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Investec (INVP) shares gained 6 per cent in early trading after the Anglo-South African financial services group boosted its profit and dividend, and said it was on track to deliver returns at the top end of its expectations by the end of the decade.

For the year to 31 March, the group’s pre-provision adjusted operating profit rose 4 per cent against the same period last year to £1.08bn. Revenue was up by the same rate to £2.28bn despite a 2 per cent drop in net interest income, as non-interest revenue climbed 13 per cent.

Chief executive Fani Titi said the group was on track to achieve returns at the upper end of the target range by FY2030. Management expects to deliver a return on tangible equity of around 18 per cent by 2030, compared with 15.7 per cent in 2026.

The group raised its final dividend by 5 per cent to 21p per share, taking the full-year payout to 38.5p per share.

Energy storage specialist Invinity (IES) has announced a deal to design the world’s largest vanadium flow battery, sending shares to the highest point in two and a half years.

The project in Switzerland is already under construction and will host a data centre and broader tech campus. The projected battery capacity will be 1.5 gigawatt-hours, Invinity said. This is a much larger scale than those installed recently, such as a 20 megawatt-hour East Sussex battery. Vanadium flow batteries are used for longer periods than lithium-ion batteries, in both release of electricity terms (hours not minutes) and lifespan.

“Following the successful conclusion of the engineering design phase, a purchase order for the battery system is anticipated to be received, allowing Invinity to initiate phased manufacturing of data centre-optimised [vanadium flow battery] modules for integration into the project,� the company added.

Invinity’s shares climbed 50 per cent to 34.5p in response to the announcement.

FTSE 100 accounting software group Sage (SGE) slipped more than 1 per cent in early trading despite delivering interim results ahead of market expectations and (slightly) raising revenue guidance.

Underlying total revenue was up 11 per cent to £1.36bn for the six months to 31 March, against the same period last year, as annualised recurring revenue climbed by the same rate. Underlying operating profit rose 15 per cent to £326mn, while the margin expanded 80 basis points to 23.9 per cent.

Management guided for annual organic total revenue growth to be “above� 9 per cent, slightly better than its previous forecast of “9 per cent or above�. It continues to expect operating margins to “trend upwards�.

AJ Bell (AJB) shares rose 13 per cent in early trading on better-than-expected half-year profits, as the DIY investment platform upgraded margin guidance and confirmed plans for investment in the second half.

Underlying pre-tax profit was up 15 per cent to £79mn for the six months to 31 March, against the same period last year. That was ahead of consensus, driven by revenue climbing 19 per cent to £183mn.

Management now expects the group’s annual revenue margin (revenue as a percentage of total assets under administration), pre-tax profit and pre-tax profit margin to be higher than previously forecast. It said that “excellent returns from our investment in brand and marketing� meant the company was confident about upping its investment plans.

The group also announced a new £15mn share buyback, on top of an ongoing £50mn programme, and raised the interim dividend by 11 per cent to 5p per share.

Tate & Lyle (TATE) revealed soft demand across its key markets for the year ended 31 March, following the news last week that the FTSE 250 ingredients supplier had received a takeover bid worth £2.7bn from US rival Ingredion (US:INGR).

Although statutory sales and profit rose sharply, to £2bn and £131mn respectively, much of the gain came from the group’s acquisition of ingredient producer CP Kelco, which was bought at the end of 2024 and fully incorporated into Tate & Lyle’s numbers this year.

The adjusted figures, which stripped out this impact, were weaker, and instead showed sales and pre-tax profit declines of 3 and 5 per cent, as well as a £26mn drop in free cash flow. Chief executive Nick Hampton said the results were “disappointing�, and outlined expectations of modest revenue growth and broadly flat Ebitda for 2027.

The shares now sit at 525p and remained flat in early trading, after climbing almost 50 per cent last week following the takeover offer. Ingredion has until 11 June to make a final bid or walk away.

Qinetiq (QQ.) reported lifted operating profit by 18 per cent to £218mn on the back of cost cuts as revenue remained flat at £1.9bn.

The defence technology group reported a strong pick-up in orders, though, with its backlog growing by 55 per cent year-on-year to £4.4bn. This increase provides “clear visibility of sustainable growth and strong multi-year cash flows�, chief executive Steve Wadey said.

Earnings per share grew by a fifth, which was ahead of expectations, allowing the company to raise the dividend by 24 per cent to 11p.

EPS forecasts for the current year of between 8 and 10 per cent were in line with expectations but with the company stating that it is reviewing its US business, which has been a drag on earnings in recent years, the shares rose by 10 per cent.

A new cash shell coming to Aim next month will look to buy up mature oil and gas assets in Angola and Nigeria, following the lead of Afentra (AET). Coastal Africa Group will raise £30mn initially. It is the successor company to Coastal Energy and includes management from Addax Petroleum, which China producer Sinopec bought for $7.2bn (£4.2bn) in 2010.

