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Standard Chartered (STAN) announced a new $1.5bn (£1.1bn) share buyback and boosted its annual dividend by 65 per cent, despite profits at the Asia and Africa-focused FTSE 100 bank coming in below consensus forecasts.

The fresh return of capital programme was unveiled two weeks after chief financial officer Diego De Giorgi – a leading candidate to succeed chief executive Bill Winters – resigned to join private capital asset manager Apollo. He has been replaced on an interim basis by his deputy Pete Burrill.

Profits undershot company-compiled consensus in the fourth quarter on a softer than expected non-interest income (NII) performance, plus higher expenses and one-off charges. Reported pre-tax profit came in at $814mn in the final three months of the year, against consensus of $1.1bn.

Brooks Macdonald (BRK) enjoyed its first half of net inflows since 2023, but the asset manager’s statutory profit before tax halved on higher staff and restructuring costs.

For the six months to 31 December, the company had pre-announced funds under management and advice (FUMA) of £20.1bn and its return to inflows. Net inflows were £2mn in the half (and £50mn in the second quarter) compared to outflows of £262mn in the same period the year before. 

Statutory profit before tax fell 51 per cent to £6.2mn, as fixed staff costs rose 31 per cent and the group put through £6.8mn of strategic transformation and restructuring charges.

Chemicals company Croda (CRDA) has been suffering from customer destocking for the past couple of years. The operational picture now looks brighter, but the need to change around capital allocations was a notable drag on reported profits – a series of write-downs and charges totalled a hefty £185mn, compared with just £52mn in 2024. 

The housekeeping exercise seemed to satisfy the market, with investors bidding up the shares by 4 per cent this morning.

The core divisions have returned to growth, with Consumer Care sales rising 7.9 per cent to £972mn and adjusted profit increasing by 6 per cent to £170mn. Sales in Life Sciences were up 7.7 per cent to £532mn and profit climbed 12 per cent to £116.5mn. Industrial Specialties remained weaker, however, with profit declining to £9mn from £15.5mn.

Management is guiding for organic sales growth of between 3 to 6 per cent this year, with current operating profits in line with consensus forecasts, which are currently indicating an average of £321mn.

Property management software company Essensys (ESYS) will drop out of the London market after its value has tumbled from £200mn in 2021 to just £11mn. 

Founder Mark Furness, who stepped down a year ago from the chief executive role, will pay 17p per share to take the company private alongside several other tech investors. He first approached the board last year with a 20p offer and already holds 30 per cent of the shares. The buyout will be funded by a £10mn loan. 

The company said the reduced offer, valuing Essensys at £11mn, was worth backing because it provided “a level of certainty and acceleration of delivering value to Essensys shareholders�. A year ago, the company was trading at 37p. The shares have tumbled on a weaker commercial property market and the loss of a large single customer last year.

Shares in Unite Group (UTG) fell as much as 10 per cent in early trading after the student landlord reported falling demand and downgraded 2026 guidance.

For the 2025 financial year, the company reported adjusted earnings of £232mn on rental income of £428mn, an increase of 8 per cent and 9 per cent respectively against the prior year. Like-for-like rental income grew 5 per cent.

However, Unite has filled only 68 per cent of its beds for the 2026/27 academic year, down from 71 per cent this time last year, with the decline coming in its nomination agreements with universities, supposedly a more secure income stream than direct bookings.

As a result, it expects 2026/27 rental growth and occupancy each to be at the lower end of their respective targets of 2-3 per cent and 93-96 per cent.

This, coupled with weaker income from recent acquisition Empiric, has resulted in 2026 adjusted earnings per share guidance of between 41.5p and 43p, the midpoint of which is 11 per cent below 2025.