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  • Energean Israel H1 net profit rises to $101 million as cash increases

    Energean Israel H1 net profit rises to $101 million as cash increases

    Energean Israel Limited (LSE:ENOG) reported revenue of $481.3 million for the six months ended 30 June 2026, broadly unchanged from the prior-year period, while gross profit increased to $231.5 million.

    Net profit for the period was $101.0 million, compared with $100.5 million a year earlier. Total comprehensive income declined to $98.0 million, primarily reflecting a change to a loss on cash flow hedges.

    Total assets increased to $3.85 billion at the end of the period, with the rise driven by higher property, plant and equipment. Cash and cash equivalents increased to $213.8 million, nearly double the prior comparative level.

    Cash generated from operating activities was $314.3 million during the first half.

    Total equity increased to $465.3 million as retained earnings rose during the period. Energean Israel also paid a dividend of $39.0 million.

    Borrowings stood at $2.77 billion at 30 June 2026, reflecting the financing associated with the company’s operations and infrastructure.

    More about Energean Israel

    Energean Israel Limited is a subsidiary of Energean PLC focused on the exploration, production and commercialisation of natural gas and hydrocarbon liquids.

    Its operations are concentrated in Israel’s offshore energy sector and are conducted through an Israeli branch. The company was incorporated in Cyprus in 2014 and has subsequently become tax resident in the UK.

    Energean Israel’s asset base includes property, plant and equipment and infrastructure associated with its offshore natural gas operations.

  • Henderson High Income Trust NAV return reaches 6.3% in first half

    Henderson High Income Trust NAV return reaches 6.3% in first half

    Henderson High Income Trust (LSE:HHI) reported a net asset value total return of 6.3% for the first half of 2026, marginally ahead of its benchmark, while its share price total return was 8.7%.

    The difference between the two returns reflected a narrowing of the trust’s discount to net asset value during the period. Net assets stood at £351.8 million, while the dividend yield was 5.6% and gearing remained broadly stable.

    The portfolio continued to have a higher allocation to equities than bonds. Holdings including Schroders, DCC Energy, Texas Instruments and Engie contributed positively to performance, while Dunelm, Michael Page and Imperial Brands detracted.

    The board said it remained confident in the trust’s income prospects. Henderson High Income Trust also announced plans for a change of chair in 2027 and confirmed the appointment of Andrew Jones as deputy fund manager.

    The trust cited geopolitical developments, conditions affecting UK housebuilders and increased takeover activity involving UK-listed companies among factors affecting the investment environment during the period.

    More about Henderson High Income Trust PLC

    Henderson High Income Trust PLC is a UK-listed investment trust investing in a portfolio of equities and fixed-income securities with the objective of generating dividend income alongside capital growth.

    The portfolio typically has approximately 90% of its assets invested in UK and overseas equities and around 10% in fixed income.

    The trust is managed by Janus Henderson and uses a composite benchmark comprising 80% of the FTSE All-Share Index and 20% of the ICE BofA Sterling Non-Gilts Index. It also uses gearing as part of its investment strategy.

  • Made Tech appointed to three lots on Met Office delivery framework

    Made Tech appointed to three lots on Met Office delivery framework

    Made Tech (LSE:MTEC) has been appointed as a supplier to three lots under the Met Office’s new four-year Delivery Partnerships Framework 2, covering data, secure services and applications.

    The three lots have a combined potential value of £68 million across all suppliers appointed to them. The framework does not guarantee revenue for Made Tech, and no contracts have been awarded to the company under the framework at this stage.

    Made Tech will be eligible to compete for future work involving the Met Office’s strategic data platforms and application development requirements.

    The company has also been appointed to Lot 3, Secure Services, which covers projects involving higher-security and defence-related requirements. Made Tech said its inclusion provides an opportunity to compete for a broader range of government work in these areas.

    The appointments build on Made Tech’s existing relationship with the Met Office, including work associated with the National Weather App. Management said the new framework supports its strategy of expanding work with existing clients and increasing its activities in the defence and public safety sectors.

    The Delivery Partnerships Framework 2 has a four-year term.

    More about Made Tech Group PLC

    Made Tech Group PLC is a UK-based provider of digital, data, artificial intelligence and technology services, primarily serving public-sector organisations and regulated industries.

    The company, which is listed on AIM under the ticker MTEC, provides services including the modernisation of legacy technology systems, data and AI capabilities and cyber resilience.

