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Frasers Group (FRAS) launched a new ÂŁ70mn share buyback programme, a move that sent the share price up by 8 per cent in early trading.

The programme makes a welcome addition to the Sports Direct owner’s investment-heavy capital allocation policy, which is on track to hit a total spend of more than £2bn across FY25-26, according to Bank of America estimates.

So far, much of Frasers’ capital expenditure has gone towards property. The group announced it had bought Swindon’s Designer Outlet shopping centre from LaSalle Investment Management last week, as part of plans to expand its UK retail footprint.

The FTSE 250 company has appointed bankers from Barclays (BARC) to repurchase up to 10mn shares, beginning today and running until April 2026. Bank of America forecasts suggest the programme could add up to 2 per cent to the Frasers’ earnings per share.

Filtronic (FTC) has landed a deal from “a major European defence prime” to supply components for the next phase of a long-standing electronic sensor programme.

The two-year contract will be worth around ÂŁ11mn to the company and be carried out at its new automated microelectronics plant in Sedgefield.

The shares ticked up by 3 per cent, bringing their year-to-date gain to 93 per cent.

UK asking prices have fallen by 1.8 per cent over the past month, according to property portal Rightmove. The average asking price of a new home seller fell by ÂŁ6,605 to ÂŁ358,138 over the same period.

This means that asking prices at the end of 2025 are 0.6 per cent lower than at the end of 2024.

The portal did note very early signs of activity recovering in the wake of Budget-related uncertainty, with the number of top-end London sellers up 24 per cent in the week after the event.

Rightmove is forecasting a 2 per cent increase in new seller asking prices in 2026, broadly in line with house price forecasts from the likes of Savills and Hamptons. The portal is anticipating a “Boxing Day Bounce” in activity, according to Rightmove’s property expert Colleen Babcock, ahead of “a strong rebound in activity to kick start the year” in 2026.

Shares in TT Electronics (TTG) plunged by 17 per cent after the company’s biggest shareholder ruled itself out from bidding for the company.

DBAY Advisors had been mulling a counter-offer to the 150p per share bid that TT’s board has recommended from Swiss competitor Cicor Technologies (CH:CICN).

DBAY, which holds a 24.5 per cent stake in TT Electronics, has described the Cicor bid as “unattractive” and has said it intends to vote against the deal.

However, it does not intend to table its own bid unless the current offer from Cicor is withdrawn or lapses, or a third party comes in with a separate bid.

TT’s shares fell to 110p a share.

Porvair (PRV) shares nudged 3 per cent higher after the company said it expects sales for the year just closed to be 2 per cent higher than the prior year, and for adjusted earnings per share to be “marginally ahead” of expectations.

The maker of specialist filtration equipment also finished the year with £23mn in net cash – a £9.3mn improvement on the prior year.