A trading statement from the low cost housebuilder MJ Gleeson was posted this morning with the company noting full year profits on track to meet current market expectations. The order book remains robust but some timing issues with regard to selling down the land bank mean that the company will end the year carrying debt, with management adding to the downbeat sentiment by advising the housing market lacks confidence. That’s feeding through into projections for FY26 where profits are now expected to land at the lower end of expectations. The Gleeson share price is down 6% in early trade.
It’s certainly a quiet start to the day with limited newsflow typical of a summer Friday but Barratt Redrow is worthy of note. The company’s stock is the worst performer on the FTSE-100 this morning, likely on read-across from that Gleeson news, especially the call that the housing market is lacking confidence. The Barratt Redrow share price was down around 1.5% shortly after the open.
Over in the AIM market, AFC Energy found support in early trade with the stock rising off the back of news that it had entered into a joint venture with Industrial Chemicals Group Limited to produce hydrogen from ammonia. This is seen as an important step in terms of delivering hydrogen at scale. Critically, it is easier to store ammonia then ‘crack’ it into hydrogen, rather than storing hydrogen itself. The AFC Energy share price was up 9% by 8.30am.
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Trading Statement - - MJ Gleeson (GLE)