  • Caledonian’s Aspire launches multi-currency SME account and trade finance platform

    Caledonian’s Aspire launches multi-currency SME account and trade finance platform

    Caledonian Holdings (LSE:CHP) said its subsidiary Aspire has commercially launched an enhanced multi-currency business current account integrated with a Mastercard World Business Debit Card under the Muloot Money brand.

    The platform is aimed at small and medium-sized businesses engaged in domestic and international trade and combines business accounts, payments, foreign exchange and access to working-capital facilities within a digital platform.

    The commercial launch was funded in part by proceeds from Caledonian’s recent £612,000 fundraising. Following the rollout, Aspire plans to focus on customer acquisition, increasing transaction volumes and generating recurring revenue from trade finance facilities of up to £5 million.

    Aspire intends to distribute its services through both direct customer acquisition and white-label partnerships. The company said this approach is designed to support expansion without proportionate increases in customer acquisition costs.

    The Muloot Money offering combines day-to-day business account services with access to short-term trade finance. Caledonian said the commercial rollout forms part of its strategy to develop recurring revenue from financial services and trade finance activities.

    More about Caledonian Holdings PLC

    Caledonian Holdings PLC is an AIM-listed company focused on developing an integrated financial services business. Its wholly owned subsidiary, Aspire Commerce Group Limited, operates Muloot Money, a multi-currency financial services platform for SMEs.

    Aspire provides business accounts, payments, foreign exchange and trade finance through its fintech infrastructure and UK-based relationship support.

    Muloot Money is operated by Aspire Payments Limited, which is registered with the UK Financial Conduct Authority as a Small Electronic Money Institution authorised to issue electronic money and provide payment services.

    The platform’s Mastercard World Business Debit Card is issued by Transact Payments Limited under licence from Mastercard International.

    Caledonian acquired Aspire in June 2026 as part of its strategy to develop an operating financial services business.

  • The Gym Group H1 revenue rises 10% as profit and free cash flow increase

    The Gym Group H1 revenue rises 10% as profit and free cash flow increase

    The Gym Group (LSE:GYM) reported a 10% increase in revenue to £133.1 million for the first half of 2026, while average membership reached 1 million and average revenue per member increased 5%.

    Adjusted profit before tax rose 31% compared with the prior-year period, while statutory profit after tax increased 30%. Free cash flow was up 10% to £27.7 million.

    The company used cash generated by the business to support investment in new gym openings, refurbishments and technology, alongside a share buyback programme.

    The Gym Group opened four new locations during the period and has a further 11 sites under development. It expects to open at least 20 new gyms during 2026, with the expansion programme funded from free cash flow.

    The company is also refurbishing existing locations as part of its Next Chapter growth plan. Other initiatives include changes to pricing, member acquisition and retention activities and additional products intended to increase revenue per member.

    The Gym Group said leverage remained low and reported an expansion of its banking facilities. Based on first-half trading, the company expects its full-year results to be at the top end of market expectations.

    The company reported that 94% of surveyed members rated it four or five out of five, while the proportion of members visiting a gym more than four times per month increased.

    More about The Gym Group

    The Gym Group plc is a U.K. low-cost gym operator providing 24-hour, no-contract memberships. It operates 264 sites and serves around 1 million members.

    Its business model combines membership pricing with digital services and additional products, while its growth strategy includes opening new locations and investing in its existing estate.

    According to the company, Generation Z accounts for nearly half of its membership. The Gym Group also has science-based net-zero targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative.

  • Harworth reports 3.7% negative accounting return as residential valuations decline

    Harworth reports 3.7% negative accounting return as residential valuations decline

    Harworth (LSE:HWG) reported a negative total accounting return of 3.7% for the six months ended 30 June 2026, with residential market conditions weighing on property valuations while industrial and logistics values were broadly stable.

    The regeneration and development group reported a decline in EPRA net disposal value (NDV), while statutory net assets fell to £670.8 million. Net debt increased during the period, although the company said leverage remained low.

    Harworth increased its interim dividend by 10%.

    The company is also progressing a strategy focused on powered land and industrial and logistics assets. As part of the changes, Harworth plans to exit residential activities and resize its investment portfolio, with the company targeting a simplified operating structure and lower costs.

    In powered land, Harworth is progressing a pipeline targeting hyperscale data centre developments. The company cited transactions involving Microsoft and another data centre operator as part of this activity.

    Harworth also reported occupier demand across its industrial and logistics operations and said its construction-ready land bank is at its largest level to date.

