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Scottish Mortgage (SMT) has said it is holding Elon Musk’s SpaceX at a valuation of $1.25tn (£920bn) – well below the $1.75tn the company is reportedly planning to target when it floats.

Reports suggest SpaceX is planning to launch the biggest IPO in history as early as next month, although market conditions could delay it. If the listing goes to plan, it could give Scottish Mortgage’s net asset value a significant boost, as we explained here.

Scottish Mortgage said it does not yet know what lock-up period it will be subject to after the listing, but added that six months is “typical�.

In this time, the trust won’t be able to sell down its position in SpaceX, which accounted for nearly 18 per cent of the portfolio as at the end of April. This is an unusual level of concentration for the trust.

More bad news from On The Beach Group (OTB) this morning. Shares in the package holiday provider sold off by 17 per cent after it more than halved its full-year profit guidance, following months of uncertainty due to war in the Middle East.

The Manchester-headquartered group initially pulled its pre-tax profit guidance of £39mn to £43mn in March, after noting a significant slowdown in demand for travel while it worked to repatriate customers stranded in resorts across the region.

Management revealed its revised target this morning, now expecting to deliver pre-tax profit in the range of £18mn to £25mn. Revenue for the half declined by £7.2mn to £52mn, while the group reported a pre-tax loss of £3.2mn, down from a £4.5mn profit the year before.

Despite this, bookings showed slight improvement over the first half, climbing by 7 per cent, with shorter duration city breaks leading the rise as customers sought alternatives to far-flung destinations.

Wickes (WIX) blamed “exceptional� rainfall for a trading slowdown in its retail business over the 17 weeks to 25 April.

The shares shed more than 11 per cent in early trading after the DIY retailer said that wet weather had dampened consumer demand for outdoor projects. Like-for-like revenue growth in its retail division declined by 1.7 per cent as a result.

However, Wickes’ more resilient trade arm, which targets professionals, provided something of a buffer: sales increased by 4 per cent year on year. The group’s bathroom and kitchen installation business was also in growth, and helped offset the slowdown in retail. Group revenue rose 1.3 per cent over the period.

Management reiterated its guidance of adjusted pre-tax profits in the £54mn to £59.4mn range for 2026.

Imperial Brands (IMB) reported a 1.8 per cent increase in underlying revenue to £3.7bn in the six months to 31 March, with pricing gains in traditional cigarettes and growth in next-generation products offsetting volume declines.

Tobacco underlying revenues rose 1.5 per cent compared with 7.5 per cent growth in products such as vapes, oral and heated tobacco. The company lost market share in its top five priority markets as it focused on more profitable segments over volume.

Adjusted underlying operating profit grew just 0.6 per cent to £1.6bn, with better profitability in tobacco offset by a decline in distribution profits. On a reported basis, operating profit fell 36.5 per cent, reflecting higher spending and costs tied to Delaware settlement charges.

This year’s guidance was unchanged, with the group still expecting low-single-digit growth in tobacco revenues, double-digit growth in next-generation products and adjusted operating profit growth of 3 to 5 per cent.

Shares in Greggs (GRG) rose 5 per cent this morning after the bakery chain said trading had improved over the past 10 weeks.

The sausage roll seller told the market that like-for-like sales rose by 2.5 per cent in the first 19 weeks of the year, accelerating to 3.3 per cent in the past ten weeks, although against a weak comparator period.

The FTSE 250 group has struggled in recent months with falling demand, and blamed a particularly warm summer for putting people off its hot food in 2025. FY25 pre-tax profit fell by 18 per cent.

Nonetheless, management confirmed that there had been no change to its overall outlook for cost inflation, which it expects to be around 3 per cent. The company said that 85 per cent of its energy requirements for 2026 are covered by forward purchase agreements.

Renew Holdings (RNWH) shrugged off any uncertainty related to conflict in the Middle East as it reported resilient interim results for the six months to March.

The Aim-listed contractor, which focuses on maintenance and repairs of existing infrastructure, reported profit before tax of £25mn on revenues of £589mn, up 9 per cent and 4 per cent respectively versus the prior year.

Its order book rose 4 per cent to £945mn. Chief executive Paul Scott said the company had seen “strong demand� across its business, supported by “highly visible, committed, long-term spending cycles�.

The company said it was on track to achieve its full-year expectations. Consensus currently expects a full-year profit before tax of £75mn.

The interim dividend rose 5 per cent to 7.0p. Shares fell 1 per cent in early trading.

Marston’s (MARS) struggled to make headway in a difficult market for pubs, with first-half sales down 1 per cent to £423mn.

Yet despite higher capex spend on converting pubs into newer formats, the company reported an 8 per cent increase in underlying pre-tax profit to £20.5mn, which it attributed to better cost control.

Chief executive Justin Platt argued that the chain was “well positioned� for the World Cup this summer, with more traditional pubs converted into sports bars. However, a weaker start to the second half, with like-for-like sales down 1.5 per cent in April, saw the shares slide by 7 per cent.

