British Airways parent company IAG today hailed a “world-class” performance in record annual results.
The figures were announced as FTSE 100 index today set an all-time high above 10,900.
Hays shares fell sharply after the recruitment firm announced a slide in half-year profits.
FTSE 100 Live Friday
- BA owner record results
- Scalextric sold for £20m
- Hays slashes dividend
Market update: Miners lift FTSE 100 to new record, Rightmove up 4%
10:12 , Graeme EvansThe support of heavyweight miners including Rio Tinto and Anglo American today ensured the FTSE 100 index moved within sight of the 11,000 threshold.
London’s top flight has risen 9% this year, extending the run since the Liberation Day tariffs turmoil in April to more than 40%.
The FTSE 100 reached the 10,000 milestone on the first trading day of 2026 and today peaked at 10,914 before settling 48.48 points higher at 10,895.18.
Anglo American lifted 2% or 89p to 3782p and Rio Tinto rallied 134p to 7416p, alongside a rise of 9p to 534.5p for Glencore.
Susannah Streeter, Wealth Club chief investment strategist, said there were signs of a new commodities super-cycle amid “huge demand” for metals and minerals needed to power the green revolution and build AI infrastructure.
She added: “Geopolitical tensions and rising debt levels are keeping demand for safe precious metals intact, while defence contractors continue to benefit from the big uplift in spending on military capabilities.”
Silver miner Fresnillo rose another 3% or 142p to 4246p in today’s session, while BAE Systems remained in record territory with a gain of 5p to 2123p.
Rightmove, which is in danger of dropping out of the top flight in next month’s reshuffle, led the FTSE 100 after annual results helped shares bounce 4% or 17.6p to 446.4p.
The property portal reported a 9% rise in underlying profit to £2976.7 million, alongside an 8% rise in final dividend to 6.59p a share. In addition to the £50 million dividend, Rightmove announced a £90 million shares buyback.
The fallers board included IAG, which dropped 4% or 16.6p to 440.7p as traders used the release of record annual results as the moment to lock in profits after a near doubling of the share price since April.
The British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus highlighted a world-class performance as a 3.5% rise in revenues and margin of 15.1% drove a 13.1% rise in operating profits.
It said the outlook for 2026 was supported by “compelling market dynamics” as IAG unveiled a 1.5 billion euros buyback programme for this year.
GKN Aerospace owner Melrose Industries fell 13% or 84.4p to 555.6p after its guidance for a 2026 operating profit of between £700 million and £750 million disappointed traders.
Paramount on course to win Warner Bros takeover battle
09:40 , Graeme EvansParamount Skydance is set to emerge as the winner of the battle for Warner Bros Discovery after rival suitor Netflix said it would not raise its takeover offer.
Streaming giant Netflix said overnight in the US that the price required to top Paramount’s $111 billion (£82.2 billion) sweetened bid for Warner Bros would make it a deal that is “no longer financially attractive”.
The Warner Bros board has yet to give its full backing but declared on Thursday that Paramount’s $31-a-share proposal lodged earlier this week was “superior”.
FTSE 100 tops 10,900, IAG shares fall back
09:29 , Graeme EvansThe FTSE 100 index today moved within 100 points of the 11,000 threshold.
The top flight, which broke the 10,000 mark for the first time on 2 January, peaked at 10,914.14 before settling 60.72 points higher at 10,906.29.
The better-than-expected performance was driven by stronger mining stocks, including Anglo American and Rio Tinto after gains of 2%.
Other risers included AstraZeneca and BT Group after they lifted 1.5%.
The shares of British Airways owner IAG faded after an earlier steady response to record annual results, down 3% or 16p to 441.3p.
Pearson highlights favourable AI trends, profit rises 6%
09:15 , Graeme EvansPearson today issued guidance in line with expectations as the education and coursework publisher used 2025 results to ease City jitters over AI disruption.
It said about 90% of 2025 adjusted operating profit was generated from assessments, virtual schools and print. Pearson said: “These are operationally complex, large-scale services with very high quality requirements.”
The remaining 10% was generated primarily from digital courseware, where AI technologies play an important role in personalisation.
Pearson added that AI trends were driving major multi-year demand for upskilling and the validation of skills, boosting confidence in its own future.
In today’s 2025 results, Pearson reported 4% sales growth to £3.6 billion and an operating profit 6% higher at £614 million following margin expansion to 17.2%.
Guidance for 2026 was in line with City expectations, including mid-single digit underlying sales growth and adjusted operating profit of £640 million-£685 million.
The shares were today broadly unchanged at 955.6p, down 6% this year.
Aerospace firm Senior mulls takeover interest
08:54 , Graeme EvansSenior shares are up 18% in the FTSE 250 index after the aerospace engineering business disclosed takeover interest from more than one party.
The group, which serves the commercial and defence sectors with components for fluid conveyance and thermal management, said discussions are ongoing.
The interest follows an all-cash proposal from a potential offeror on 14 January, which was unanimously rejected by the Senior board. Two higher proposals from the same party were rejected this month.
However, the company said it has since received two further superior all-cash proposals from other potential offerors.
It has postponed the start of the £40 million buyback programme which had been due to commence on Monday following the release of full year results.
Today’s share price rise to 305p has increased Senior’s market value to £1.3 billion.
