size,” said Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.
“But the bottom line is that the fast-fashion group remains loss-making, and while CEO Dan Finley probably needs to be given more time to properly execute his strategy change, the near-term sales outlook doesn’t seem to be improving much.
“Boohoo is the right term to describe how its investors must be feeling now, with its shares down around 96% over the last five years. Despite this, and in typical poor corporate governance fashion for boohoo, it has sidestepped its investors by announcing a new compensation scheme for the management team, without seeking shareholder approval. As a result, the pressure really is on management to deliver on its turnaround scheme.”
Halfords shares slip on consumer concerns
Halfords shares slipped on Thursday after it released results showing costs rising amid a challenging consumer backdrop, which overshadowed a 1% increase in underlying profit before tax.
The group reported a 4.1% increase in revenue on a like-for-like basis to £893.3 million.
The UK’s leading motoring and cycling services provider delivered particularly strong growth in its cycling division, with sales up 9.0% like-for-like to £208.0 million, benefiting from favourable summer weather.
The retailer sells two-thirds of children’s bikes in the UK and saw double-digit growth at its performance cycling business, Tredz.
Gross margin expanded by 200 basis points to 51.4%, whilst underlying profit before tax edged up 1.0% to £21.2 million. The group generated £27.6 million in free cash flow, strengthening its balance sheet to net cash of £18.6 million at period-end.
These are all respectable metrics, given the challenges the UK faced during the period.
Halfords’ Autocentres division grew like-for-like sales by 4.3%, with consumer garages achieving approximately 8% growth despite a continued decline in the consumer tyres market.
“Halfords is keeping its wheels turning, but the road ahead looks bumpy. The motoring services and cycling retailer delivered steady like-for-like growth at the interim stage and reaffirmed full-year guidance, helped by cost savings and its push into services,” said Garry White, Chief Investment Commentator at Charles Stanley.
“Yet rising labour costs and a fragile consumer backdrop may mean it will be challenging to keep margins in gear in the second half of the year. The next market communication is not until April 2026 when management issues a trading update ahead of the annual results. Because of continuing questions about the health of the British consumer, the shares could see continuing volatility until then.”
The company’s Fusion garage network has expanded to 79 sites, remaining on track to reach 150 locations by FY27.
The Halfords Motoring Club membership has grown to around six million, including more than 400,000 premium members generating approximately £20 million in annual subscription revenue.
Halfords declared an interim dividend of 3.0p per share, unchanged from the prior year, and confirmed it remains on track to deliver full-year underlying profit before tax in line with market consensus.
Investing in the UK’s leading AI adopters with Finsbury Growth & Income’s Nick Train
The UK Investor Magazine was thrilled to welcome Nick Train, Fund Manager of the Finsbury Growth & Income trust, for an enthralling discussion about Finsbury Growth & Income and his focus on data-rich companies successfully deploying AI.
Find out more about Finsbury Growth & Income
Fund manager Nick Train discusses his investment strategy for the Finsbury Growth & Income trust, with particular focus on the role of digitalisation and artificial intelligence in the portfolio.
Train explores the trust’s objectives and strategic approach to meeting them, whilst addressing the long-standing undervaluation of UK equities and potential catalysts for a market re-rating.
He explains his preference for a concentrated investment approach over broader diversification and the value creation enabled by data analytics in data-intensive companies.
The conversation examines the trust’s positioning towards AI technologies and its framework for evaluating technology investments.
Train shares insights on several key holdings, including RELX, LSEG, and Rightmove, discussing what makes them compelling investments and how they’re performing against expectations.
We also discuss the consumer element of the portfolio and why Nick sees value in names such as Diageo and Burberry.
The discussion concludes with Train’s outlook for the year ahead and what particularly excites him about future opportunities in the digitalisation and AI space.
Autumn Budget 2025 key highlights
The Autumn Budget 2025 was delivered in the chaotic fashion that has typified Labour’s time in government, as the OBR report was mistakenly released before the Budget.
Rachel Reeves has announced a £26bn tax raid that will stifle ambition and dent growth. Plans to boost the UK’s stock market are unlikely to work. The UK’s brain drain is set to continue.
As the OBR report was leaked shortly before the Budget, traders had a chance to react before Rachel Reeves’ delivery at the dispatch box. In the immediate reaction to the leak, the FTSE 100 jumped by around 10 points, and the UK 10-year gilt fell by around 7bps.
