Analyst Lists

No news in the week to 23 October beyond routine buyback filings. The second £600m tranche of the £1.2bn programme has been running since 14 September and ends no later than 22 March 2027; the 478,827,626-share maximum applies to the whole programme, and every share bought is cancelled rather than held in treasury. The 7.3% yield is unchanged on a share price that barely moved. The reason for the entry is unchanged — a 7.3% yield paid by an insurer that is also shrinking its share count. AI Score 64 reflects a business whose growth is not the attraction.

The shares fell 9.6% in the week to 23 October, to 1,776p, and the only company filings were the buyback's routine purchase notices. The yield has risen to 3.8% from 3.4% on the lower price, not on any change to the payout. The interim dividend of 25p, up from 18p, went ex-dividend on 8 October, and the board's own words still belong beside that figure: "This increase of 39% is larger than the increase in profitability at the mid-point in the year. As such, it should not be considered indicative of the board's plans for the year as a whole." The extended share buyback — up to £3m until 15 December 2026, with the shares bought to be cancelled — is running. The half itself was strong — revenue US$196.3m from US$179.4m, pre-tax profit US$78.6m from US$63.0m — and group cash stood at US$113.5m at 30 June 2026. The company reports in dollars; its earnings per share rose to 116.8 cents from 93.2 cents. The funding of the Kalimantan land purchases — US$2.0m so far, within a wider US$20–25m programme — has still not been stated, and we are still not guessing at it. AI Score 83, the highest on this list; the 3.8% yield is still the lowest on it.

No news in the week to 23 October. The latest contract came on 15 October: Telegraph Media Group, already a customer, appointed Smiths News its exclusive wholesale distributor across all of Great Britain from October 2027, on enhanced commercial terms and with the contract now running to September 2036. The company expects about £40m of extra annual revenue from the added territories and says that, with the June and July contracts, it has now secured about 61% of the national newspapers and magazines market from the point those contracts start. Guidance on implementation costs, dividends and financing is unchanged from June, with more detail due at the full-year results on 4 November. That is the date that matters: the 29 September trading update said the year just ended will come in ahead of market expectations without saying by how much, and the cost of building a national network for these wins is still unquantified. The yield has eased to 6.9% from 7.1% because the share price rose, not because the payout changed; it is the third-highest on the list, behind SREI and LGEN. The argument is unchanged: a distributor in a structurally declining end market, paying out of contracted cash generation with the major supply contracts extended well into the next decade. AI Score 77.

No news in the week to 23 October. The first-quarter update on 14 October reported a fourth consecutive quarter of net inflows, at a slower pace: net inflows of £54m in the three months to 30 September, against net outflows of £49m a year earlier but well below the £167m of the April to June quarter; funds under management and advice rose to £21.8bn. The company's own measure of annualised net flow growth was 1.1%, against the 5% it targets over the medium term. The entry stands as rewritten seven editions ago, and the narrowing is worth restating: the dividend was raised 2.5% to 83.0p and the board has kept raising through an outflow cycle, but the same results showed the revenue yield on funds falling to 50.0 basis points from 59.4, underlying pre-tax profit flat at £29.0m, statutory pre-tax profit down 82% to £3.2m after adjustments that more than doubled to £25.8m, and cash resources roughly halved to £25.0m. This is an entry about a dividend supported by recurring fees, not about a compounding business. The yield has edged up to 5.6% from 5.5% on a lower share price. The AI Score of 59 is the lowest of any name across all four lists and we are not hiding it.

Six weeks after the merger took effect, still no dividend, and that remains the entry. No news in the week to 23 October. The merger with Picton became effective on 10 September. On 14 October the trust reported nine lettings across the enlarged portfolio since early August, adding £1.2m of rent a year, 11% ahead of the valuers' estimated rental values — useful evidence that the vacant space can be let, though small beside annual rent of about £51m. Its half-year results will be published on 26 November, with a full update on the enlarged portfolio; it has not said whether the next dividend will be declared with them. No dividend has been declared since the 0.897p quarterly for the period to 30 June, declared 5 August and paid 4 September, before the scheme completed. The 8.5% yield on this page is that quarterly rate annualised against the current share price — it has risen from 8.4% because the price fell, not because anything was declared — so the arithmetic is sound; what the enlarged share base bears on is whether the trust can COVER the same rate per share, now spread across roughly 94% more shares. If it does not hold the 0.897p run-rate on the enlarged share base, the entry comes off. The enlarged trust is £400.3m of market value, on total voting rights of 948,471,933. AI Score 60.

A year-end trading update on 22 October confirmed the year the first three quarters had shown. In the year to 30 September 2026 customer numbers rose by 152,000 to 796,000, up 24%, and platform assets under administration rose 22% to £126.0bn, £13.0bn of that from rising markets. Net inflows were £9.7bn, up 37% from £7.1bn. The fourth quarter brought £2.5bn of net inflows, up 47% on a year earlier but below the third quarter's £3.0bn. The update gives no revenue or profit figures and does not change guidance; those come with the full-year results on 3 December. The cut to the core managed-portfolio charge, to 0.12% from 0.15%, took effect on 1 October, so its cost is a question for the year now under way. The 2.5% yield is unchanged. AI Score 86, the highest in this edition.

