Mid-market legal services firm DSW Capital (DSW) warned the Iran war had ‘severely impacted’ UK M&A activity. As a result, the company lowered its full-year financial guidance sending its shares down over 15%. ‘Rapid and significant drop-off’ DSW, which owns the Dow Schofield Watts and DR Solicitors brands, said trading this year had largely been profitable. However, its financial year ends in March which is traditionally an important month for M&A completions ahead of the tax year-end. The AIM-listed firm said many deals it had expected to complete this month had been aborted or postponed. Companies are now waiting ‘until…

Life insurance and savings group Standard Life (SDLF) delivered better-than-expected FY25 profit and maintained its FY26 guidance. The firm, formerly known as Phoenix Group, changed its name and stock ticker earlier this year. A growing market The company buys and manages books of pensions and life insurance businesses which are closed to new customers. Over the past few years, more firms have moved to sell their Workplace pension liabilities to insurers. The UK long-term savings and retirement market is expected to grow by 70% over the next decade. Additionally, the company sees annual flows in the Workplace market reaching around…

In today’s podcast, the Sharesify team talk markets, technicals, and the week’s winners and losers. While the FTSE 100 is still clinging above 10,000, the S&P 500 is nearing a key market support level. Ian explains what it is and why so many market-watchers are keeping an eye on it. Companies in focus First up, Steve flags results from US software behemoths Adobe (ADBE) and Oracle (ORCL). In Adobe’s case, strong Q1 revenue growth and increasing AI adoption have been overshadowed by the CEO’s surprise departure. Oracle shares on the other hand have enjoyed a strong rally on current growth…

Plant and equipment hire firm Sunbelt Rentals (SUNB), formerly known as Ashtead, posted an 11% drop in Q3 earnings. These are the first results since the company moved its listing to the US, and were published as a 10-Q form. Nothing to write home about Revenue for the quarter to the end of January was $2.64 billion, up 2.7% on the previous year. Cost of sales rose 4.8% to $1.65 billion, however, meaning gross profit was marginally down year-on-year. Selling, general and admin costs rose by over 9% to $379 million, so operating income dropped 7.5% to $492 million. At…

In the first of what we hope will be a weekly wrap of interesting results incoming, we spin through Ashtead Technology (AT.), Trustpilot (TRST) and Wickes (WIX), three companies with plenty to prove. Remember, if you value this content, or any of our analysis features and stories, let us know at editorial@sharesify.com, like us on X, Bluesky, Facebook or LinkedIn, and click that ‘follow’ button., and please subscribe to our YouTube channel, where you’ll find a wealth of investing podcast material. Ashtead Technology (AT.) Interest will be high when the subsea services firm reports FY25 earnings on Tuesday 17 March. In January, the company revealed…

Apartment block builder Berkeley Group (BKG) confirmed its FY26 pre-tax profit guidance but nudged its FY27 target lower. The shares dropped 2.7% to £36.56, taking losses over the last month to around 18%. FY guidance maintained Berkeley, which has an April financial year end, posted a trading update for the four months to 28 February 2026. The group said trading over the period had remained ‘constrained’ by the impact of geopolitics on consumer confidence. Moreover, the situation in the Middle East was ‘weighing heavily on risk sentiment’. Therefore, while it stuck to its FY26 pre-tax profit guidance of £450 million,…

Shares in private equity and credit manager Bridgepoint (BPT) bounced from their 12-month low on strong FY25 results. The firm said earnings were ahead of its expectations driven by fee generation and asset growth. Robust fee growth For the year to December, the group delivered 13% growth in underlying management fees to £422 million. Meanwhile, total assets under management increased by 24.5% from $75.6 billion to $94.1 billion. Fee-paying assets increased slightly to $38.8 billion, although that figure is set to rise this year. Its latest ECP (Energy Capital Partners) fund is completing its fundraising while its latest European buyout…

Shares in heating and ventilation group Volution (FAN) eased 3.7% to 601p despite the firm raising FY26 profit guidance. Following a strong H1 and with continued momentum in H2, EPS is seen hitting the top end of market forecasts. Encouraging outlook For the six months to 31 January, the FTSE 250 firm posted a 22% increase in revenue to £229 million. All three regions – the UK, Europe and Australasia – delivered organic revenue growth in line with the firm’s 3% to 5% target. The rest of the uplift came from recent acquisitions, including Fantech in Australia, plus a small…

Shares in media group Canal+ (CAN), producer of the Paddington films, dropped 17% to 245p after FY25 results disappointed investors. Q4 revenue growth was particularly weak, although the firm said the outlook for earnings was improving. Sluggish growth Group revenue excluding Vietnam and recently acquired MCG (MultiChoice Group) rose 2.6% to €6.45 million. That included a 0.9% organic increase, which just about met the firm’s guidance of positive FY LFL growth. However, Q4 LFL growth of just 0.4% marked a slowdown from the 1.2% growth registered in the first nine months. On a positive note, FY adjusted EBIT of €527…

Shares in infrastructure group Balfour Beatty (BBY) jumped 7% after the firm posted FY25 earnings which topped forecasts. The firm also launched a new £200 million share buyback for the current financial year. Powering ahead Revenue for FY25 rose nearly 8% to £10.77 billion, ahead of the £10.43 billion consensus forecast. The firm cited strong growth in UK power transmission work and demand from the US construction sector. UK construction and support services both performed above the top end of their margin targets. Total profit from earnings-based businesses rose 82% to £327 million, while pre-tax profit rose 51% to £323…