By the time Chancellor had finished, the FTSE 100 was 0.7% higher at 9,677. The 10-year was flat on the day 4.48%.
Sentiment couldn’t have been worse going into the Autumn Budget, and Reeves has done little to improve the mood. The positive reaction in UK stocks was largely driven by uncertainty being removed, rather than any major cheer around the measures outlined today.
Plans to help those in need, such as scrapping the two-child benefit cap and boosting apprenticeships, are to be commended, but the methods being used to fund them contradict Labour’s promise to promote growth.
Economic Forecasts
The OBR expects inflation to rise to 3.5% this year, slightly above the 3.2% forecast in early 2025. This will make the Bank of England’s job that little bit more challenging in the short term. However, the OBR expects inflation to fall again next year. Inflation is forecast to fall to 2% in 2027.
The main positive forecast change was an upgrade to UK growth next year, with the OBR now seeing GDP growth at 2.5%.
Tax
Going into the Budget, it was thought Rachel Reeves would announce as many as 12 tax increases. She lived up to expectations.
In total, today’s measures will increase taxes by £26bn by 2029/2030. Today’s tax hikes were focused on higher earners and those with savings and investments.
Property income, savings, and dividends
The Labour government will increase tax on income from property, savings, and dividends by 2%. This is a blow for those fighting to secure their financial futures, as well as small business owners who are already struggling due to prior increases in National Insurance.
‘The last thing the UK really needs right now is more tax on investment and entrepreneurship,” said Jason Hollands, managing director at wealth management firm Evelyn Partners.
‘These hikes seem to be aimed mainly at extracting more cash from the UK’s small business owners, who don’t have the option of owning their company shares in a tax efficient Individual Savings Account. It will be felt by entrepreneurs as a kick in the teeth, as it takes guts to set up a small business and cash-flow can be uneven and profits uncertain, especially in the current environment where the economy is struggling.”
Salary-sacrificed pension contributions
Salary-sacrificed pension contributions will be subject to National Insurance above £2,000. This is thought to raise £4.7bn in 2029/30.
“Salary sacrifice on pension contributions enables workers to get the full value of every pound through income tax and National Insurance savings. Restricting the amount of someone’s salary that can be sacrificed to £2,000 a year will make people feel that bit poorer and we could see less going into pensions as a result,” said Helen Morrissey, head of retirement analysis, Hargreaves Lansdown.
Morrissey continued:
“It’s a move that could have huge impacts on people’s retirements. A 22-year-old earning £25,000 per year receiving 3% per year as an employer contribution on top of their own 5% one would reach retirement with a pension pot of £226,000. However, if the employer had been able to boost their contribution to 5% the end result would be closer to £283,000.”
Housing tax
A ‘Mansion Tax’ on properties worth more than £2m levied through higher council taxes. Properties worth £2m will face a £2,500 tax rising to £7,500 for homes worth £5m.
Income tax
The income tax thresholds will be frozen until the end of 2030/31. No change to income tax rates.
Other measures
Fuel duty will be frozen until September 2026.
A new mileage tax on electric vehicles.
Tobacco and alcohol levies will be increased. No surprise here.
Online gambling is being tackled wth duties on online gambling and gaming as high as 40%. Horse Racing will face no additional taxes as feared.
Investment & Stock Markets
Yesterday, there were reports of slashing the Cash ISA allowance to £12,000 and of a stamp duty holiday on newly listed shares for a 3-year period. They were confirmed today.
Both measures are designed to promote investment in UK stocks. But industry experts disagree.
“Cutting the Cash ISA allowance is unlikely to move the dial in any meaningful way when it comes to encouraging more people to invest – and certainly not in British stocks. Efforts to funnel retail investors into UK equities run counter to the principle of diversification, a cornerstone of good investing,” explained Jane Sydenham, Investment Director at Rathbones.
“Those using Cash ISAs are generally not choosing cash as an investment, but as a stepping stone for short-term goals like a house deposit, while benefiting from tax-free interest. Money displaced from Cash ISAs would likely end up in taxable savings accounts, not the stock market. Forcing risk-taking isn’t the answer – education and choice are. The government should focus on carrots, not sticks.”
The changes to pension contributions above and the Cash ISA Allowance have been met with disdain by the industry.
“Together, these measures send a signal that saving for the future is becoming less attractive,” said Louise Lewis, Partner and Joint Head of Trusts, Estates and Tax at law firm Freeths.
Rachel Reeves has also taken aim at Venture Capital Trusts, reducing income tax relief from 30% to 20% in a major blow to the industry.
