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The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has launched a criminal investigation into the past management of troubled social housing trust Home Reit, arresting six people and raiding sites across the UK on suspicion of bribery and fraud.

The agency said the “suspected offending� is estimated to involve £300mn. Investigators searched seven sites and made arrests at homes in Altrincham, Maidenhead and London, as well as a commercial site in Manchester, with assistance from the National Crime Agency.

Home Reit floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2020 at the height of the ESG boom, pitching itself as the first London-listed property fund focused on tackling homelessness. The company raised £850mn from investors, including institutions such as BlackRock and M&G (MNG), alongside retail shareholders.

Investors were told their money would be used to buy and refurbish properties, which would then be leased on a block basis to publicly funded charities and community interest companies. These groups were meant to house rough sleepers, veterans and people struggling with addiction. Rental income would then flow back to shareholders.

However, in November 2022, short seller Viceroy Research published a highly critical report questioning its property valuations and the ability of its tenants to pay rent, following Investors’ Chronicle reporting about Home Reit. Trading was suspended in January 2023, and the company has been under investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority since February 2024.

In a brief statement, Home Reit said it had been made aware of reports of the SFO’s arrests and raids. “Naturally, the company will provide any assistance it is able to the SFO in pursuing its investigations,� it added.

Essentra (ESNT) reported 4.7 per cent like-for-like revenue growth on a constant currency basis in the fourth quarter, helped by easier comparatives, and said adjusted operating profit for the 2025 financial year would fall in line with expectations.

The small components manufacturer and distributor expects full-year like-for-like revenue to grow by 2.5 per cent at constant currency, but stay flat year-on-year when including the impact of foreign exchange.

The EMEA region reported high-single-digit growth year-on-year in the quarter, driven by a strong showing in Turkey, while the Americas delivered low-single-digit growth. The APAC region saw a slight decline in the final quarter due to large one-off projects a year earlier driven by market dynamics in China.

Brooks Macdonald (BRK) disclosed its first quarter of net inflows since 2023, with £50mn of inflows in its second quarter, aided by a much improved performance from its higher-margin bespoke portfolio service (BPS) products.

For the three months to 31 December, group funds under management and advice (FUMA) were up 3 per cent from the previous quarter to £20.1bn. Gross BPS inflows were £345mn in the second quarter, up £200mn from the prior three months. The group’s managed portfolio service (MPS) funds delivered net inflows of £149mn, a 6 per cent rise on the last quarter. 

The shares rose 2 per cent in early trading.

Distribution Finance Capital (DFCH) shares rose 5 per cent in early trading as the market responded positively to the Aim-traded specialist bank’s new medium-term guidance, which it set out alongside an annual trading update.

DF Capital is aiming for a loan book in excess of £1.5bn by 2030, compared to the £846mn position at the end of last year, and a return on required equity of around 20 per cent.

Management also confirmed that it expects trading for the year to 31 December 2025 to beat market forecasts, with adjusted pre-tax profit of at least £17.5mn up 22 per cent on the year before and tangible net assets per share of at least 75p up by a fifth.

Shares in Savills (SVS) jumped 6.5 per cent this morning after the property broker said 2025 growth will be “at least in line with expectations� after a pick-up in transactional activity during the fourth quarter.

In a trading statement, the firm said its transactional business, which includes investment and leasing advisory services, had built “strong transactional pipelines across all our markets� despite macroeconomic uncertainty.

Savills’ less transaction businesses, including property management, consultancy and investment management, had also performed well, it added. Analysts expect the company to deliver profit before tax of £141mn on sales of £2.5bn in 2025. 

Shares in smaller peer Foxtons (FOXT) fell 4 per cent, meanwhile, after it reported a falling sales pipeline in its own trading statement.

Wound care specialist Advanced Medical Solutions (AMS) is on track to deliver full-year revenue of approximately £229mn, with cash profits of £49.5mn-£50mn.

The company has been busy integrating acquisitions over the past 12 months, and said performance was driven by growth across key surgical product categories and a good recovery in wound care, which has offset some destocking in the Peters Surgical business.

Management expects savings from its integrated acquisitions to come through by next year. The company announces its full-year results on 18 March.

