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Shares in Zigup (ZIG) climbed nearly 13 per cent this morning after the vehicle rental group upgraded its full-year profit guidance and unveiled a simplification plan for its UK and Ireland division that is set to unlock £20mn in cost savings by 2028. 

The FTSE 250 group beat analysts’ and its own expectations during the first half, and said underlying pre-tax profit is now set to land at least at the top of the company-compiled consensus range of between £150mn and £155mn.

Underlying revenue was up 4.5 per cent to £810mn in the six months to 30 October, driven by double-digit vehicle hire revenue growth in Spain and contract wins with the likes of Tesco (TSCO). Including vehicle sales, total group revenue came in 2.9 per cent higher year on year to £930mn. 

Operating profit before disposals rose 11.5 per cent to £82mn, or 1.4 per cent to £100mn when including disposal profits. Zigup has been spending heavily to replace and expand their fleet, but that big investment phase is almost done and management expects their “steady state” cash flow to improve going forward.

HSBC (HSBA) has ended its drawn-out hunt for a new chair by appointing Brendan Nelson, an internal candidate who has been in the role on an interim basis since early October. 

His promotion follows months of uncertainty after Sir Mark Tucker announced in May that he would be stepping down. The news came far earlier than expected, prompting the bank to launch a search that reportedly struggled to land a high-profile external successor.

Nelson joined the bank’s board in 2023 and previously spent much of his career at KPMG, where he led the global financial services practice. He has also served as a non-executive director at BP (BP) and NatWest (NWG).

HSBC said the appointment followed a “robust process” that considered both internal and external candidates. But analysts noted the lengthy search suggests the bank may have struggled to attract its preferred external names.

Shore Capital analyst Gary Greenwood noted Nelson was “probably not top of the list” originally, but added he is “well qualified” and that the decision means “the group can move forward with some certainty”. The shares fell 1 per cent to 1,076p.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will lift its pause on motor finance complaint handling at the end of May, two months earlier than previously proposed. 

The pause, introduced in January 2024, was designed to prevent disorderly outcomes while the FCA investigated whether lenders and brokers had properly disclosed commission payments. The move follows legal clarity from the Supreme Court and High Court on how to proceed with how firms should deal with very large numbers of complaints. 

The regulator said bringing the end date forward will ensure that consumers, many of whom have waited for nearly two years, receive timely decisions.

Engineering group Senior (SNR) has womultiyearyear contract to supply parts for fluid conveyancing that can be used as standard across Airbus’s commercial aircraft.

The parts have been designed both for Airbus’s single- and dual-aisle aircraft and will begin to be delivered from next year.

Senior did not reveal financial details of the contract, but joint house broker Jefferies said the company tends not to put out statements for small contracts and argued that it is “strategically very important”.

The company’s shares rose by 3 per cent.

Smiths Group (SMIN) has agreed to sell the Smiths Detection arm to private equity firm CVC Capital Partners (NL:CVC) for an enterprise value of £2bn. Adjusting for deal expenses and separation costs, Smiths expects to receive £1.85bn in net cash.

The sale represents a multiple of 12.5 times Smiths Detection’s adjusted cash profit of £160mn for the year ended in July and brings the total proceeds of disposals following the recently-announced sale of Smiths Interconnect to £3.3bn.

Broker Panmure Liberum said the sale was “at the top end” of market expectations of between £1.3bn-£2bn. The shares rose by 2 per cent.

Smiths Detection makes scanning equipment used in airports and at security checkpoints. Management said a sale to CVC represented a “more compelling outcome” for shareholders than an alternative plan to demerge the company, as it immediately realises a cash sum.

It intends to use some of the proceeds to support future growth but will return “a large portion” of the proceeds to shareholders.

Activist investors had been campaigning for a sale of some or all of the parts of the Smiths Group to release what was viewed as trapped value due to its conglomerate structure. Following the sales, Smiths will consist of the John Crane business selling seals and filtration systems, and the Flex-Tek arm.

“We are focusing Smiths as a premium industrial engineering company specialising in flow management and thermal solutions, and today’s announcement positions us strongly to deliver enhanced growth and returns,” chief executive Roland Carter said.

Spire Healthcare (SPI) shares fell sharply after the company warned that profits will undershoot expectations despite steady revenue growth, as a combination of rising costs and tighter NHS budgets caused problems for the private hospitals operator.

Spire reported a 3.8 per cent rise in revenue in the four months to October, supported by improving self-pay demand. However, a temporary slowdown in National Health Service (NHS) commissioning activity, caused by tighter Integrated Care Board budgets, has hit volumes and weighed on earnings. Private hospitals outside London often rely on providing auxiliary services to local NHS trusts for the bulk of their business.

Spire now expects full-year adjusted group cash profits to be at the bottom end of its £270mn-285mn range. With consensus at £275mn, this points to a downgrade of around 2 per cent.

Although the company remains confident about medium-term growth, it cautioned that NHS activity will remain a material uncertainty into early 2026.