No company news in the week to 23 October beyond a shareholding notice; the shares fell 12.7% over the week, to 6,890p, and the yield has risen to 0.9% from 0.8% on the lower price. It is still the lowest yield quoted anywhere in this edition and it is not why the entry is here — Diploma retains most of what it earns and compounds it through bolt-on acquisition in specialist distribution. The full-year results, due on 17 November, are the next company statement. AI Score 83.

The divergence we have been naming is still there and still unresolved — and the shares are still the weakest holding in our Quality/Growth model portfolio. The AI Score is 82 with the fundamentals moving the other way — adjusted pre-tax profit rose 21% at the half year and the company reported net cash of £418m at 30 June 2026 (average daily net cash £423m), against a £19.5bn combined order book. Nothing in the week to 23 October changed either reading; there were no company filings. A construction and regeneration business trading down while its own numbers improve is either an overreaction or a market that knows something the accounts do not yet show, and we are still not pretending to know which. The yield has edged up to 4.2% from 4.1% on the lower share price.

No news in the week to 23 October; the 2.8p final dividend for FY2026 was due for payment on 23 October. At the 24 September AGM the chair said trading year-to-date is in line with the board's expectations, with the acquisitions made last year integrating as planned, and the company declared a first-quarter dividend of 1.05p, up 5% from 1.00p, payable 18 December. That follows an FY2026 dividend of 5.8p, up 7% — the sixth consecutive year of growth, stated by the company in its 22 July results. The company's own last reported balance sheet showed net cash of £26.2m at the 30 April 2026 year end, down from £33.3m, with no drawn borrowings. The yield has eased to 4.6% from 4.8% because the share price rose. A restructuring advisory firm whose work is counter-cyclical, paying a 4.6% yield with an AI Score of 81. The entry is unchanged.

No news in the week to 23 October. Full-year results on 14 October delivered the upgraded year, and pointed to a slower one. For the year to 31 July 2026, underlying operating profit rose 19.4% to £215.1m, in line with the "high-teens" guidance given in September; statutory operating profit rose 13.6% to £196.4m after £18.7m of non-underlying costs, mainly new sales and HR systems. The final dividend rises to 21.6p from 20.4p, taking the ordinary total to 31.5p, up 7.5%, but there is no special dividend this year, against 16.1p for FY2025. The first outlook for FY2027 is high single-digit underlying operating profit growth, excluding GDT — a step down after two very strong years, and the shares fell from 1,924p to 1,719p on the day. The company ended the year with cash of £199.9m at 31 July 2026 and its £50m revolving facility undrawn. The GDT acquisition has still not completed — it awaits antitrust and CFIUS clearances and unitholder consent, with completion expected no later than the end of the first quarter of 2027 — and when it does the group guides leverage to about 1.3x, falling below 1.0x by July 2028. The 1.9% yield is unchanged on the week. AI Score 74, down from 78 on the results. A compounder whose next year will compound more slowly is still a compounder; the entry stays, and FY2027 is the test of it.

No news in the week to 23 October. The AI Score is unchanged at 76. The case is the one the 7 September trading update made — FY27 pre-IFRS 16 adjusted EBITDA guidance lifted to at least £16.0m from £15.0m, like-for-like sales up 10.4% across the first 18 weeks to 6 September — with Kelso's requisitioned board nominee voted down at the AGM the same day. At £59.4m of market value TheWorks sits £9.4m above the £50m nano-cap line; the guidance is what we are watching, and Christmas is the test of it.

No news in the week to 23 October. The half-year results of 13 October showed more profit from a smaller lending book. In the six months to 31 July 2026 pre-tax profit rose 31.7% to £2.52m and earnings per share to 8.86p from 7.18p, while lending volumes fell 5.1% to £57.57m and total revenue slipped 2.6% to £5.05m. The gain came from cheaper funding and much lower bank charges rather than from growth, and the board itself flags inflation and an expected rise in the Bank of England base rate as the main uncertainties for the second half. The interim dividend of 2p went ex-dividend on 22 October and is payable 12 November. At £14.1m of market value this is the smallest company on the page by a wide margin and the entry carries the liquidity warning it has always carried. AI Score 81 on an insurance-premium and professional-fee lender.

No news since the 16 October update; the shares fell 7.8% over the week, to 47p. That update was the first guidance cut in a long run of beats. Third-quarter iodine production was 205.2 tonnes, down 5% on a year earlier and below the company's own expectations; it cited lower-than-expected brine water volumes after suppliers in its central Oklahoma core area shut some disposal wells for upgrades, plant maintenance, and delays to a pipeline and to its new plant. Second-half production is now expected to be closer to 440–455 tonnes, from the 460–485 tonnes guided in July, and the company says even that depends on water supply returning to anticipated levels and on the new plant's contribution; it calls the shortfall a matter of timing and says water volumes have improved. On the same day it announced IO#12, its largest plant and its first in the Permian Basin, commissioned, with production expected to begin and ramp up over the coming weeks and a target of 170–220 tonnes a year. The half-year results of 21 September remain the footing — revenue up 7% to US$31.3m, adjusted EBITDA more than doubled to US$6.6m, net cash of US$7.2m at 30 June 2026. The capital cost and capacity of IO#13 and IO#14 are still not disclosed. The AI Score fell to 76 from 80 on the update. The improvement case now rests on the fourth quarter: if water volumes do not recover and IO#12 does not ramp, the entry comes off.

