Weekly review
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Friday 11 Sep 2026
(Sharecast News) - The FTSE 100 closed up 0.4% at 10,650.44 on Friday.
Equity view
Online ticket platform Trainline held guidance and launched a new £100m share buyback after delivering flat sales and revenue for the half year. Group net ticket sales came in at £3.3bn for the six months to August 31 and group underlying revenue was £233m, 1% lower year-on-year.
Housebuilder Berkeley said housing market activity has been further impacted by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and political uncertainty in the UK, with buyers "more cautious to commit". The firm, which earlier this year reduced production to focus on cash generation rather than short-term profit targets in response to the Iran war, told shareholders on Friday that the conflict had continued longer than initially anticipated, while "ongoing political change and uncertainty" was further impacting housing sentiment.
Shares in Associated British Foods slumped on Thursday after the conglomerate said it expected full-year like-for-like sales at its soon-to-be-demerged Primark division to fall by 2.6% amid a tough consumer environment, adding that it also planned to introduce home delivery in the UK at the clothing retailer. Primark's total sales growth was expected to come in at 2% for both the fourth quarter and full year thanks to new stores and franchises.
John Lewis Partnership reported a wider first-half loss on Thursday as increased investment and tougher trading conditions weighed on performance, while the retailer said it remained "cautious" about the outlook for the second half. The employee-owned group posted a loss before tax and exceptional items of £89m for the 26 weeks ended 1 August, compared with a £34m loss a year earlier. Including £35m of exceptional costs, primarily related to head-office restructuring and technology modernisation, the pre-tax loss would have been £124m, compared with £88m previously.
Electrical products retailer Currys has said it remains happy with market consensus forecasts after a "strong start" to the new financial year across both major regions. Group like-for-like revenues were up 7% year-on-year over the 17 weeks to 29 August, with the larger UK and Ireland division growing by 6% and the Nordics growing by 9%.
Fevertree Drinks posted a rise in interim profit and revenue on Thursday as the UK returned to growth and as US momentum built under the Molson Coors partnership. In the six months to 30 June, total adjusted brand revenue grew 8% to £183.6m, while adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were up 9% at £20.1m.
HSBC said on Thursday that chief financial officer Pam Kaur plans to step down next year and a search for her successor has begun. Kaur's official retirement date as group CFO will be confirmed in due course, the bank said, but will be no later than the 2027 annual general meeting.
Eurowag lifted its full-year outlook for adjusted cash EBITDA on Wednesday following a "strong" first half. In the six months to the end of June, adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 10.5% from the same period a year earlier to €70.6m, with total net revenue 10.7% higher at €179.5m. Eurowag said revenue growth reflected broad- based growth across its platform services.
Investment firm Aberdeen Group said on Wednesday that Torbjörn Magnusson had joined the board as a non‑executive director and chair‑designate, with his formal appointment as chair to follow once regulatory approvals are secured. Aberdeen said Magnusson previously chaired Nordea Bank between 2019 and 2022 and later served as deputy chair, representing Sampo during a period of major strategic change. He has also chaired Hastings Group and Topdanmark, and currently sits on the board of global specialty reinsurer Canopius.
Polymer solutions firm Victrex lifted its full‑year pre‑tax profit guidance on Wednesday and announced the appointment of an interim chief financial officer as strong trading momentum continued into the final quarter. Victrex now expects underlying pre-tax profits of £45m to £47m for FY26, ahead of its previous £42m to £44m range, after Q4 delivered further year‑on‑year growth across aerospace, value‑added resellers and electronics.
Homewares retailer Dunelm shares dropped around 10% on Tuesday as investors reacted coolly to the homewares retailer's new three‑year growth plan and news of a softer start to FY27, despite the group reporting a steady full‑year performance. Dunelm said total sales rose 3.1% to £1.83bn, digital participation increased two percentage points to 42%, and gross margins edged up ten basis points to 52.5%. Pre-tax profits were unchanged at £211m, while free cash flow jumped £27.4m to £154.8m.
Tech provider Computacenter on Tuesday after said full year earnings would be "significantly ahead" of forecasts after it almost doubled interim profits on the back of a strong performance in North America driven by demand for artificial intelligence-related infrastructure. Adjusted pre-tax profit for the six months to June 30 rose 87% to £152.4m. Computacenter now expects adjusted earnings to be at least £380m compared with a company compiled consensus of £341m. However, shares in the firm were down 5% in early trade.
Spire Healthcare has agreed to be taken over by Tulip UK Bidco, a new company which comprises investment firm Toscafund, London-based private equity firm Three Hills and US investment manager Ares, for £1.03bn. Under the terms of the deal, Tulip UK Bidco will pay 250p per share in cash for Spire, which is a 66.2% premium to the closing share price on 13 May, the last business day prior to the possible offer announcement.
Standard Life posted a stronger‑than‑expected 25% jump in first‑half profit, lifted by solid new business flows and buoyant demand in the pension‑risk transfer market. Adjusted operating profit before tax came in at £563m for the six months to June 30, ahead of the £541m forecast in a company-compiled consensus. The company also reiterated full‑year guidance.