    More about Harworth

    Harworth Group plc is a U.K.-listed regeneration, strategic land and development company focused primarily on the industrial and logistics sector.

    The company owns, develops and manages more than 15,000 acres across approximately 100 sites. Its portfolio also includes powered land intended for uses including data centres and logistics facilities.

  • Total Graphite appoints Lycopodium for Montepuez feasibility review

    Total Graphite appoints Lycopodium for Montepuez feasibility review

    Total Graphite plc (LSE:TGR) has appointed Lycopodium Minerals Africa to review and update feasibility work for its Montepuez Graphite Project in Mozambique, using a modular two-stage development approach as the base case.

    The Montepuez project is permitted to produce up to 100,000 tonnes per annum of flake graphite concentrate. The review will assess existing feasibility work and examine potential updates to the project’s process design, operating parameters and economics as Total Graphite works towards securing project financing.

    The study will draw on an October 2017 Value Engineering Study, which outlined a two-phase development plan. According to Total Graphite, that approach reduced estimated upfront capital and operating costs compared with an earlier single-stage development proposal.

    The company said its board believes Montepuez remains competitive in terms of capital efficiency despite anticipated cost inflation since the earlier study. A substantial amount of engineering work has already been completed, while initial infrastructure has also been established at the project site.

    Initial results from Lycopodium’s review are targeted for November 2026.

    Total Graphite intends to develop Montepuez as a source of graphite outside China and as part of its broader strategy to establish an integrated graphite and anode materials business.

    More about Total Graphite plc

    Total Graphite plc is a flake graphite company with the Montepuez and Balama Central projects in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province. The two projects have a combined resource containing more than 13 million tonnes of graphite, according to the company.

    The company is targeting natural graphite markets, including materials used in lithium-ion batteries. Its strategy includes developing Montepuez as an upstream operation alongside downstream anode materials activities, including a planned project in the United States.

  • Great Southern Copper begins geophysics survey ahead of Cerro Negro drilling

    Great Southern Copper begins geophysics survey ahead of Cerro Negro drilling

    Great Southern Copper (LSE:GSCU) has started an in-fill and extensional induced polarisation-resistivity survey at the Cerro Negro prospect within its Especularita Project in Chile, as it prepares targets for a planned Phase IV drilling campaign.

    The exploration programme comprises five geophysical survey lines designed to integrate with data from previous work at Cerro Negro. Great Southern Copper said the combined data are intended to provide three-dimensional mapping of geophysical anomalies from near surface to depths exceeding 300 metres.

    The survey is focused on areas around the Mostaza Fault Zone and the Monolith target, where the company is evaluating the extent of known copper-silver mineralisation.

    According to Great Southern Copper, outcropping copper-silver zones at the prospect show similarities to higher-grade mineralisation previously encountered by drilling beneath the historic Mostaza mine.

    The company plans to use the new survey data alongside its existing geophysical information to refine targets for Phase IV drilling and assess potential extensions to the identified mineralised system.

    More about Great Southern Copper PLC

    Great Southern Copper PLC is a UK-listed mineral exploration company focused on copper, gold and silver projects in Chile.

    Its Especularita Project is located in Chile’s coastal metallogenic belt, where the company is exploring for both large-tonnage copper-gold systems and higher-grade copper-silver-gold mineralisation.

    Great Southern Copper holds rights to own 100% of the Cerro Negro prospect within Especularita. The prospect is located at relatively low elevation and has access to infrastructure and services.

  • Will Kevin Worsh Keep His Word?

    Will Kevin Worsh Keep His Word?

    Next Wednesday, the Fed will announce its interest rate decision, and this meeting could serve as a true test of whether Chairman Worsh remains true to his mandate.

    With surprisingly strong U.S. labor data for August, with 162,000 nonfarm jobs added versus expectations of just 55,000, the odds of a rate hike have risen above 60% again. If August CPI tops 3.4% headline and 2.5% core, the case for higher rates gets even stronger, especially as Worsh has signaled he will take a tough stance on inflation. 

    The problem is that Trump is back in the game, pushing for lower rates and threatening to halt trade with countries where the U.S. runs a deficit. His threats haven’t worked before, but who knows, maybe this time they will. If they do, though, that would add more headwinds, especially with no solution to the Middle East crisis and trade wars flaring up again. Both the dollar index and oil prices remain highly sensitive to these geopolitical risks and incoming economic data.

