Vanquis Banking Group cut its balance-growth and profitability outlook after higher Credit Card charge-offs and IFRS 9 provisions produced a small third-quarter loss. It now expects gross customer interest-earning balances of about £3.3bn at end-2026 and £3.4bn at end-2027, versus previous targets above £3.3bn and £3.7bn respectively, while 2026 statutory ROTE is now expected to be negligible rather than low single-digit.
Whitbread expects UK business-rates changes to materially reduce forecast cost pressure and improve financial performance, although full policy details are still awaited. Its preliminary FY28 estimate is for payments to rise by £7.5m-£12.5m, versus a previous consensus increase of about £35m.
The Magnum Ice Cream Company raised its full-year 2026 organic sales growth outlook to approximately 5.5% from 3%-5%, after Q3 organic sales growth of 9.6%. However, it expects reported adjusted EBITDA margin improvement of only 0-20 basis points, versus 40-60 basis points on a comparable 2025 perimeter.
Seplat Energy delivered strong nine-month growth, reduced net debt and narrowed FY2026 production guidance to 145-155 kboepd from 135-155 kboepd, reflecting strong year-to-date performance. Revenue rose 27% to $2,763.5 million and adjusted EBITDA, adjusted for non-cash items, rose 38% to $1,529.9 million; net debt fell to $234.9 million at end-September from $673.3 million at year-end 2025. FY2026 unit operating-cost guidance increased to $15.5-$16.5/boe from $14.5-$15.5/boe because of ongoing Yoho costs.
PPHE Hotel Group delivered stronger Q3 trading, with revenue up 5.8% to £164.9 million and RevPAR up 6.6% to £149.5. The Board expects FY2026 results to be in line with market expectations, notwithstanding geopolitical volatility and fiscal headwinds.
WPP said Q3 2026 performance was in line with expectations, but revenue less pass-through costs fell 2.1% like for like to £2,411m. The decline improved from Q2, while year-to-date revenue less pass-through costs was down 3.9% like for like to £7,156m.
The Rank Group Plc expects a higher UK Machine Games Duty rate to add about £2 million of costs in the year ending 30 June 2027, but still expects Group like-for-like operating profit to be in line with expectations.
Haleon PLC has started a share buyback of up to £500 million, due to end no later than 19 February 2027. Haleon expects to cancel about 80% of shares bought, with the remainder held in treasury for employee share plans.
Shell PLC announced a Q3 2026 interim dividend of US$0.3906 per ordinary share, payable on 21 December 2026. The record date is 13 November; ordinary shares go ex-dividend on 12 November and ADSs on 13 November.
Shell plc publishes third quarter 2026 press release
Shell PLC reported stronger Q3 Adjusted Earnings of $10.814 billion, up from $9.836 billion in Q2, helped by strong operations and record refining margins. Free cash flow fell to $16.3 billion from $17.5 billion, while Shell announced a $5 billion share buyback for the next three months.
SHELL PLC 3rd QUARTER 2026 AND NINE MONTHS UNAUDITED RESULTS
Shell reported strong Q3 cash generation and earnings, while net debt fell to $39.733 billion from $41.754 billion; it announced a further $5.0 billion buyback. The result was tempered by a $1.904 billion post-tax Marketing impairment, while a Dutch pension-plan transition could create a non-cash Q4 loss calculated at $6.4 billion at 30 September.
Glencore’s copper production rose, but sharp cobalt, zinc and steelmaking coal declines leave the operational picture mixed. Year-to-date copper output was 598,600 tonnes, up 3% year on year, while cobalt fell 52%, zinc 23% and steelmaking coal 13%.
St James's Place reported sharply lower Q3 net inflows, but funds under management reached a record £242.44 billion at 30 September 2026. Net inflows were £0.57 billion versus £1.76 billion a year earlier, while the CEO cited an exceptionally strong comparative period linked to the new charging structure.
Shell announces commencement of a share buyback programme
Shell has started a $5 billion share buyback programme intended to reduce its issued share capital through share cancellations. Subject to market conditions, it intends to complete the programme before its Q4 2026 results.