“In the Budget the Chancellor announced that she would be reforming the UK’s venture capital schemes, allowing the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and Venture Capital Trusts (VCTs) to invest more money in more mature businesses. That was straight off the Venture Capital Trust Association wish list,” explained Alex Davies, CEO of Wealth Cub.
“What the Chancellor failed to mention, but was hidden in the Budget documents, was that she would also be cutting the income tax relief available on VCTs from 30% to 20% from April 2026.
“We’ve seen the effect of cutting income tax relief on VCT’s before. When VCT income tax relief was cut from 40% to 30% in 2006/07, funds raised by VCTs fell 65% year-on-year.
“2026/27 will be no different – with smaller companies facing a drought in funding in the years ahead.”
Benefits & Welfare
The two-child benefit cap has been removed – something that will please Labour backbenchers.
Those seeking disability benefits will now be subject to a face-to-face assessment.
Minimum Wage
As released yesterday, the National Living Wage for workers aged 21 and above will increase by 4.1% to £12.71 per hour. Meanwhile, the minimum wage for 18-20 year olds will rise to £10.85, whilst 16-17 year olds will see their rate climb to £8.00.
Energy
People are being helped with energy bills by ending the Eco scheme which aims to reduce household energy bills by 3150 a year.
Devolved governments
The Chancellor announced dedicated funding allocations for the devolved administrations: £370 million for Northern Ireland’s executive, £505 million for the Welsh government, and £820 million for the Scottish government.
AIM movers: Caledonian acquisition and Savannah Resources progress with Portuguese lithium project
Caledonian Holdings (LON: CHP) is acquiring Aspire Commerce Group for £1. The implied enterprise value is £9.49m and Caledonian has provided a working capital facility of up to £600,000. The acquisition provides a technology platform for financial services, including FX and business lending, and additional ones can be added. This will provide a base for further expansion. The loans taken on will be restructured. Aspire generated revenues of £36,000 in 2024. Caledonian will have to change its investing policy to enable it to own 100% of any business. The share price increased by one-quarter to 0.005p.
Tanfield (LON: TAN) has received a positive update for 49%-owned Snorkel. The US court has upheld that Tanfield did exercise its call option to sell its stake in Snorkel to the 51% shareholder. It is entitled to the price plus interest. The trail concerning the dispute and the option price is delayed until next year. Tanfield values the stake at £19.1m. The share price gained 22% to 6.25p, valuing Tanfield at £10.2m.
Oracle Power (LON: ORCP) says assay results from the first six drill holes at the Northern Zone intrusive hosted gold project in Western Australia have expanded the gold mineralisation footprint. There are a further 15 holes where assay results are expected. A new drilling programme has started and 12 out of the 40 holes have been drilled. The share price is 9.33% higher at 0.041p.
Floorcoverings supplier Victoria (LON: VCP) has commissioned a V4 ceramics production in Spain. This could add €15m annually to earnings once fully up and running. Cost cutting and improved efficiency will enhance profit in the ceramics division. The share price rose 7.05% to 41.375p.
Savannah Resources (LON: SAV) is progressing towards a final investment decision on the Barroso lithium project in Portugal. Lithium demand is increasing and the spodumene price has risen 80% since the end of June and is currently around $1,100/t. Discussions continue with potential customers. Savannah Resources is also acquiring a nearby mining lease. There is potential for a German government guarantee on a project finance loan of up to $270m. After the recent fundraising at 3.7p/share the company has £21m in cash. The share price improved 7.25% to 3.7p.
FALLERS
A potential acquirer of the assets of Versarien (LON: VRS) has withdrawn and the engineering materials company is considering its options. There are limited cash resources. The share price slumped 44.2% to 0.0053p.
Atlantic Lithium (LON: ALL) has received £1m from Long State, which is the deferred proceeds of the initial placement under the share placement agreement. This was at a premium because of the rise in the share price. A second placement is happening with £1m initially and £1m deferred under the agreement. The share price dipped 10.3% to 9.96p.
There is profit taking in Pennant International (LON: PEN) shares following the rise yesterday that it has been formally awarded the GenFly upgrade by the MoD. The contract is worth up to £5.75m. There is an initial upgrade of one device and then of a further two devices. The programme commences in December and lasts three years. The share price fell back 4.44% to 21.5p.
