Retailer Marks & Spencer (MKS) reported ‘solid’ Christmas sales thanks to strength in its Food business which offset a weaker performance in Fashion, Home & Beauty. Food sales rose 6.6% to £2.72 billion, in addition to which Ocado Retail – which M&S owns 50/50 with Ocado Group (OCDO) – posted sales of £843 million. In contrast, Fashion, Home & Beauty revenue dipped 2.5% to £1.27 billion due to clearance sales to make way for new season lines. Chief executive Stuart Machin insists the business is ‘laser focused’ on future growth with more innovation in Food and better quality and value…

Shares in grocery giant Tesco (TSCO) fell 5% after its Christmas trading update disappointed investors. UK sales were up 3.9% on a like-for-like basis in the third quarter to 22 November, below the 4.1% expected by the market. Moreover, growth slowed to 3.3% in the six weeks to 3 January, in contrast to earlier till roll data which suggested sales rose 4.3% in the 12 weeks to Christmas, ahead of the 3.8% market average. The wholesale arm Booker also missed forecasts with a 0.9% fall in sales for the period to 22 November against expectations of a 1.2% increase, and…

Food-to-go purveyor Greggs (GRG) posted a positive fourth quarter trading update and confirmed its profit guidance. Total sales for the quarter were up 7.4%, bringing full-year sales up 6.8% to £2.15 billion, meaning the firm continued to take share in a challenging market despite talk of ‘peak Greggs’. There were 121 net new store openings, and the plan is to open a further 120 in 2026 bringing to total to just over 2,850 sites. Full year profit for 2025 is seen roughly flat on 2024, which is in line with the company’s previous guidance. Price: £17.31 -2.4%P/E: 12.2xMarket Cap: £1.74bnYield:…

Conglomerate Associated British Foods (ABF) posted a disappointing Christmas trading statement and warned profits would be down this year. The food business had a ‘mixed’ – which is code for poor – first quarter with grocery and ingredients sales down and the firm taking a ‘cautious’ full year outlook. Primark also had a ‘challenging’ quarter with sales growth of just 3%, below expectations, in ‘a difficult clothing market, particularly over Christmas’. As a result, group sales are expected to be flat this year while operating profit and adjusted earnings per share will be down on last year. Price: £19.20 -10.7%P/E:…

Nick Train, lead manager of Finsbury Growth & Income (FGT), has increased his stake in the investment trust to 4.9%. The move comes just ahead of this month’s crucial continuation vote. Train bought 25,000 shares at an average price of 824p, taking his holding to 5.785 million shares. According to the AIC (Association of Investment Companies), the trust’s NAV per share as of 6 January was 874.91p. Must do better The latest factsheet shows that in the 11 months to November 2025, FGT’s NAV declined 7.5%. Meanwhile, its share price declined 6.8% compared to a 6% gain for the FTSE…

Consumer health and hygiene giant Reckitt Benckiser (RKT) has published details of a special dividend and share consolidation. The firm is returning £1.6 billion of ‘excess capital’ from the sale of its Essential Home portfolio to private equity firm Advent International. Investors will receive a special dividend of 235p per share, while the firm will reduce the number of shares in circulation by 4% through a 24 for 25 consolidation. Price: £60.38 -0.4%P/E: 17.7xMarket Cap: £40.75bnYield: 3.5% Not new news as such, as the sale of Essential Home was announced back in July 2025 and the size of the special…

Land developer and homebuilder Henry Boot (BOOT) posted record land sales in 2025, beating its own target. The latest sale of a site in Swindon with permission for 366 residential units takes the firm’s total to a record 3,957 plots. Price: 223p +1.4%P/E: 12.4xMarket Cap: £295mYield: 3.7% NO SHORTAGE OF DEMAND Boot announced that its land promotion and planning business, Hallam Land, had sold the freehold site in Swindon, to national homebuilder Vistry (VTY). The firm said in addition to delivering new homes, including over 500 affordable units, the site would provide community benefits. These include retail, leisure and business…

Activist investor Saba Capital has questioned the decision by Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust (EWI) to reduce its SpaceX stake in its latest open letter. Saba says shareholders need ‘full transparency’ regarding manager Baillie Gifford’s decision to sell down its stake two months ahead of the firm’s scheduled revaluation. It describes the decision to reduce SpaceX, the ‘crown jewel’ of the portfolio, as defying commercial logic and part of an agenda to merge with Baillie Gifford US Trust (USA). Price: 226p +1.2%NAV: 234.7pMarket Cap: £715mYield: n/a It’s hard to argue with Saba’s claim that SpaceX is the crown jewel and ‘defining…

In this article we explain what B shares are, how they are different to regular A shares, and why companies might issue them to investors. B shares are a class of company stock with different rights to normal A shares, such as fewer votes or less rights to dividends, and are sometimes used by companies to return capital. Shareholders in clothing and homewares retailer Next (NXT) are due to receive cash by way of a B share scheme this month. On 19 December, Next announced it would return just over £421 million of surplus cash by issuing B shares rather…

High street retailer Next (NXT) has pulled a rabbit out of the hat again with its Q4 trading update. In the nine weeks to 27 December, full price sales rose by 10.6% compared with guidance of a 7% increase. Together with positive trading so far this month, sales for the year to the end of January will be around £50 million above the most recent forecast. That translates into a £15 million uplift in pre-tax profit for the year to £1.15 billion, a 13.7% increase on last year, and a 16.1% increase in earnings per share. Price: £140 +2.9%P/E: 21.3xMarket…