Norcros (NXR) is planning a complete exit from South Africa.

The bathroom products specialist closed its Johnson Tiles manufacturing business in the country last year. It is now looking to sell the remainder of its South African operations, including the Tile Africa retail arm, the House of Plumbing builders’ merchants and tile adhesives maker TAL.

Combined, these generated an underlying operating profit of £6.7mn on revenue of £99.4mn in the year that ended in April 2025.

Norcros has had a presence in South Africa since the 1950s, but chief executive Thomas Willcocks said a sale would allow it “to build a more streamlined, capital-light and cash-generative business� focused on the UK and Europe.

Broker Peel Hunt said that a disposal “would be viewed positively by investors�. Indeed, the shares rose by 2 per cent but are still 13 per cent lower year-to-date. A sale would be expected to take about a year to complete.

Diversified Reit Picton Property Income (PCTN) has accepted a £403mn non-binding offer from a consortium consisting of serial consolidator LondonMetric (LMP) and smaller peer Schroder Reit (SREI). The deal will hand shares in both buyers to Picton shareholders, and the portfolio will be split.

The consortium had previously announced that it was considering a joint bid for Picton on 24 March.

The all-share offer values Picton’s shares at 78.2p each, a 7 per cent premium to its 11 May close price and a 1 per cent premium to its close price on 12 January, the day before Picton’s board announced the company would undergo a strategic review.

But it also represents a discount of around 9 per cent to Picton’s most recently disclosed net asset value per share.

Picton’s shareholders will receive 46 per cent of the consideration in LondonMetric shares, and 54 per cent in Schroder Reit shares. As a result they will own 4 per cent of an enlarged LondonMetric, and 48 per cent of Schroder Reit. LondonMetric’s own stake in Schroder Reit, currently 11 per cent, will therefore reduce to 6 per cent.

TR Property Investment Trust (TRY), Picton’s largest shareholder with an 11 per cent shareholding, has publicly come out in favour of the deal.   

Schroder Reit has said that the deal would almost double the value of its portfolio to £850mn, whilst broadly retaining its existing sector mix of roughly one half industrial, one quarter offices, and the remainder mostly retail.

Given Picton’s own £700mn portfolio is 70 per cent weighted towards industrial, this implies that LondonMetric will largely be acquiring industrial assets, which its existing portfolio is strongly weighted to. 

The bid is still subject to due diligence and shareholder approvals for all three parties. 

Picton’s shares were flat in early trading, while those in LondonMetric fell 2 per cent, and those in Schroder Reit 3 per cent.

Derwent London (DLN) has followed through on the buybacks it has been hinting at for months with the announcement of a £50mn programme, equivalent to 2.5 per cent of its market cap.

The office landlord also reported a healthy first quarter of leasing activity, with £25mn of new leases signed at an average of 5 per cent above estimated market rates.

There were no material updates to its £1bn disposals programme, with £278mn of disposals exchanged so far this year. The company also said that its search for a new chief executive was “at an advanced stage�.

Outgoing chief executive Paul Williams said that Derwent had experienced “strong activity across the business� and that the company would “selectively invest where we see attractive risk-adjusted returns�.

Shares were flat in early trading.

Wizz Air (WIZZ) now expects to break even after a stronger finish to its March year-end, which is an improvement on a couple of prior warnings of a potential loss. It has increased its fuel hedge position to 70 per cent of its summer requirements and said its newer Airbus A321neo planes burn about 18 per cent less fuel than older models.

However, having “proactively pivoted� planes that were flying to the Middle East to its core European markets, the company has to find enough people to fill them given a planned 28 per cent increase in capacity over the summer months. To do this, “we have strategically utilised promotional fares to stimulate demand�, the low-cost carrier said.

Forward bookings for the six months to September currently stand at 44 per cent, which is 2 per cent ahead of the same period last year, the airline said. The FactSet earnings consensus is for the airline to suffer a pre-tax loss of about €220mn (£191mn) this year.

There are signs that Vodafone’s (VOD) focus on its biggest markets in Germany and the UK is benefitting its financial performance, although the group’s top-line growth in its African markets point to the emerging opportunity on offer.

Service revenue growth underpinned a 3.8 per cent increase in adjusted cash profits to €11.4bn (£9.83bn) for the year to 31 March. Overall service revenue increased to €33.5bn, against €30.8bn in FY2025, with the highest growth rate recorded in Africa.

The group completed the final €500mn tranche of its second €2bn buyback programme midway through May, while the final dividend of 2.3625 cents takes the full-year payout to 4.6125 cents, an increase of 2.5 per cent.

Management said that uncertainties linger due to the ongoing conflict in Iran and the wider economic backdrop, but still pitched underlying profits in the range of €11.9bn-€12.2bn in the current financial year.