No news since the third-quarter update of 9 October beyond a director-dealing filing. That update showed origination still growing, the loan book no longer: new lending in the quarter to 30 September was £561m, up 22% on a year earlier, taking the year to date past £1.6bn, and the asset-finance book has almost doubled since the half year to about £78m. But the total loan book of £929m, while up 22% on a year earlier, is broadly where it stood at 30 June (£932m), and the company now holds about £27m of assets pending sale after two dealers in the marine and motorcycle sectors became insolvent; it expects to sell or redistribute most of them over the rest of the year and says it does not expect to incur any additional credit losses. Arrears and legal-recovery balances were 1.3% of the book, against 1.5% a year earlier. On guidance, the company says it "remains on track to meet market expectations for the full year" — in June it said the year would be materially ahead of the expectations of the time, and the update does not say whether the expectations current on 9 October already include that. The half-year results of 10 September — adjusted pre-tax profit £13.4m, up 49% — remain the footing. The entry holds; the loan book and the £27m are what we are watching.

No news in the week to 23 October. The entry is unchanged: an accountancy and advisory group listed in April 2025, still building a record as a public company.

The largest company on the page, and the clearest raise — and the week's largest share-price fall. The shares fell 13.8% in the week to 23 October, to 1,164.2p, with no company news beyond a routine buyback filing; the company has made no announcement that explains the move, and we are not going to supply a reason it has not given. The entry rests on the raise. With its half-year results on 30 July, Rolls-Royce lifted its 2026 guidance for underlying operating profit to £4.7–4.9bn, from £4.0–4.2bn, and for free cash flow to £3.8–4.0bn, from £3.6–3.8bn. The half behind it: underlying revenue up 26% to £11.3bn, underlying operating profit up 46% to £2.5bn, and net cash of £2.1bn, with all three divisions — civil aerospace, defence and power systems — improving their margins. The interim dividend rose to 6.0p from 4.5p. These are the company's underlying measures, and the guidance was given "despite an uncertain external environment"; the full-year results are where it is tested. AI Score 83.

A raise across the board in August, and a disposal in October that did not change it. No news in the week to 23 October beyond routine buyback and shareholding filings. With its half-year results on 12 August the group raised its 2026 guidance: profit growth in the earnings-based businesses to low double digits, from high single digits, average net cash to £1.5–1.7bn, from £1.3–1.5bn, and net finance income to £35–40m, from £28–32m. Underlying earnings per share rose 51% to 21.7p, much of it from Support Services, whose profit rose to £66m from £46m, and from US construction swinging to a £22m profit from an £11m loss; statutory earnings per share was 20.0p against 19.8p, held back by a larger building-safety provision, and we print both. The interim dividend rose 12% to 4.7p. On 13 October the company sold its 50% stake in the Hong Kong contractor Gammon for £250m, payable in three equal instalments to the end of 2028; Gammon contributed about 7% of first-half earnings-based profit, and the announcement did not update guidance. AI Score 76.

The newest raise on the list, made on 15 October. No news since beyond a routine voting-rights notice on 16 October. The digital-services group now expects full-year revenue of at least £105m, against "healthy double-digit revenue growth" before and £78.1m last year, and adjusted EBITDA of at least £14m, from not less than £12m. It expects first-half revenue of at least £57.0m, from £36.2m, and adjusted EBITDA of at least £7.5m, from £3.2m, and it moved to net cash of £1.0m at 30 September from net debt of £4.2m at 31 March, well ahead of its aim of clearing debt by March 2027. These are adjusted figures; the update gives no statutory profit, and the half-year results on 10 November will. At £92.1m of market value it is the smallest name on this list, and the one where a single update moves most. AI Score 72.

Three raises in five months, the latest with a number on it. In the week to 23 October the buyback continued and the only other filing was a shareholding notice. With its interim results on 17 September the at-home beauty-devices group, owner of CurrentBody Skin, raised its full-year adjusted EBITDA guidance to "no less than £48.5m", from the £45.0m it had guided on 7 July, and kept revenue guidance at no less than £170.0m. The half behind it: revenue up 44.3% to £79.7m, adjusted EBITDA up 53.0% to £21.3m at a margin of 26.7%, free cash flow of £11.5m against an outflow a year earlier, and net cash of £52.0m at 30 June 2026 with no debt. Statutory pre-tax profit rose far faster, to £17.5m, and the company itself says that figure is flattered by a one-off US tariff refund; we follow it in reading the adjusted figure. Since then the company has started an up-to-£20m buyback, with the shares cancelled, and on 9 October its two founders each sold 750,000 shares at the buyback's 400p price — their first sales since the October 2025 listing, with more than 85% of each holding retained. The second half carries most of the year's sales, and it has to deliver the raised figure. AI Score 76.