High street clothing and homewares retailer Next reported full-year results showing its first billion-pound annual profit at £1.011 billion, as expected, and it hiked its guidance for the year ahead. With full-price sales in the first eight weeks of the new financial year ahead of expectations, the FTSE 100-listed firm said it now expects to grow sales faster and make a profit of around £1.066 billion in the year to January 2026. The firm raised its final dividend and also announced a new £316 million share buyback. Next shares rose to a new all-time high this morning and were up over 7% after an hour of trading.
Investment platform group AJ Bell has struck a deal to sell part of its non-platform pension business for £25 million to buy-and-build pensions firm InvestAcc Group. The Platinum SIPP and SSAS business being sold has 3,600 customers with £3.2 billion of assets under administration, which will transfer to InvestAcc on completion. FTSE 250-listed AJ Bell will receive £17.5 million of cash on completion, expected in the second half of the year, plus £1 million in new InvestAcc shares. The remaining £6.5 million cash payment is subject to certain conditions. AJ Bell shares shed 0.5% on the disposal news.
Financial data group ADVFN unveiled plans to delist from the AIM market and become a private company as it reported half-year results. The firm’s board said it had “carefully considered” the move and believed it was in the best interests of the company and its shareholders. It will now seek formal approval at a forthcoming general meeting. The most notable element in ADVFN's interims was the company's cash position, at roughly £3.5 million. ADVFN shares collapsed by 42% in early trading on the delisting news, meaning that the company is now valued at less than that cash figure.
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