Robert Walters (RWA) reported a 14 per cent drop in year-on-year net fee income in the fourth quarter, with strong growth in the UK offset by stubbornly weak conditions in Europe. 

Specialist recruitment, which accounts for 82 per cent of group net fee income, fell 15 per cent during the period, despite 25 per cent growth in the UK.

Recruitment outsourcing fell 12 per cent, including 29 per cent growth in the rest of the world.

The recruitment firm said conditions in northern Europe remain challenging but stable, against a backdrop of “regulatory, macro and political uncertaintyâ€�. Chief executive Toby Fowlston said the initial planning assumption is for 2026 net fee income to be “slightly belowâ€� 2025. 

Robert Walters’ monthly cost run rate closed the year below £24mn, with progress made towards delivering at least £10mn of annualised structural cost savings by 2027.

The firm cut 5 per cent of its headcount quarter-on-quarter, taking the total year-on-year reduction to 12 per cent. The shares fell 3.3 per cent to 132p.

Self-storage operator Safestore (SAFE) reported mixed results for the year ended 31 October this morning.

Like-for-like revenue rose 3 per cent year on year to £229mn, but underlying profit before tax fell 4 per cent to £93mn due to higher financing costs.

Looking ahead to 2026, the company said first-quarter trading to date has continued last year’s like-for-like growth across all markets. It added this year’s outlook is “cautiously optimistic� about returning to earnings growth.

“Safestore is now at an inflection point, where the significant investment we have made [ . . . ] is set to translate into meaningful growth in earnings and long-term value creation,� said chief executive Frederic Vecchioli.

Shares rose 2 per cent in early trading.

Despite reporting marginally higher second-quarter sales, weaker than expected December trading and a slow Black Friday period drove a downgrade to profit guidance from homeware retailer Dunelm (DNLM). The share price tumbled 18 per cent in early trading. 

The homewares company reported sales growth of 1.6 per cent for the quarter, but said that profit before tax in the first half is now expected to come in between £112mn and £114mn, which Peel Hunt said was £4mn behind its original estimate.

The group also steered the market to the lower end of its £214mn to £227mn guidance range for the full year, as a result of soft consumer demand and issues with furniture availability.

“The performance reflected a strong first quarter followed by a more challenging close to the half,� said new chief executive Clo Moriarty.

Broker Panmure Liberum downgraded Dunelm to a sell rating, citing “anaemic top-line growth� which is currently “not reflected in the valuation�. Dunelm’s interim results are expected on 10 February.

CAB Payments (CABP) shares rose 9 per cent in early trading after the business-to-business cross-border payments and foreign exchange operator said it expects its results for the year to 31 December 2025 to come in ahead of market expectations.

The company, which focuses on emerging markets and listed in 2023, expects to post revenue of £119mn and adjusted Ebitda “to be slightly aboveâ€� the top of company-compiled consensus. The top-end of that consensus is for revenue of £113mn and Ebitda of £33.8mn. 

Management said that “increased transaction volumes, an expanded client base, and new product capabilities have all contributed to growthâ€�. 

CAB attracted much interest at its IPO but the shares have crashed by more than 75 per cent since then after a profit warning and shareholder accusations of disclosure failures in the prospectus.

Alumasc (ALU) has appointed Pamela Bingham as its new chief executive. She will start work at the group in early March and then take charge once current chief executive Paul Hooper retires at the end of March.

Bingham has more than 20 years of industrial experience. She has previously been chief executive of industrial services group Eriks UK & Ireland and before that ran Glen Dimplex’s heating and ventilation business.

Schroders (SDR) shares gained 8 per cent in early trading after a surprise trading update from the asset manager guided for annual profit to come in well ahead of market expectations.

The FTSE 100 active manager expects adjusted operating profit for the year to 31 December 2025 to be “at least� £745mn, compared to market consensus of £663mn and a posting of £603mn the year before.

The new outlook is driven by increased assets under management (AUM), up by 10 per cent to around £730bn, and “broadly flat� adjusted operating expenses. AUM benefited from both positive market movements and net new business of around £11bn. Management expects adjusted net operating income to rise 6 per cent to £2.58bn.