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Informa (INF) has raised its 2026 underlying revenue growth target to around 6 per cent, ahead of consensus forecasts of 4.9 per cent. The FTSE 100 events business also launched a £200mn share buyback, with scope to increase during the year.

Analysts at Bank of America estimate the new revenue growth guidance includes a 70 basis-point contribution from inD, a joint venture completed today between Informa’s B2B live events arm in the United Arab Emirates and the Dubai World Trade Centre. 

Informa is also targeting double-digit underlying adjusted earnings per share growth this year. That excludes foreign exchange movements, event timing noise and one-off licensing deals with AI aggregators. 

For 2025, the company expects to deliver full-year results “in line with or ahead” of market guidance. Group revenues are expected to grow 12.5 per cent to around £4bn, with underlying revenue growth of 6.25 per cent. 

Adjusted earnings per share is forecast to come in at 55.5p, a year-on-year increase of around 11 per cent. Adjusted free cash flow is anticipated to be around £860mn.  The shares rose 1.9 per cent to 888p.

Mining services company Capital (CAPD) hit upgraded sales guidance in 2025, although investors will have to wait until this year before the boom in gold and copper really comes through to the bottom line. 

Sales for the year were $346mn (£257mn), flat against 2024 but in line with boosted guidance. Capital provides drilling and lab services across Africa and the US. The labs business revenue surged almost 70 per cent last year, to $73.5mn. 

Peel Hunt analysts flagged the major contract at Barrick Mining’s (US:B) Reko Diq project in Pakistan as ramping up faster than expected, contributing to a “large step-up in revenue in 2026”. Capital will publish guidance for this year at its FY2025 results presentation in March. 

The shares dropped 2 per cent after the trading update, although the company is up almost two-thirds in the past 12 months.

Shares in Ibstock (IBST) fell 4 per cent in early trading after the brickmaker cautioned in a trading statement that both its new-build and improvements markets will remain subdued in the first half of 2026.

As a result, the company plans to slow production, which will hurt margins but improve cash flow. It expects to be able to pass on any cost inflation through price increases. 

Ibstock reported FY2025 revenue of £372mn, a 2 per cent increase versus the prior year. It expects its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to be in line with previous guidance of £72mn.

4imprint (FOUR) said it anticipates reporting a year-on-year decline in both revenue and profit before tax for 2025. However, the figures are now expected to sit at the upper end of analyst forecasts. 

Unaudited group revenue at the FTSE 250 provider of promotional goods is expected to fall 1.5 per cent to $1.35bn (£1bn) and profit before tax is forecast to be not less than $149mn, which implies a year-on-year drop of 3.3 per cent. 

The company said total order count was down 3 per cent, while average order value for the year was up 1 per cent. New customer order count fell 12 per cent year on year, but 4imprint managed to hold on to existing clients, as the existing customer count was flat for the year.

Demand may have been uneven, but 4imprint managed marketing tightly enough to stop profits being squeezed. The gross profit margin remained at around 32 per cent for the full year, and a double-digit operating profit margin was also maintained. 

With regards to the balance sheet, unaudited net cash and bank deposits at the end of the year stood at $133mn, down from $148mn. Final results for the year to 27 December are due on 11 March.

The government has abandoned plans to set up a statutory regulator to oversee the audit profession.

The measure, part of a package of audit reforms proposed following the collapse of outsourcer Carillion eight years ago, was deemed to be too costly and would run against plans to reduce administrative burdens elsewhere, according to Blair McDougall, Minister for Small Businesses and Economic Transformation.

In a letter explaining the move to the chair of the parliamentary select committee on business and trade, McDougall said the government instead wanted to focus on “the simplification and modernisation of corporate reporting”.

McDougall said “a great deal of progress has been made” in the quality of audits since Carillion’s collapse, and that the government only had limited parliamentary time to pursue other reforms.

 “We cannot hide our disappointment that after many false dawns, the government has decided to scrap the Audit and Corporate Governance Bill,” said Alan Vallance, chief executive of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

“The government had itself recognised that an audit reform bill would increase global investor confidence in UK companies and increase the prospects of growth,” he added.

Shares in Reach (RCH) jumped more than 8 per cent this morning after the newspaper publisher said full-year adjusted operating profit is set to come in ahead of current market expectations. 

Company-compiled consensus is for the Daily Mirror and Express owner to deliver adjusted operating profit of £99.1mn, down from £102mn a year earlier. Reach attributed the upgraded guidance to the “resilient” performance of its print business and ongoing cost-cutting.

In September, more than 600 journalists across Reach nationals and regionals were told their jobs were at risk as the company planned a net cut of 186 people as part of a major editorial overhaul. Reach said the restructuring cost was estimated at around £20mn. 

Digital revenues for the full year are expected to be 1 per cent lower than the prior year due to a material reduction in Google referral volumes and continued macroeconomic weakness. Results for the year to 31 December are due on 3 March.

Shares in Funding Circle (FCH) surged by nearly 15 per cent in early trading after the finance specialist, which offers specialist loans to SMEs as an alternative to the banks, showed that full-year revenues were 28 per cent higher at £204mn, with pre-tax profits coming in at £20mn.

Both numbers were well ahead of market expectations of £191mn and £17mn, respectively.

The company said it was seeing firm demand for credit, despite the broader mixed economic picture. For example, FCH’s term loans business grew by £200mn to £1.6bn, while loans under management were stable at £2.8bn. Most notable was the strong growth in the flexipay and credit card business, with transactions rising rapidly to £815mn (2024: £491mn).

Management said it had achieved its £200mn revenue target a year early and it will provide updated guidance alongside the results presentation on 5 March.