Jaguar Land Rover on Monday revealed it is planning to cut around a tenth of its global workforce as the business attempts to mitigate the impact of trade tariffs, heightened competition and weak demand in China. In a statement, the Tata Motors division said it would slash around 4,000 roles through a voluntary redundancy programme aimed at salaried staff and managers, as opposed to manufacturing employees.
Emerging markets asset manager Ashmore Group reported a double-digit increase in assets under management and profit for the year ended 30 June, helped by net inflows, strong investment performance and gains from its seed capital programme. Assets under management rose 13% to $54.0bn, driven by $2.7bn of net inflows and $3.7bn of positive investment performance, which the company put down to "continued emerging markets' outperformance".
Economic news
The UK economy unexpectedly grew in July, according to figures released on Friday by the Office for National Statistics. The economy expanded by 0.4% in July, beating expectations for no growth. This followed 0.3% growth in June and no growth in May. Services growth was 0.4%, while production and construction saw growth of 0.2% and of 0.1%, respectively.
UK consumers' inflation expectations fell across all time horizons in August, according to the latest Bank of England survey. Median expectations for inflation over the coming year dropped to 3.2% from 4.0% in May, while expectations for the following 12 months declined to 2.9% from 3.5%. Longer-term expectations, covering roughly five years ahead, fell to 3.2% from 3.9%.
UK annual house prices fell in August for the first time since November 2023 as the market remained subdued, according to the latest data from Lloyds. Prices were down 0.2% on the month following a 0.1% drop in July. On the year, prices declined by 0.4% in August following 0.1% growth the month before. The average price of a home stood at £298,468, down from £299,153.
International events
Consumer prices across the United States rose as expected in August, with the headline inflation rate holding steady, as attention turns to next week's Federal Reserve policy meeting amid growing expectations of tighter monetary policy. The annual change in the consumer price index was 3.4% last month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in line with July's reading and matching the consensus forecast.
The European Central Bank raised its key interest rate by 25 basis points on Thursday as a result of price pressures triggered by the Middle East conflict, predicting that inflation will remain "well above target" for an extended period. As widely expected by financial markets, the ECB's Governing Council voted to raise all three of its interest rates by the same amount, taking the key main refinancing operations (MRO) rate to 2.65%, and the deposit facility and marginal lending facility to 2.50% and 2.90%, respectively.
Germany's inflation rate held at 2.9% in August, federal statistics office Destatis confirmed on Thursday, matching the flash estimate as higher energy costs continued to offset softer food and core price pressures. Headline CPI rose 0.2% month‑on‑month, with energy inflation jumping 10.5% - the biggest jump in three years - on elevated wholesale gas and power prices, while food prices were broadly flat after months of easing.
Shares in Inditex fell in Madrid on Wednesday after the fashion conglomerate underwhelmed with its first-half results, with profits falling short of analysts' expectations and overshadowing a strong reported start to the third quarter. The company, which owns eight companies including its flagship Zara brand, reported a pre-tax profit of $3.8bn for the six months to 31 July, up 6.8% over the year before.
Both wholesale and consumer price inflation in China accelerated in August, data from the country's National Bureau of Statistics showed on Wednesday, driven by rising energy costs. The producer price index rose to a year-on-year rate of 3.8% last month, up from 3.5% in July and ahead of the 3.7% consensus forecast.
Germany's trade surplus widened in July, according to figures from Destatis, rising to €21.3bn from a revised €15.4bn in June. However, the surplus also came in ahead of the €16.8bn recorded a year earlier, helped by a sharper fall in imports than exports.
GE Aerospace has announced plans to buy aerospace and defence components manufacturer Consolidated Precision Products for $11.75bn from private investment firms Warburg Pincus and Berkshire Partners. Ohio-based CPP, which makes complex super alloy, titanium, aluminum, magnesium and steel castings for things like aircraft engines, gas turbines and military systems, will support "strong demand" across commercial engines, aftermaket and defence, according to GE Aerospace.
Shares in Novartis tanked on Tuesday, with the stock on track for its worst daily performance on record, after disappointing results from a clinical trial of its muscle-wasting disease treatment. The news adds further pressure to the Swiss pharma giant's pipeline following another clinical setback announced the day before.
Strong demand for Chinese chips, tech products and cars saw the country's trade surplus widen in August, with shipments to the US rising by over a third compared with last year. The trade surplus with the rest of the world increased to $119.09bn last month, compared with $112.34bn in July and $101.01bn the year before, the National Bureau Statistics of China reported on Tuesday.
German industrial production fell unexpectedly in July, dragged lower by a sharp drop in automotive output, according to figures from the Federal Statistics Office on Monday. Total output declined 1.1% on the month, confounding expectations for a 0.1% rise and marking a setback after a period of modest stabilisation across the sector.
Eurozone economic growth in the second quarter was revised up to its highest rate in four years, Eurostat reported on Monday, on the back of a faster-than-expected expansion in Ireland and Germany. The quarterly change in gross domestic product was 0.6% over the April to June period, compared with no growth in the first quarter and 0.2 percentage points ahead of the 0.4% rate initially reported in the previous two releases.
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