Infrastructure company Balfour Beatty published full year results this morning which left investors with news to cheer. Revenues added 8% whilst profits advanced by 16%, providing enough headroom to initiate a £200m share buyback and a 12% increase in the full year dividend payout. With further profitable growth forecasts for FY26 and FY27, the market reacted accordingly and the Balfour Beatty share price was up more than 8% in early trade.
Full year numbers from legal and General may have only just fallen short of expectations but investors have been quick to mark down the stock as a result. Core operating profits of $1.62bn were 6% higher year on year but sat a fraction below forecasts of $1.65bn and even news of a further £1.2bn share buyback was insufficient to offer investors anything to cheer. Suggestions that FY26 would see EPS growth at the upper end of the forecast mid-term range also failed to deliver any impact, leaving the Legal & General share price off by more than 5% shortly after the open.
The global oil and gas company Harbour Energy was left languishing at the foot of the FTSE-250 on Wednesday morning following news that a significant shareholder had sold down around half of their 7.3% stake in the business via an accelerated book build. Shares were placed at 255p, well below last night’s close of 283.4p and the market has taken the transaction value as the new price. The Harbour Energy share price was down 9% in early trade.
Most read news on Investegate this morning
L&G Full Year Results 2025 - - Legal & General Group (LGEN)
Strategic Review, Reset & Roadmap - - NextEnergy Solar Fund Limited Red (NESF)
