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UPDATED ON 12 JANUARY 2026
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British Land & Plus500: Markets live blog

News and updates on your investments
© Investors’ Chronicle
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January 12
˛ú˛âĚýChristopher Akers
Plus500 delivers robust end to 2025

Plus500 (PLUS) said in a full-year trading update that annual results came in ahead of company-compiled consensus, after the FTSE 250 leveraged trading platform enjoyed a strong finish to 2025.

For the year to 31 December, Ebitda of around $348mn (ÂŁ259mn) rose 8 per cent on the prior year. Revenue was up 3 per cent to around $792mn even as new customer and active customer numbers slipped, but average user acquisition cost fell by more than 10 per cent.

The company made inroads in the US futures market in the fourth quarter through new business-to-business partnerships with CME and FanDuel’s joint venture contracts platform and trading education and evaluation platform Topstep. It also expanded its geographic presence in the year, through new licenses in the UAE and Canada and its first expansion into Latin America via Columbia.

Plus500’s shares were flat on the back of the announcement but are up almost 40 per cent over the past year. Preliminary annual results will be released on 9 February.

Find out why we’re bullish on Plus500 here

January 12
˛ú˛âĚýMichael Fahy
IQE boosted by defence demand

IQE (IQE) shares jumped by more than a quarter after the maker of semiconductor wafers said the early release of funding for work on some US military and defence programmes meant trading in the second half of last year was stronger than expected, boosting its profits and cash flow.

The maker of semiconductor wafers, which put itself up for sale last year, also said its photonics arm had performed well, driven by the continued growth in data centre demand. As a result, the company generated revenue of £96mn for 2025 and expects a cash profit of “at least £2mn”, which is at the top end of its previously guided range. It also finished the year with £15.6mn of cash on the balance sheet.

In terms of the ongoing strategic review that kicked off in September, IQE said it is “negotiating nonbinding offers” for different parts of the business and the group as a whole, but added there was no certainty that offers would be made. IQE’s shares leapt by 26 per cent to 9.2p a share.

January 12
˛ú˛âĚýHugh Moorhead
British Land chief executive to step down

British Land (BLND) has this morning announced the departure of its chief executive Simon Carter after five years in the role.

Carter will take the reins of €10.2bn (£8.9bn) European logistics platform P3 Logistics Parks, which is owned by GIC, the Singapore sovereign wealth fund. Carter oversaw British Land’s pivot into retail parks and office campuses during his five years at the helm. Its property portfolio was valued at £9.8bn as of September.

“The contrarian calls we made post-pandemic have positioned British Land for long-term success,” said Carter, who will serve a 12-month notice period.

Shares in British Land, which recently returned to the FTSE 100, have returned 15 per cent (assuming reinvested dividends) during Carter’s time in charge, outperforming the wider real estate sector by 12 percentage points.

Shares fell 2 per cent in early trading.

A service from the Financial Times