Life and health insurer Prudential (PRU) has announced it will buy back $1.2 billion worth of shares over the course of 2026. The buyback comprises $500 million of recurring capital returns and $700 million from the successful IPO of ICICI Prudential Asset Management (IPAMC). Price: £12.00 +1.7%P/E: 12.5xMarket Cap: £30.3bnYield: 1.5% Our View Prudential, or ‘The Pru’ as it used to be known, is a very different beast these days with no UK operations but a huge presence in Greater China, the ASEAN trading area, Africa and India. The buyback is the second part of a total planned capital return…

Casino and bingo hall operator Rank Group (RNK) announced chief executive John O’Reilly will step down at the end of this month and will be replaced by chief finance officer Richard Harris. Harris has been a board member since joining in May 2022 and is well versed in the business so it should be a smooth transition. Price: 97.8pP/E: 10.1xMarket Cap: £444mYield: 2.7% Given Rank’s recent problems with an undiscovered fraud at its Spanish business it was inevitable someone’s head would roll in the New Year. The fact change has happened so quickly is reassuring, although we would point out…

Shares in travel firm Saga (SAGA) hit a new high after holding company Kelso (KLSO) revealed it had bought a stake. Kelso said it acquired the stake at the start of January 2026. Price: 398p +3.8%P/E: 13.4xMarket Cap: £570mYield: n/a Kelso’s stake is just 400,000 shares out of Saga’s issued capital of 144 million shares, so it’s not material. However, Kelso is clearly bullish on the prospects for the over-50s travel firm. Based on Kelso’s internal analysis, Saga trades on an EV/EBITDA multiple to January 2026 of around 7.5 times. The calculation is based on Saga’s last reported interim net…

The FTSE 100 index of large-cap stocks advanced towards a new record led by defence and mining stocks. The index has been flirting with the 10,000 level this month despite rising geopolitical tensions. While defence and mining stocks led the rally, ‘defensive’ sectors such as telecoms, tobacco and utilities were the main losers. That suggests investors are still keen to take on risk even with the market approaching a new record high. Counter-intuitively, oil prices fell despite potentially higher volatility in crude prices following the US kidnapping of Venezuela’s leader over the weekend. Brent crude traded 28c or roughly 0.5%…

International construction and infrastructure group Balfour Beatty (BBY) has cashed in a small chunk of its investment portfolio netting it a £7 million gain. Private equity firm Equitix has paid £87 million for a collection of offshore transmission assets, street lighting projects, a road concession and a biomass plant. Price: 715.5p +0.2%P/E: 20.4xMarket Cap: £3.5bnYield: 1.8% As well as its bread-and-butter infrastructure business, Balfour Beatty owns a speculative portfolio of investments which it can tap into now and then. The sale of a bunch of projects at a small profit won’t move the needle much given the size of the…

AIM-listed event ticketing and ecommerce software provider Accesso Technology (ACSO) has confirmed full-year 2025 profit expectations. The firm also revealed a major customer has decided to remain on board this year ‘on revised commercial terms’ rather than ending its contact. There will be a further update at the end of January including a more detailed outlook for 2026. Price: 289p -11%P/E: 15.4xMarket Cap: £108mYield: n/a Clearly retaining a big client is a positive for Accesso, but it sounds like the deal for this year is on less favourable terms. Indeed, the firm talks about a negative net revenue impact in…

Shares in Auction Technology Group (ATG) jumped 18% after it revealed the board had rejected no fewer than 11 unsolicited bids for the business over the past four months. The repeat bidder, FitzWalter Capital, made its latest offer of 360p per share in cash on 23 December 2025. The ATG board insists FitzWalter’s proposals are opportunistic and do not reflect the fair value of the business. Price: 318p +18.8%P/E: n/aMarket Cap: £325mYield: n/a Auction software sounds like a good business on paper, but investors have had a rough ride since the company listed in 2021. At one stage the shares…

The FTSE 100 index of leading UK shares hit a new record of 10,000 points on the first full day of trading this year, hitting an intraday high of 10,051. Investors were encouraged by signs of a recovery in the economy as the S&P Global UK Manufacturing PMI (purchasing managers index) increased to 50.6 in December, its highest level in more than a year, from 50.2 in November. A reading over 50 is taken to mean the economy is expanding, while a reading below 50 means the economy is contracting, and today’s reading suggests activity is picking up steam. Meanwhile,…

Shares in AIM-listed PC game developer and publisher Frontier Developments (FDEV) surged almost 10% on the news it had appointed a new chief executive. Jo Cooke, who joined the board as of 1 January, is currently a director or partner in Hillside Clubhouse and Hillside Trading and was previously a director of industry body UK Interactive Entertainment. Price: 484p +9.4%P/E: 11.6xMarket Cap: £170mYield: n/a Not so much a new arrival as a returnee as Cooke was director or marketing at FDEV from 2014 to 2017 before moving to global media group Omnicom. Cooke is also full-time head of marketing at…

AIM-listed payment services group Boku (BOKU) has announced it will buy back up to 4 million shares or 5% of its issued capital as it believes the current market prices undervalues the business. The firm says the buyback ‘represents a good investment opportunity and effective use of our growing own-cash balances, as well as a reaffirming of our belief in the company’s long term growth plan’. Price: 219p +4.2%P/E: 93xMarket Cap: £648mYield: n/a Boku already owns 6.5 million shares or 2.1% of the company, so either we’re being dim or the maths doesn’t add up. There are roughly 297 million…