Greggs shares sank on Wednesday after the purveyor of the humble sausage roll issued a profit warning following a period of warm weather that knocked footfall in their outlets.

Greggs has cautioned that full-year operating profit could fall below 2024 levels, despite achieving solid sales growth in the first half of 2025.

Shares were down over 13% at the time of writing after the group outlined the impact of rising costs on profits and stuttering sales growth. Greggs shares are trading at the lowest levels since 2020.

The bakery chain reported total sales up 6.9% to £1.027 billion for the 26 weeks ended 28 June. Like-for-like sales grew 2.6%. However, the board now expects annual operating profit to be “modestly below” last year’s performance.

June’s weather proved challenging. Very high temperatures across the UK boosted demand for cold drinks but reduced overall footfall, slowing the company’s sales momentum after a strong May performance.

Refurbishment activity and cost recovery initiatives have been weighted toward the current first half, further impacting margins for the period.

“Greggs might be feeling the heat, but not in the way it hoped. The bakery chain this morning blamed the recent hot weather for softer sales in its latest trading update. Clearly feeling the heat, Greggs share price plummeted 13% and will leave investors wondering if something more serious is cooking,” said Mark Crouch, market analyst for eToro.

“For a brand that’s built its success on affordability and convenience, a dip in demand raises eyebrows, especially when footfall should be strong. Sure, it’s harder to sell a hot sausage roll in a heatwave, but a stretched consumer may be part of the bigger picture. Inflation may be easing, but wallets are still under pressure, and Greggs’ value proposition may be losing a bit of its bite.”

Greggs continues expanding aggressively. The company opened 87 new shops in the first half, closing 56 others for a net gain of 31 locations. Total shop count now stands at 2,649, comprising 2,085 company-managed stores and 564 franchised units.

Management remains confident of achieving 140 to 150 net openings for the full year. However, investors will be concerned that there are deeper issues for Greggs than a warm month of June.

Spectris shares rose on Wednesday as the bidding war for the company heats up with private equity firm KKR offering 4,000p per share in a cash acquisition of precision measurement company Spectris, valuing the business at approximately £4.1bn.

The offer tops a recent offer from Advent worth £3.8bn

The offer comprises 3,972p in cash plus a 28p interim dividend, representing a 6.3% premium to rival bidder Advent’s previous 3,763p per share offer and a 96.3% premium to Spectris’ closing price before the takeover period began.

Spectris shares were trading 5% higher at 4,030p at the time of writing. Shares trading above the offer prices suggest the market sees another offer coming in from Advent before long.

In the commentary attached to the offer details, KKR cited Spectris’ strong market position and growth potential as key drivers behind the acquisition.

The US buyout firm believes the company has opportunities to accelerate growth in attractive end markets that it cannot fully exploit as a listed business. This is a similar thesis to Advent’s and many other private equity takeovers of UK companies.

KKR plans to provide additional capital and expertise to drive longer-term expansion both organically and through acquisitions in what it describes as a fragmented market.

The deal values Spectris at 19.5 times its 2024 adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.

The FTSE 100 was lower on Tuesday with investors in ‘wait and see’ mode amid trade talks between the US and major trading partners.

London’s leading index was 0.3% in the red at the time of writing, with housebuilders dragging the index lower despite reasonable gains for mining shares.

The German DAX was down 0.4% as European equity indices tracked US futures lower. The S&P 500 closed out the second quarter at a record high, but the impending risk events of the Non-Farm Payrolls on Thursday and trade talks sapped enthusiasm out of stocks as third-quarter 2025 trading got underway.

“Trade talk is heating up again as President Trump’s 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs nears its end,” said Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“Markets are starting to see that Trump’s bark is worse than his bite, with news that the White House might dial back its tariff plans to avoid reigniting a global trade war the latest example of a softer touch.”

Whether Trump’s ‘bark is worse than his bite’ will drive equity markets in the run-up to trade deadlines 8th and 9th July, and investors are showing the first signs of realigning their portfolio ahead of key announcements that are likley to be fired out via social media.

FTSE 100 Housebuilders

Housebuilding stocks weighed on the FTSE 100 on Tuesday after Nationwide revealed the average UK property price dropped in June as the stamp duty-induced boost to activity faded.

“Housebuilders retreated after disappointing housing data from Nationwide which said average UK prices fell by 0.8% month-on-month in June,” said Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell.

“Housebuilders have been pinning their hopes on a more robust property market driven by lower mortgage rates. Changes to stamp duty in April might have simply caused a short-term blip in activity and it certainly doesn’t look as if the property market is going into a major decline.”

Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey and Barratt Redrow were all lower by more than 2%.

A weaker housebuilding sector offset gains for the miners that rallied after an upbeat assessment of the Chinese economy. The Caixin China General Manufacturing PMI rose to 50.4 in June after a 48.3 print in May. A reading above 50 signals expansion, while a reading below 50 signals contraction.

