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Rolls-Royce delivers 'strong' FY25 performance, Ocado FY underlying profits grow
By Iain Gilbert
Date: Thursday 26 Feb 2026
(Sharecast News) - LONDON PRE-OPEN
The FTSE 100 was expected to open 17.9 points higher ahead of the bell on Thursday, after wrapping up the previous session 1.18% stronger at 10,806.41.
STOCKS TO WATCH
Aerospace firm Rolls‑Royce said on Thursday that it had delivered a "strong" performance in 2025, supported by further progress in its transformation programme and continued growth across its end markets. Rolls-Royce said underlying revenues were up 12.38% at £20.05bn in the year ended 31 December, while underlying operating profits came in 28.82% higher year-on-year at £3.46bn, giving it an operating margin of 17.3%, up from 13.8% twelve months earlier. Alongside the results, Rolls‑Royce said that it will repurchase up to £2.5bn of shares, starting with a £2.3bn programme set to begin immediately, alongside a previously completed £200m interim buyback.
UK grocer and warehouse technology group Ocado posted a rise in underlying profits on Thursday and said it expected cash flow to turn positive in the second half of its current trading year. Ocado said underlying core earnings rose to £178m in the year ended 30 November, up from £112m a year earlier.
Hikma Pharmaceuticals has named chair Said Darwazah chief executive, the drugmaker confirmed on Thursday, as it posted an uplift in annual sales and earnings. Executive chair Darwazah became chief executive on an interim basis in December, after former incumbent Riad Mishlawi stepped down by mutual agreement. However, on Thursday the drugmaker confirmed Darwazah would now relinquish his chairmanship to focus exclusively on the chief executive role for the next two years. The update came as Hikma posted a 5% uplift in core revenues to $3.35bn and a 3% improvement in core operating profits to $853m.
WPP said on Thursday that it was planning to save £500m in annual costs by 2028 as it looks to restore growth. Announcing the restructure with the company's preliminary results, chief executive Cindy Rose said "WPP will become a single company, streamlined into four operating units across four regions, all unified by our pioneering agentic marketing platform, WPP Open".
NEWSPAPER ROUND-UP
A French utility has agreed to buy the owner of the electricity cables and power lines across London, the south-east and the east of England in a deal worth £10.5bn. Paris-headquartered Engie said on Wednesday that it had struck a deal to buy UK Power Networks in a "major milestone" for the company's ambition to become the "best energy transition utility". - Guardian
Millions of Britons will have access to mobile phone service in remote rural areas from Thursday as Elon Musk's Starlink is rolled out for £3 a month. The service, launched in partnership with Virgin Media O2, will boost mobile signals for O2 subscribers in remote, rural areas, allowing them to send WhatsApp messages and use apps such as maps, Find My Device and BBC Weather. - Telegraph
Farmers have accused Tesco of putting Britain's food security at risk by leading a "race to the bottom on price". The boss of the UK's biggest supermarket was grilled by senior figures from across the agriculture sector on Wednesday, who accused the business of effectively "giving away" British produce on the cheap. - Telegraph
The bosses of some of Britain and Europe's biggest banks have joined forces to criticise "overly complex" rules on the industry, piling further pressure on regulators to loosen restrictions on lenders. Writing in The Times, the chief executives of the British banks Barclays, HSBC and Standard Chartered, as well as the bosses of European lenders including Santander, Deutsche Bank, UBS and BNP Paribas, argued that Europe risks further "regulatory divergence" with the United States, where the Trump administration has been cutting back requirements on the industry. - The Times
The British Business Bank and the government's defence venture capital fund have backed a $100m fundraising by the world's largest space technology investor, capitalising on the buzz around the sector created by the "SpaceX effect". The fund is the third to be closed by Seraphim Space since the London-based investment firm started a decade ago. - The Times
US CLOSE
Major indices closed higher on Wednesday as investors patiently awaited quarterly earnings from semiconductor giant Nvidia after the close.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.63% at 49,482.15, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.81% to 6,946.13 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 1.26% firmer at 23,152.08.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
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