Angola has become a major beneficiary of greater oil investment in recent years as foreign money has backed the state producer’s goal to boost production. Energean (ENOG) announced it would buy offshore asset stakes for $260mn from Chevron (US:CVX) in March, while Afentra’s shares are up almost 80 per cent this year as it looks to increase output.

Coastal Africa will be led by Conrad Clauson, who said the company would repeat a strategy from Southeast Asia where Coastal Energy built a portfolio and was then bought for $2.2bn by Spanish producer Cepsa, now called Moeve.

BT (BT.A) reported flat adjusted earnings for the March year-end despite a 4 per cent decline in adjusted revenue to £19.6bn, which it attributed to a tighter rein on costs.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation came in at £8.2bn, in line with expectations. The telecoms operator’s top line continued to shrink, though, which it attributed to lower international revenue following asset sales, fewer handset sales and falling service revenue. Reported pre-tax profit was 8 per cent higher as there were fewer write-offs this year than last.

However, BT warned that it expects the loss of more voice revenue as the traditional copper landline voice network is switched off next January. Revenue for the current financial year will be softer at between £19bn-£19.5bn and adjusted Ebitda flat at £8.2bn.

Yet an expected decline in capex from £5.1bn for the year just closed to £4.3bn this year should boost the company’s own free cash flow measure from £1.5bn to £2bn. BT’s shares dropped by 3 per cent to 225p.

Private credit markets have been under strain this year, but this does not seem to have affected specialist asset manager ICG (ICG), which generated enough fee momentum in its full-year results to lift its total dividend by five per cent to 87p per share.

Meanwhile, fee-earning assets under management (AUM) reached $87bn (£65bn) to leave total AUM at $126bn for the year. However, the market reaction was muted with the share price marked down by 2 per cent in morning trading.

Operationally, management fees rose 13 per cent to £685mn. The surge was driven by performance fee income, which rose by 47 per cent to £127mn, boosted by cash realisations across the investment portfolio.

A warm summer and solid Christmas helped power Young & Co’s Brewery (YNGA) to record sales for the year to 30 March, as the pub operator surpassed the £500mn revenue threshold for the first time.

The hospitality group, which shifted to London’s main market from the Aim last month, increased sales by 4.5 per cent year-on-year to £508mn, while pre-tax profit more than doubled to £41mn thanks to a favourable annual property revaluation.

Current trading has been positive, with like-for-like sales rising by 3.4 per cent over the past five weeks. The group pointed to next month’s football World Cup and the new rugby nationals championship in July as reasons to be cheerful about the outlook.

“Together with Fuller’s, we see Young’s as one of the best plays in the pubs space in an otherwise difficult environment,� said Roberta Ciaccia, an analyst at Investec.

The shares rose 2 per cent in early trading.

LondonMetric’s (LMP) push for growth showed few signs of slowing at its full-year results. The Reit, whose £7.6bn portfolio is focused on “triple netâ€� leases, where the tenant takes responsibility for insurance, maintenance and property taxes, reported adjusted earnings of £305mn on net rental income of £455mn for the year ended March. 

These increased 14 per cent and 17 per cent respectively, largely driven by the acquisition of Urban Logistics, while like-for-like rental growth was 4.2 per cent. 

Chief executive Andrew Jones said that the company’s “relentless focus on income and ongoing rental growth� had delivered.

The total dividend rose 4 per cent versus the prior year to 12.4p. There was no update on the company’s joint bid with Schroder Reit (SREI) for Picton Property Income (PCTN). Shares were flat in early trading.

Great Portland Estates (GPE) is doing its best to defy the uncertainty that hangs over the London office market. It reported adjusted earnings of £35mn, up 71 per cent versus the prior year, driven by a 25 per cent increase in revenue and a reversal of a previous tax charge.

In asset management, GPE disposed of £490mn of properties during the year at an average 2 per cent ahead of March 2025 book values, and has a further £200mn of sales under consideration. It bought two sites for £69mn.

Chief executive Toby Courtauld said that the company was well placed to deliver “substantial income and value growth over the medium term� despite a “volatile� external environment, supported by “record levels of leasing significantly ahead of rental values�.

For 2027, the group is targeting a return on equity of more than 10 per cent, up from 8 per cent in the current year.

The interim dividend rose 4 per cent versus the prior year to 8.2p. Shares were flat in early trading.

Airlines are seasonal in nature, so easyJet’s (EZJ) revenues and profits are weighted towards the second half of its financial year. This year, however, the operational performance has been hobbled by rising jet fuel costs and falling passenger bookings.

To that end, the budget airline’s interim loss of £552mn was in line with April’s trading update. Still, it included an extra “unexpected� £25mn in fuel costs incurred in March, along with an additional £32mn in legal provisions.

There were some encouraging signs. Adjusted profits at easyJet holidays increased by 50 per cent to £48mn, while the airline’s load factor (percentage of available seating capacity filled by passengers) rose by 2 percentage points to 90 per cent.

The airline also announced it would increase ticket prices to cover rising fuel costs, and this, along with the positive holiday numbers, pushed up the shares by 6 per cent.