Shares in pest-control and hygiene firm Rentokil (RTO) provided a rare ray of light amid the gloom in the UK stock market after it reported its highest revenue growth in 15 years and an increase in the final dividend. For the year to 31 December, ongoing revenues were up 8.6% on a constant currency basis to £2.68bn while operating profits were up 10.5% to £368.1m. Thanks to strong cash-flow ...

Eyewear frames designer and distributor Inspecs has successfully raised £23.5m of growth funding after sealing its IPO and starting trading on London's junior AIM market today. Some £94m has been raised through a placing priced at 195p with £23.5m of new money coming into the coffers of the Bath-based company, which comes to market expecting to pay a dividend that grows in line with ...

Shares in Topps Tiles (TPT) plunged more than 20% to 62.8p on Thursday after the UK’s biggest specialist tiles supplier posted a severe profit warning. UK housing market indicators may have improved since the General Election but Topps warned that the UK home improvement market remains weak. The Enderby-headquartered retailer doesn’t anticipate seeing any benefit until later into the ...

Advertising giant WPP (WPP) is firmly in the dog house with investors after a poor fourth quarter performance, dropping 15.5% to 767.4p. The company’s preferred metric of like-for-like revenue growth less pass through costs fell 1.9% in the final three months of 2019 once you strip out the divested Kantar market research business. For the year as a whole pre-tax profit fell 22% to £982m ...

The FTSE opened 1.5% lower at 6,900 points following European markets down 2% on growing fears that the coronavirus will make a big dent in corporate profits. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei 225 was off 2% but China’s SSE index bucked the negative trend and rallied 2% on stimulus hopes and fewer virus deaths. Oil prices followed the negative moves with Brent crude prices down 1.4% while ...

Resurgent government outsourcer Serco (SRP) pleased the market on Wednesday with a strong set of full year results and the reinstatement of the dividend for the first time since 2014. The shares, which have outperformed the market over the last year, added another 0.8% to 152p while the FTSE continued to struggle with coronavirus fears knocking consumer stocks lower. POSITIVE PROGRESS ...

Shares in mining giant Rio Tinto (RIO) traded flat at £39.15 in mid-morning despite the FTSE 100 firm reporting a 41% fall in annual profit, cutting its dividend and warning Covid-19 could create ‘significant uncertainty’ for its business. In its full year results to 31 December 2019, Rio reported net attributable profit of $8bn, down from $13.6bn the previous year. It declared a record ...

Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey (TW.) is down 3.7% to 210.8p, albeit against a weak wider market, as full year results reveal pressure on margin performance. House builder Taylor Wimpey reported a 3.1% rise in annual profit after it completed more homes, though its underlying performance was hurt by higher building costs. Pre-tax profit for the year through December increased to £835.9m, up from ...

Gambling group William Hill (WMH) reported full-year adjusted operating profits at the upper end of market expectations, down 37% to £147m on revenues 2% lower at £1.6bn. The shares lost 5% to 167.7p. Chief executive Ulrik Bengtsson commented, ‘2019 was a year of transition during which we executed on our ambition to diversify internationally with the acquisition of Mr Green and the ...

Shares in Diageo (DGE) soured 2.8% to £28.78 after the alcoholic drinks colossus served up a profit warning following ‘significant’ disruption to drinks consumption across the Asia Pacific region caused by the coronavirus outbreak. The Captain Morgan rum-to-Tanqueray gin maker could see as much as £325m wiped from its top line this year due to the spread of the alarming virus, although ...