    As for Trump’s claim that the U.S. secured “the largest oil deal in world history” and gained control of most of Venezuela’s 65+ billion barrels of proven reserves, it’s unlikely to boost U.S. oil supplies or bring gasoline prices down anytime soon. Venezuelan crude is extremely heavy and hard to produce, while the country’s oil infrastructure needs major repairs. 

    Rystad Energy estimates that restoring production to 3 million barrels a day would cost around $183 billion and could take until 2040. Even reaching 2 million barrels a day would require at least $41 billion and likely take until the 2030s.

    No wonder the global bond market remains under pressure, with inflation risks still high and major central banks expected to keep policy tight. 

    Now, if Worsh goes against expectations and holds rates despite all this, it could raise serious questions about the Fed’s independence and weigh on dollar assets, just like previous attacks on Powell did. 

  • U.S. Stock Futures Retreat as Oil Rally Revives Inflation Concerns: Dow Jones, S&P, Nasdaq, Wall Street

    U.S. Stock Futures Retreat as Oil Rally Revives Inflation Concerns: Dow Jones, S&P, Nasdaq, Wall Street

    U.S. equity futures moved lower on Tuesday as investors returned from the Labor Day holiday facing another surge in oil prices, escalating tensions in the Middle East and renewed uncertainty over the Federal Reserve’s next interest-rate decision.

    Crude prices provided a major source of pressure, with U.S. oil futures climbing nearly 2% following another escalation between Washington and Tehran.

    The United States struck three Iranian crude oil carriers over the weekend after Iran fired ballistic missiles towards two U.S. Navy warships operating in regional waters.

    Iran subsequently warned that further attacks on its assets would trigger retaliation. Saudi-led coalition forces also pledged a firm response following a wave of attacks by Houthi forces.

    At the same time, Tehran said an agreement with Oman concerning shipping arrangements through the Strait of Hormuz was imminent. Investors nevertheless remained concerned about the possibility of further disruption along the strategically important energy corridor.

    Strong Jobs Report Revives Fed Rate-Hike Expectations

    The weaker futures performance also followed Friday’s unexpectedly strong U.S. employment figures, which prompted investors to increase expectations for another Federal Reserve rate rise.

    Nonfarm payrolls increased by 162,000 in August, comfortably exceeding forecasts for 55,000 new jobs. July’s employment figure was revised to a gain of 21,000 from the initially reported loss of 23,000.

    The stronger labour market data pushed Treasury yields higher as traders considered whether the Fed could have more room to tighten monetary policy while attempting to bring persistent inflation under control.

    The CME Group FedWatch Tool showed the probability of a quarter-point rate increase at 58.4%, after the implied likelihood had fallen below 50% on Thursday.

    Charlie Ripley, Senior Investment Strategist at Allianz Investment Management, said: “While today’s labor report shifted September hike expectations sharply, the outcome is not a sure bet and additional signals that confirm inflation has peaked will make the Fed’s decision to hike even tougher at the September meeting.”

    Inflation Reports Could Shape September Fed Decision

    Attention is now shifting towards U.S. consumer and producer inflation reports due later in the week.

    The figures could prove important for expectations ahead of the Fed’s next monetary policy meeting, particularly after the employment report revived speculation about another increase in borrowing costs.

    Higher oil prices could further complicate the outlook by adding to energy-driven inflation pressures just as policymakers assess whether underlying price growth is cooling sufficiently.

    Wall Street Pulled Back on Friday

    U.S. stocks finished lower on Friday after gaining strongly over the previous two sessions.

    The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined 271.86 points, or 0.5%, to 53,414.25. The Nasdaq Composite fell 77.07 points, or 0.3%, to 26,506.99, while the S&P 500 dropped 29.11 points, or 0.4%, to 7,718.60.

    Weekly performance was more resilient. The Dow declined 0.3%, but the S&P 500 edged 0.1% higher and the Nasdaq gained 0.4%.

    Semiconductor Strength Helps Offset Sector Weakness

    Friday’s session produced sharp differences between individual sectors.

    Software stocks reversed some of their previous session’s gains, sending the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index down 2.2%.

    Gold-related shares also weakened as bullion prices declined, with the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index falling 1.8%. Pharmaceutical and biotechnology shares were among the other notable laggards.

    Semiconductors were a major exception. The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index surged 3.4%, while computer hardware and airline shares also recorded strong gains and helped contain the broader market decline.

    With Middle East tensions supporting oil prices and important inflation figures approaching, the interaction between energy costs, Treasury yields and Federal Reserve expectations is likely to remain a key driver for Wall Street.