Caledonian Holdings (LON: CHP) is acquiring Aspire Commerce Group for £1. The implied enterprise value is £9.49m and Caledonian has provided a working capital facility of up to £600,000. The acquisition provides a technology platform for financial services, including FX and business lending, and additional ones can be added. This will provide a base for further expansion. The loans taken on will be restructured. Aspire generated revenues of £36,000 in 2024. Caledonian will have to change its investing policy to enable it to own 100% of any business. The share price increased by one-quarter to 0.005p.
Tanfield (LON: TAN) has received a positive update for 49%-owned Snorkel. The US court has upheld that Tanfield did exercise its call option to sell its stake in Snorkel to the 51% shareholder. It is entitled to the price plus interest. The trail concerning the dispute and the option price is delayed until next year. Tanfield values the stake at £19.1m. The share price gained 22% to 6.25p, valuing Tanfield at £10.2m.
Oracle Power (LON: ORCP) says assay results from the first six drill holes at the Northern Zone intrusive hosted gold project in Western Australia have expanded the gold mineralisation footprint. There are a further 15 holes where assay results are expected. A new drilling programme has started and 12 out of the 40 holes have been drilled. The share price is 9.33% higher at 0.041p.
Floorcoverings supplier Victoria (LON: VCP) has commissioned a V4 ceramics production in Spain. This could add €15m annually to earnings once fully up and running. Cost cutting and improved efficiency will enhance profit in the ceramics division. The share price rose 7.05% to 41.375p.
Savannah Resources (LON: SAV) is progressing towards a final investment decision on the Barroso lithium project in Portugal. Lithium demand is increasing and the spodumene price has risen 80% since the end of June and is currently around $1,100/t. Discussions continue with potential customers. Savannah Resources is also acquiring a nearby mining lease. There is potential for a German government guarantee on a project finance loan of up to $270m. After the recent fundraising at 3.7p/share the company has £21m in cash. The share price improved 7.25% to 3.7p.
FALLERS
A potential acquirer of the assets of Versarien (LON: VRS) has withdrawn and the engineering materials company is considering its options. There are limited cash resources. The share price slumped 44.2% to 0.0053p.
Atlantic Lithium (LON: ALL) has received £1m from Long State, which is the deferred proceeds of the initial placement under the share placement agreement. This was at a premium because of the rise in the share price. A second placement is happening with £1m initially and £1m deferred under the agreement. The share price dipped 10.3% to 9.96p.
There is profit taking in Pennant International (LON: PEN) shares following the rise yesterday that it has been formally awarded the GenFly upgrade by the MoD. The contract is worth up to £5.75m. There is an initial upgrade of one device and then of a further two devices. The programme commences in December and lasts three years. The share price fell back 4.44% to 21.5p.
Pets at Home profits plunge as retail struggles offset vet growth
Pets at Home has reported a 33.5% fall in underlying pre-tax profits to £36.2m for the 28 weeks to 9 October, as weakness in its retail division overshadowed strong performance from its veterinary business.
This was to be expected, and shares actually rose as investors chose to look past recent softness to a turnaround plan.
Group consumer revenue edged up just 0.7% to £1.06bn. Retail sales fell 2.3% to £679.9m against a flat market, with accessories down 5.9% and food declining 0.3%. The vet division proved more resilient, with revenue climbing 6.7% to £375.9m.
Interim executive chair Ian Burke, who stepped into the role 10 weeks ago, acknowledged the scale of the challenge. “It’s clear that urgent and necessary action is needed to return the retail business to growth to meet both our own expectations and those of our investors,” he said.
Investors will be encouraged by the action outlined in today’s announcement that may help revive the share price.
Burke has visited over 100 stores and launched a turnaround plan focused on product, price, execution, and cost. The company is cutting £20m from overheads through a restructuring programme costing £6-8m, with payback expected in under 12 months.
Retail underlying profits collapsed 84.1% to £3.5m as margins fell 105 basis points, hit by pricing investments, adverse category mix and lower supplier income. By contrast, vet profits rose 8.3% to £44.9m, with margins up 90 basis points to 45.7%.
The digital platform showed improvement, with second-quarter online sales up double digits. Pets Club membership fell 2.4% to 7.9m, though average customer value increased to £185.
Full-year expectations remain unchanged.
Pets at Home shares were 6% higher at the time of writing.
Intertek acquires leading US flooring testing company
Intertek Group has acquired Professional Testing Laboratory (PTL), a leading provider of testing services for the US flooring industry, to strengthen its product testing business.
