SigmaRoc – Third Quarter boost and earnings accretive acquisition, shares undervalued at 119p
Mark Watson-Mitchell – 21.10.2026 This morning the £1.3bn-capitalised SigmaRoc (LON:SRC) reported a strong third quarter, with revenues for the nine months to Wednesday 30th September increasing by 2.5% to £795m, and underlying EBITDA growing by 7.5% to £207.3m, resulting in an improved underlying EBITDA margin of 26.1%. The European lime and minerals group also announced the acquisition of AB Dolomitas for €110m, which is expected to be earnings-enhancing in 2027. Despite
Halfords Group – the Interims next month will spell out further growth
Mark Watson-Mitchell – 21.10.2026 The Trading Update announced this morning by the £602m-capitalised Halfords Group (LON:HFD) has reported strong trading for the motoring and cycling products retailer for the 26 weeks to Friday 2nd October. Group like-for-like sales grew 7.1%, driven by a 7.7% increase in retail sales and 6.1% growth in Autocentres. That performance supports the previously upgraded full-year 2027 underlying profit before tax guidance of £55m to £65m, with t
Ashtead Technology Holdings – 615p a share cash offer from Ember Infrastructure, take the market price and reinvest elsewhere
Mark Watson-Mitchell – 21.10.2026 This morning Ember Infrastructure Management, LP, through its subsidiary Pine Acquisition UK Bidco Limited, has made a recommended cash offer to acquire Ashtead Technology Holdings (LON:ATG) for 615p per share, valuing the company at approximately £505m. This offer represents a significant premium of 80.9% to Ashtead Technology's closing share price on Tuesday 22nd September. The acquisition, to be effected by a Scheme Of Arrangement, is su
Shearwater Group - Central Government Cyber Security Contract Win opens up bigger markets - Finals next week
Mark Watson-Mitchell - 20.10.2026 This morning the £16.5m-capitalised Shearwater Group (LON:SWG) has announced that its subsidiary, Brookcourt Solutions, has secured a new £1.7m two-year contract with a Central Government customer for advanced threat intelligence capabilities. This contract replaces a previous agreement and expands services to include additional platform features and more users, supporting the protection of GOV.UK services and UK citizens. The win, achieved t
James Cropper - Strong first half performance; full-year expected to be ahead of current market expectations
Mark Watson-Mitchell - 20.10.2026 This morning, the £67m-capitalised James Cropper (LON:CRPR) has announced a strong first-half performance for FY27, with trading exceeding expectations primarily due to the Paper & Packaging business's revenue growth and cost management. Consequently, the company now anticipates full-year Adjusted EBITDA to be between 10% and 20% above current market expectations of £9.4m, projecting a range of £10.3m to £11.3m. This positive outlook reflects
Angling Direct – resilient first-half, cash-rich group’s shares now 56p, SQC Research TP 65p plus
Mark Watson-Mitchell – 13.10.2026 This morning fishing tackle and equipment retail group Angling Direct (LON:ANG) reported a resilient first half performance for the six months to end-July, with revenue increasing by 5.1% to £56.4m, driven by a 6.9% rise in total UK sales to £54.6m, while European sales declined by 30.4% to £1.8m. Adjusted EBITDA grew by 11.9% to £4.3m, and adjusted profit before tax increased by 11.2% to £3.3m. Earnings were up 10% to 3.20p (2.91p) per sha
Greencore Group – upped Guidance shows market outperformance continues to underline attractions, shares now 260p with 300p early Target Price
Mark Watson-Mitchell – 13.10.2026 This morning’s announcement from the £2.1bn-capitalised Greencore Group (LON:GNC) was a Q4 Trading Update covering the foods group’s year to Friday 25th September. It showed Greencore ended FY26 strongly, with volume growth ahead of the market, and an excellent profit momentum and positive cashflow generation, while it has further upgraded its FY26 Adjusted Operating Profit guidance. The shares, which are now trading at 260p, have 300p writ
Gattaca – improved profits for FY26 give confidence for a strong FY27 performance, 10 times earnings dropping to 8 times.
Mark Watson-Mitchell – 12.10.2026 The £45m-capitalised Gattaca (LON:GATC), the specialist staffing solutions business, will declare its Final Results for the year to end-July on Tuesday, 3rd November. They will be impressive and are expected to point toward a very positive 2027 trading year. The Group’s shares, now 145p, have risen nearly 62% since the beginning of the year, after having peaked at 175p in August. I now expect that the shares will edge better, especially ahe