“Both supply and demand recovered,” said Dr. Wang Zhe, Senior Economist at Caixin Insight Group.

“Manufacturing production and sales returned to growth after a brief contraction in May. In June, amid improvements in the trade environment, manufacturers made efforts to promote sales, causing total new orders to return to expansion. This improved demand drove the recovery in supply, with the subindex for output rebounding by more than 4 points and moving into expansionary territory.

Miners cheered the positivity in China’s manufacturing sector with Antofagasta, Anglo American and Glencore among the FTSE 100 top risers.

There were also gains for precious metals miners Endeavour Mining and Fresnillo. Both stocks have thrived on investor uncertainty in the wake of Trump’s tariffs, and today’s gains reflect a hint of nervousness as key deadlines approach.

GenIP shares were higher on Tuesday after the AI analytics firm announced its entry into the UK academic market through two fresh engagements with UK-based research institutions.

The company, which provides generative AI services to help organisations commercialise innovations, signed deals with two universities following a month of industry networking and events across the UK. One institution is known for applied research and industry collaboration, whilst the other is recognised for its innovation pipeline across engineering, health sciences and digital technologies.

The breakthrough follows GenIP’s recent expansion into Chile and Brazil. GenIP said the UK contracts represent a significant milestone in the firm’s global growth strategy, establishing it as a trusted partner to leading research institutions.

GenIP has recently announced orders in excess of $850,000 since its IPO in late 2024. Today’s announcement will see this figure grow.

“Securing our first UK academic clients is a significant milestone for GenIP and a clear signal of growing demand for our AI-powered technology analytics platform. We’re proud to support leading research institutions that are actively investing in commercialising their innovation pipeline,” said Melissa Cruz, CEO of GenIP.

“These engagements come at a time of strong commercial momentum for GenIP. Following our participation in key industry events across the UK and Europe, we’ve experienced a material increase in inbound interest from both academic and corporate organisations. These new contracts and several other active commercial discussions underscore our traction in markets that value fast, scalable, and high-quality evaluation tools.

“GenIP is scaling rapidly, increasing adoption across universities, corporate R&D teams, and government innovation programmes. Our platform combines generative AI with expert analysis to help clients make faster, more informed decisions about which innovations to pursue.

“With a growing order book and a stable balance sheet heading into H2, we are focused on disciplined execution, expanding recurring revenues, and continuing to deliver long-term value to shareholders.”

GenIP shares were 2% higher at 35p at the time of writing.

Sainsbury’s shares rose in early trading on Tuesday following the release of a very respectable trading statement for the 16 weeks to 21 June 2025.

The supermarket recorded attractive growth across both the grocery and the general merchandise segments as the company’s actions to improve its offering paid off. Grocery sales grew 5% while general merchandise sales increased 4.2%.

Investors will be pleased to see the 30th consecutive period of customer number growth driving market share gains for the third year in a row.

The company has set out to improve its core grocery offering and is delivering. Sainsbury’s is successfully fighting off the challenge from the discounters by applying its ‘Aldi Price Match’ to 800 products and making Nectar prices available on 9,000 products.

At the same time, it’s maintaining its premium appeal via the launch of 250 new ‘Taste the Difference’ products that have been well received by customers.

“Sainsbury’s made its way onto more customers’ shopping lists in the first quarter.  It continues to pinch market share off the competition, reaching its highest total in almost a decade,” said Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“With more trolleys rolling toward its tills, the nation’s second largest supermarket saw like-for-like sales rise 4.7% in the period. In part, that’s thanks to a herculean effort to improve its range, quality and value perception in recent times. And expanding its Taste the Difference range, ALDI price match and Nectar prices across even more products is helping to keep existing customers loyal.

There were questions about Argos and general merchandise starting to creep in after several periods of slow growth, and while today’s number won’t completely squash any doubts, they do show progress in customer activity driven by refined online experiences.

Although sales are rising, Sainsbury’s is clearly conscious of the impact of higher costs and has outlined a plethora of cost-saving measures to help preserve margins.

“Despite the top line moving higher, recent changes to employers’ National Insurance and minimum wages are set to bring at least £140 million of extra costs this year,” Chiekrie explained.

“Sainsbury’s is doing what it can to trim costs throughout the business, including closing its in-store cafes and streamlining behind-the-scenes operations, but the group’s guidance still points to full-year underlying retail profits remaining broadly flat at around £1 billion. 

“Trading, so far, has been promising, and while it’s still early in the group’s financial year, signs of an all-out price war among the major supermarkets hasn’t materialised. If that remains the case through the rest of the year, the current profit guidance looks a touch conservative, so there could be some positive surprises for investors who are willing to remain patient.”

Sainsbury’s shares were 1.8% higher at the time of writing and are 7% higher on the year.