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Yorkshire-based pork and poultry producer Cranswick (CWK) delivered yet another strong half, defined by broad-based revenue growth across all divisions.

Sales were boosted by UK food volumes growing by 7 per cent overall, with revenue in its poultry unit notable for rising 18.5 per cent over the period. The division now makes up a fifth of group revenue.

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A solid tech rally is keeping things afloat in Europe with shares in London and Paris up slightly this morning, with the FTSE 100 hosting a battle of risk-on sentiment, Budget rumours and earnings updates from some of its biggest names.

Bank shares, though, are jumping again on reports that they will be spared from a tax raid in the Budget. Lloyds, NatWest, Barclays all rose about 3 per cent. They had come off in the last fortnight following a report suggesting a tax raid was back on the table, after the Financial Times had originally said they would be spared. 

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Shares in AO World (AO.) rose 4 per cent in early trading after the online electricals retailer raised its profit expectations for 2025, driven by double-digit revenue growth and despite higher wage and national insurance costs hitting the first half.

The group now expects full-year pre-tax profits to come in at the top end of its ÂŁ45-50mn guidance, which it narrowed in September. In the six months to 30 September, pre-tax profits rose 10 per cent to ÂŁ18mn, helped by a 14 per cent increase in total revenue to ÂŁ586mn.

Sales in its core business-to-consumer retail business climbed 12 per cent to £423mn, with the business-to-business division down 23 per cent to £46mn as AO moved away from low-margin contracts. Re-commerce revenue soared 834 per cent to £56mn, thanks to last year’s acquisition of second-hand tech and electronics company musicMagpie.

musicMagpie’s losses have narrowed from around £6mn at acquisition to a forecast of £2mn for the 2026 financial year, with management targeting a break-even run-rate beyond that.

Intertek (ITRK) reported 4.6 per cent revenue growth in the third quarter at constant currency, most of that coming organically and driven by its higher-margin consumer products and corporate assurance divisions.

Still, the shares fell 5 per cent in early trading, as the FTSE 100 testing, inspection and certification group couldn’t match last year’s stronger growth rates. Management left its overall 2025 guidance unchanged, but made some tweaks to its net debt forecasts and the outlook for two divisions.

Guidance for the world of energy division was nudged down from low-single digit like-for-like growth to “stable”, while the industry and infrastructure arm was upgraded from low single-digit to mid single-digit growth.

Net finance costs were revised slightly upward, and net financial debt guidance was increased from ÂŁ820-870mn at the half-year mark to ÂŁ925-975mn after completing two acquisitions in the second half. The currency drag to both revenue and profits was also left unchanged.

Domino’s Pizza’s (DOM) chief executive Andrew Rennie is stepping down with immediate effect after just over two years at the helm of the FTSE 250 business.

Chief operating officer Nicola Frampton is taking over on an interim basis, with the search process to identify a permanent successor under way. Shore Capital analyst Katie Cousins described the move as “unexpected” and a “loss to the business” given Rennie’s “wealth of experience”.

Rennie had worked at Domino’s for over two decades, and his departure “by mutual agreement” marks the latest executive reshuffle at the struggling pizza group. The shares are down more than 50 per cent over the past year.

Interim finance boss Richard Snow is set to be replaced by Andy Andrea, who will join from drinks company C&C Group (CCR) in March. As a result, the company’s planned 9 December capital markets day has been postponed.

Hilton Food Group (HFG) also announced leadership changes this morning. CEO Steve Murrells is leaving with immediate effect too, after agreeing with the board that “now is the right time to search for a new leader to take the business forward”.

Non-executive chair Mark Allen has been promoted to executive chair to oversee the search for a new boss. Murrell’s exit follows a profit warning earlier this month, which sent the shares down by more than a fifth on the day.

The company blamed ongoing operational issues at the group’s smoked salmon business, Foppen, and subdued demand for white fish hitting its UK seafood division. The outcome of a strategic business review is scheduled for 29 January.

Engineering services provider Renew Holdings (RNWH) delivered few surprises at full-year results this morning. Adjusted operating profit rose 2 per cent to ÂŁ72mn, with revenues up nearly 6 per cent to ÂŁ1.1bn in the year to 30 September. 

The company’s order book rose 3 per cent year on year to £915mn. Management didn’t provide specific guidance for the 2026 financial year but said it has “confidence in delivering against expectations”. Analysts expect adjusted operating profit to rise 7 per cent to £77mn.

“Despite well-documented headwinds in specific areas, our teams have worked tirelessly to deliver another year of record revenues and operating profit,” said chief executive Paul Scott, in reference to the challenges the company’s rail business experienced at the start of the year. Net cash dwindled to just over £6mn, down from £26mn a year earlier.

The shares rose 2.6 per cent to 236p in early trading.

Kingfisher (KGF) shares rose 5 per cent this morning after the board lifted the group’s full-year profit guidance, in early signs of a DIY market recovery in the UK.

The B&Q owner said like-for-like sales rose 1.6 per cent in the year-to-date, on account of greater transaction volumes. Total sales for the third quarter hit ÂŁ3.25bn, up from ÂŁ3.22bn a year earlier.

The UK remained the standout region, with like-for-like third-quarter sales growth of 3 per cent on a constant currency basis driven by market share gains, as well as an uptick in what chief executive Thierry Garnier called “big-ticket” categories. France and Poland saw continued “subdued consumer demand”.

Adjusted profit before tax guidance for 2026 was upgraded to ÂŁ540-570mn, from the previous ÂŁ480mn to ÂŁ540mn range. Its free cash flow target of ÂŁ480-520mn was maintained. 

Kingfisher will report its final results in March.

Beazley (BEZ) shares dived by 10 per cent in morning trading after the speciality insurer revealed weaker than expected growth in its gross premiums, in a sign that slower growth is finally feeding through into the underwriting market. 

Chief executive Adrian Cox flagged the deflating numbers: “Growth is running at the low end of our guidance and below the level we delivered in the first half.” As a result, the outlook for premium growth was downgraded to flat to low single-digits. 

While the combined ratio was respectably in the low 80s, the trading statement showed that top line insurance written premiums growth had slowed to just one per cent to $4.62bn (ÂŁ3.53bn). The culprit was a major reversal for Beazley’s cyber security products, which saw an 8 per cent decrease in written premiums to $848mn (ÂŁ646mn). JH