Hutchmed gained FDA Orphan Drug Designation for sovleplenib in primary ITP on 29 October 2026, a regulatory milestone that could support US development. If the FDA approves sovleplenib for this indication, the designation could provide seven years of US market exclusivity.
Ixico PLC presented Huntington’s disease imaging research that cautions that lower MRI measurement variability does not necessarily improve disease-progression tracking.
Gelion PLC advanced NES™ cathode commercialisation through shipments, validation work and two electric-vehicle OEM evaluation agreements. The OEM arrangements cover assessment and proof-of-concept work, while the ARENA scale-up programme remains on track for its next Q4 2026 milestone.
Sylvania Platinum completed its share buyback programme after purchasing 65,433 shares at a weighted average 94.08p on 28 October 2026. The programme repurchased 1,204,433 shares for £1,110,897.97.
SThree PLC bought 9,834 shares under its existing buyback programme and intends to cancel them. It also confirmed that it remains in an offer period entered on 9 September 2026.
ASA International’s unaudited loan portfolio excluding India reached USD 630.6 million at 30 September, up 20% year on year, but Group PAR>30 rose to 2.9% from 2.4% at 30 June and 2.0% a year earlier. Uganda drove the deterioration, although PAR>30 excluding its recent rise was unchanged quarter on quarter at 2.4%.
EnSilica PLC signed an approximately US$2.4 million healthcare ASIC development and supply agreement, converting an earlier feasibility study into a full programme. Longer-term supply volumes depend on successful development, regulatory approvals and commercial adoption.
H-Power plc has agreed Heads of Terms to supply an HY5 ammonia cracker to Protium, opening a prospective product revenue route. The initial two-year deployment is expected to start in H2 2027, but needs planning and permitting approvals and a definitive agreement.
Wilmington PLC’s CFO Guy Millward intends to retire, starting a planned finance leadership transition. He will remain in post until a successor is appointed, with his final departure date then to be confirmed.
Bluebird Mining Ventures Ltd has signed a framework to explore AI inference capacity, but it has made no capital commitment or payment. The proposed programme could involve up to 240 NVIDIA B300 GPUs and an indicative opportunity of up to US$24 million, subject to separate agreements and approvals.
Reabold Resources said the UK’s new data-centre covenant supports its proposed West Newton gas-to-compute project. The project would use West Newton field gas for on-site generation at a co-located data centre; Reabold says this could lower gas costs versus UK-grid purchases, but feasibility work is still under way.
First Development Resources completed 16 Stage II drill holes totalling 1,605 metres at Lander West, but the programme’s significance depends on pending assay results.
Talon Resources reported encouraging preliminary gold intercepts from its maiden Eagle Lake drill programme, including 21.25m at 2.19 g/t Au and 8.75m at 5.05 g/t Au in Cedar Trench hole EG-26-07. The result is partial, with 37 of 106 assays received for that hole and true widths unknown.
Tertiary Minerals has begun mobilisation for a 1,000m diamond drilling programme at Mushima North, aimed at testing depth extensions below the Discovery Zone. Drilling is expected to start early next week, take about four weeks and support a Mineral Resource Estimate before year-end.
Thor Energy PLC reported cash and cash equivalents of A$3.000 million at 30 September 2026, versus A$2.815 million at the quarter’s start; the cash-flow statement reported an A$188,000 increase, after A$656,000 of deferred Molyhil consideration cash and A$468,000 of operating cash use. Thor estimates 6.4 quarters of funding and says the planned HY-Range seismic survey is fully funded without immediate equity funding, but remains subject to approvals.
Bunzl PLC announced the acquisition of 100% of UK distributor Wessex Cleaning Equipment and Janitorial Supplies, which generated £11 million of revenue in the year ended 31 March 2026.
Union Jack Oil has appointed three independent non-executive directors and says immediate actions have cut annualised G&A costs by almost 50% versus the year ended 31 December 2025. Reabold Resources’ all-share offer for the Company has lapsed.