FTSE 100 opens higher, Rightmove shares up 5%
08:13 , Graeme EvansThe FTSE 100 index today opened 20.11 points higher at 10,866.81, with IAG broadly flat at 457.1p following the release of record annual results.
Rightmove, which is in danger of dropping out of the top flight in next month’s reshuffle, rose 5% or 22.6p to 451.4p after posting annual results.
The property portal reported a 9% rise in underlying profit to £297.7 million, alongside an 8% rise in final dividend to 6.59p a share.
In addition to the £50 million dividend payment, Rightmove announced a new £90 million share buyback.
Among other FTSE 100 companies reporting today, Pearson dropped 17.2p to 943.2p and GKN Aerospace business Melrose Industries fell back 8% or 51p to 589p.
Hays cuts dividend 84%, UK returns to profit
07:51 , Graeme EvansRecruitment firm Hays today said its UK and Ireland division returned to profit in the six months to 31 December, despite a 9% drop in net fees.
The surplus of £2 million compared with a loss of £6.4 million a year earlier.
Fees for temporary and contracting roles, which account for about 59% of the UK business, decreased by 8% as Hays reported resilience in the private sector but continued tough market conditions in the public sector.
Permanent net fees were “tough but stable”, decreasing by 10% amid weak client and candidate confidence and a lengthening of ‘time-to-hire’.
Profits in the company’s biggest market of Germany fell 25% to £20.6 million, leading to a decline across the group of 29% to £13.4 million. The bottom-line figure fell 49% to £4.6 million.
Hays announced an interim dividend of 0.15p share, down 84% on a year earlier.
It also said that Dirk Hahn is stepping down as CEO with immediate effect for personal reasons. Mark Dearnley, chief digital and technology officer, will become interim boss until a permanent successor is in place.
Chief financial officer James Hiltonn said “When client and candidate confidence improve and the cycle recovers, I am confident we will deliver a strong drop through of net fee growth to operating profit.”
Hays shares are down 37% over the past year to 44p.
Scalextric sold in £20m deal
07:29 , Graeme EvansHornby Hobbies today announced the sale of slot car racing brand Scalextric in a deal worth up to £20 million.
The buyer is Scalextric Motorsports, which has been established by Purbeck Capital Partners CEO Mark Brown as the holding company of the Scalextric business going forward.
Brown said: “We are both honoured and thrilled to be acquiring such an iconic British motorsport brand, which has been bringing family and friends together for motor racing competition, excitement, and fun at home for nearly 70 years, spanning four generations
“As we look to a long-term future, with Scalextric as a now family-owned company, we are energised by the opportunity to continue bringing competitive racing fun to families, while expanding into new areas of motorsport and helping to build physical and hand-eye coordination skills, particularly at a time when families are trying to balance time spent online versus real world activities.”
The proceeds of the sale will be used by Hornby to pay down debt and invest in its other individual brands, which include Airfix.
BA and Iberia owner hails “world-class” results
07:08 , Graeme EvansBritish Airways and Iberia owner IAG today hailed “world-class” financial results after operating profits for 2025 rose by 13.1% to five billion euros (£4.4 billion).
Revenues lifted 3.5% to 33.2 billion euros (£29.1 billion), with the operating margin up 1.3 percentage points to 15.1%. Air France-KLM recently posted a margin of 6.1%.
IAG highlighted a positive outlook for 2026, supported by “compelling market dynamics and secular long-term demand”.
Chief executive Luis Gallego added: “We reported another year of exceptional performance in 2025, delivering for our customers with continued improvements in on-time performance and customer satisfaction.
“This sector-leading operational performance is translating into world-class financial results, with outstanding margins and superior return on capital.”
IAG last night announced a final dividend of 5 euro cents per share, resulting in a total for the year of 9.8 cents per share at a cost of 448 million euros (£392.6 million).
It also intends to return $1.5 billion (£1.3 billion) in share buybacks over the next 12 months.
IAG and its partners have a market share of 49% on North Atlantic routes, serving North America 136 times each day to 34 destinations.
Consumer confidence falls despite easing inflation
07:00 , Graeme EvansConsumer confidence has fallen in a blow for retailers as customers veer away from big-ticket purchases, figures show.
GfK’s long-running Consumer Confidence Index dropped three points to minus 19 in February to a level last seen in November, despite easing inflation.
The decline was mainly driven by weaker perceptions of personal finances – looking back over the last year and ahead to the next 12 months – which both fell by four points.
FTSE 100 seen higher, US tech stocks reverse
06:58 , Graeme EvansPressure on Wall Street tech stocks resumed yesterday to leave the Nasdaq Composite down 1.2% and Nvidia shares 5% lower at the closing bell.
The selling of the semiconductor giant came even though it posted better-than-expected results and current quarter guidance on Wednesday night.
The S&P 500 index lost 0.5% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished slightly higher.
The FTSE 100 rose as far as 10,856.80 yesterday before closing 0.4% or 40.29 points higher at a record close of 10,846.70
It is up 9% year-to-date, with futures trading pointing to a further rise of 0.2% when trading resumes this morning.
Gold and Brent Crude prices are broadly unchanged this morning at $5194 an ounce and $70.87 a barrel.