The acquisition addresses growing demand for quality assurance solutions driven by evolving consumer trends and stricter regulatory requirements in the global flooring market, valued at $376 billion and forecast to grow 6.8% annually to 2030.
PTL, founded in 1988 and based in Dalton, Georgia, generated £4.3 million in revenue in 2024 and employed 26 people. The deal will unlock synergies by expanding PTL’s services to Intertek’s existing retail clients whilst offering new services to PTL’s customer base.
Intertek plans to leverage its global footprint to expand PTL’s testing services internationally beyond the US market.
“The acquisition of PTL is highly complementary to Intertek’s comprehensive range of product-related testing and certification capabilities in North America and across the globe, strengthening our presence in an attractive, high-growth, high-margin flooring materials market with compelling growth drivers. We welcome the PTL team to Intertek and look forward to the growth opportunities ahead,” said André Lacroix, Chief Executive Officer of Intertek.
Intertek released a trading statement earlier this week, unveiling a 4.6% increase in YTD revenue driven by a 4.1% increase in like-for-like sales growth.
Web3 payments gateway for off-ramp payouts
An off ramp payments gateway for Web3 is a bridge that allows businesses to convert on-chain revenue into real-world money and pay out the funds to users, partners, or their own bank account. Rather than requiring teams to manually transfer funds from wallets to exchanges and then banks, this gateway automates the entire “crypto to fiat” leg, transforming it into a predictable payout flow. For businesses that already accept crypto, or operate alongside Web3-native users, this solves the “last mile” issue – how to turn tokens and stable coins into salaries, rewards, invoices and vendor payments in a fiat world.
In practice, such a gateway has a final endpoint connected to your Web3 entity balances (merchant wallets, smart contracts, custodian accounts) and provides you the ability to send payout instructions in an understandable format: “send X USDT to Y IBAN”, “pay affiliate Z 500 USD”, or “withdraw 10 000 EUR to corporate account”. Under the hood, the system pools on-chain funds, exchanges them when necessary, runs compliance checks and pushes the money out through bank transfers as well as Visa and Mastercard rails or local payment methods. On the business side it’s just a payout dashboard or API as you’d expect; we abstract all the blockchain routing and FX complexity away.
This is particularly relevant for Web3 platforms and marketplaces. They may generate revenue across a range of coins and networks, but their users nevertheless expect that fiat currency will materialise on a bank statement, card balance or local wallet. A Web3 off-ramp gateway allows you to offer “cash out” from right within your interface: creators to withdraw royalties, players withdraw winnings, freelancers withdraw earnings, partners receive revenue share – all without breaking flow and leaving your product to an exchange! That reduces churn, makes your product stickier, and decreases support tickets about “how do I withdraw my crypto”.
Another potential use is for companies looking hold part of their treasury or operating funds in stablecoins. Off-ramp payouts enable them to pay contractors, agencies or suppliers in fiat without having to overhaul their process for collecting and storing income on-chain. Finance teams can schedule batch payouts, select the currencies and set limits whilst the gateway manages sourcing and settlement. This makes Web3 infrastructure a real operational account, rather than an isolated “speculative” wallet.
Serious off-ramp gateways also have compliance and risk mechanisms built in. They conduct KYC/KYB on payout recipients where necessary, screen transactions for AML risks and map the payout routes so that funds land using regulated rails. This allows businesses to stay on the right side of local laws without also having to become experts in every jurisdiction where their users may live. Meanwhile, the gateway serves transparent logs, downloadable statements and audit trails so that accountants and auditors can follow every payout all the way to its on-chain source.
Technically, plugging in a Web3 payment gateway for off-ramp payouts is typically done via an API. Transfers Here you can programmatically initiate payouts from user balances, set transfer minimums, add fees or FX into your margins and listen for Webhook callbacks when a payout has been completed / pending / failed. This allows fully automated processes like weekly/monthly affiliate payouts, instant “cash out” buttons and milestone-based escrow releases that end in fiat.
Lastly, the off-ramp service completes the circle from crypto economy to real-world fiat. There are on-ramps that make it easy for fiat to come into Web3, but without an off-ramp, users and businesses can get stuck in a “crypto-only” world. A Web3 payments gateway, focused on off-ramp payouts, converts tokens and stablecoins into spendable money on cards and bank accounts – what most people and companies still need for taxes, payroll, rent, day-to-day transactions. This sort of gateway isn’t just a nice-to-have for any serious Web3 product – it’s part of the essential solution for integrating payments.