The recruitment giant Hays issued a Q1 trading update this morning and despite there being little to cheer in the update – net fees are down 8%, debts are rising and near term market conditions are expected to remain challenging – costs are down and productivity is up. Fee growth with large enterprise clients is being seen, so even though conditions look difficult for FY26 too, the Hays share price was 2.6% higher in early trade.
The company perhaps best known for making house bricks but also manufactures other construction materials published its third quarter trading update today. This didn’t make for pretty reading as mounting macroeconomic headwinds are hitting the confidence of its customers, resulting in weaker than expected demand. Hopes that the second half of the year would outperform H1 are now being discounted but despite management citing both a focus on cash management and a robust financial position, investors have been looking dimly on the situation. The Ibstock share price was almost 10% lower shortly after the open.
Gold miner Hochschild found itself wallowing towards the foot of the FTSE-250 on Friday morning, tracking many sector peers lower. Yesterday, gold lost its grip on the psychologically significant $4000/oz level and that seems to have given investors cause to book profits in the underlying shares, too. Year to date gains for the company remain an impressive 57%, whilst gold against the US Dollar is up 51%, but this morning, the Hochschild share price was down just over 4% at the time of writing.
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Waiver of Takeover Provision, New Investing Policy - - Jade Road Investments Limited NPV (DI) (JADE)
AGM Resolution Vote Update and Change of Broker - - AFC Energy (AFC)
