Mark Watson-Mitchell - 10.02.2026   The older you get, and I am very old, it is always good to have a surprise in the morning. Today’s event is the surprise Trading Update from Ramsdens Holdings (LON:RFX),  the financial services provider and retailer that I have followed for years. The group has stated that it now anticipates its full-year 2026 profit before tax to exceed £21m, surpassing previous market expectations of £18.6m and representing a significant increase from FY

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 09.02.2026 Despite a near 5% fall in its overall sales in the year to end-October 2025, Wynnstay Group (LON:WYNN) , the undervalued £91m-capitalised agricultural supplies and services supplier has this morning declared a 21.1% rise in pre-tax profits. "FY25 has been a year of significant progress for Wynnstay, with a stronger underlying performance and clear early benefits from the operating changes delivered during the year. The business enters FY26 i

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 09.02.2026 Already this morning, in just four market hours, some 2,008,428 shares have been traded in Filtronic (LON:FTC) , which is far higher than the recent daily average dealing volume of 1,581,075. Based in Sedgefield, the £450m -capitalised group designs and manufactures RF-to-mmWave components and subsystems for mission-critical communication networks. It develops products for telecommunications infrastructure, aerospace and defence, space, tes

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 06.02.2026   The shares of the £225m-capitalised MJ Gleeson (LON:GLE) put on a 10p gain yesterday to close at 394p, today they have slipped back to 386p. At the start of last December, they were trading at 381p, by the end of that month they had improved to 435p. Over the last five weeks, they have ranged from 430p down to 377p, before edging up again this week. Next Wednesday, 11 th  February, will see the housebuilding and construction group announce

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 06.02.2026 This morning, the shares of my favourite infrastructure business, the Costain Group (LON:COST) , have hit a five-year High at 186p. In my view, they are heading higher and very soon. It really has a lot going for it, boasting a record Order Book, together with a strong balance sheet stuffed with some £190m of cash, as compared to its £493m market capitalisation, whilst making a very healthy £1m a week in profits. Analyst Max Hayes, at Cavend

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 06.02.2026 On Thursday 29th January the shares of Gulf Marine Services (LON:GMS) hit a New High at 23.50p, since when they eased back to 21.40p yesterday on the back of a very heavy dealing volume at 4,460,502 traded. However, this morning as I write, some 912,183 shares have been transacted and they currently stand at 23.47p - a fraction off the previous High. The group is a world‐leading provider of advanced self‐propelled self‐elevating support ve

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 06.02.2026 This morning, I was interested to note that Rick Kanda, Managing Director at The Gold Bullion Company, shared his thoughts on why this drop has happened, if investors should be worried about price drops, and whether you should invest when prices drop. Why are gold and silver prices dropping? "In recent weeks, gold and silver have hit successive highs due to a rise in demand among investors seeking safe haven assets amid rising geopolitical t

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 04.02.2026   Yesterday’s Full Year Trading Update from A.G. Barr (LON:BAG) was really quite positive. Capitalised at £765m, the multi-beverage business boasts a broad portfolio of market-leading UK brands including IRN-BRU, Rubicon and Boost. The group has now acquired two other brands operating in the Adult Soft Drinks market – paying £38m for Fentimans, well-known for its soft drinks and mixers, and for £13m it purchased Frobishers Juices, famed for i

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 04.02.2026 Following yesterday's Interim Results statement from Filtronic (LON:FTC) , the designer and manufacturer of products and sub-systems for the aerospace, defence, telecoms infrastructure, space and critical communications markets, its shares moved down to 176p on profit-taking, before hitting 188p and closing at 186p, up 3p on the day. There was quite a significant trading in the group's shares, with some 3,237,278 shares dealt compared to the

Mark Watson-Mitchell – 03.02.2026   This morning Filtronic (LON:FTC) , the £402m-capitalised Sedgefield-based designer and manufacturer of products and sub-systems for the aerospace, defence, telecoms infrastructure, space and critical communications markets, has reported its Interim Results to end-November 2025. The group’s CEO Nat Edington stated that: " The first half of the year demonstrated the strength of Filtronic's positioning in markets where performance, reliability

Mark Watson-Mitchell – 02.02.2026   This coming Wednesday, 4 th  February, will see the Watches of Switzerland Group   (LON:WOSG)  update investors on its third-quarter trading. The £1.17bn-capitalised business, which is the UK's largest retailer for Rolex, OMEGA, Cartier, TAG Heuer and Breitling watches, is an international retailer of world leading luxury watch brands, complemented by a strong luxury jewellery offering. With over 200 showrooms globally, employing some 3,00

Mark Watson-Mitchell – 02.02.2026   My favourite infrastructure group is winning even more orders and is said to be improving its margins as we proceed into its 2026 Trading Year. Last Tuesday morning, 27 th  January, Costain Group (LON:COST)  announced that it had been awarded a contract to design and build a new junction on the M5 motorway, junction 22A. Awarded through the Regional Delivery Partnership framework, over a five-year period the contract is worth some £100m to

Mark Watson-Mitchell – 30.01.2026   It was on Friday 19 th  December last year, that the Strix Group (LON:KETL)  announced the proposed disposal of its Billi business for £110.0m on a cash-free, debt-free basis, representing a significant return on its initial £38.0m investment. That strategic move is aimed at addressing the macroeconomic headwinds impacting the Controls division and strengthen the £108m-capitalised group's financial position, with an estimated net debt of £6

Mark Watson-Mitchell – 29.01.2026    Engineering services group James Fisher and Sons (LON:FSJ)  has this morning declared a bullish Trading Update that should help to push its shares much higher than the current 388p. The average of analyst views suggests 513p a share as the Target Price. The Business James Fisher and Sons is a leading provider of unique marine solutions in Energy, Defence and Maritime Transport. The Group pioneers safe, innovative solutions that solve compl

Mark Watson-Mitchell – 29.01.2026   In todays’ Q4 2025 Trading and Business Update from ASA International (LON:ASAI) it has noted that its Management anticipates its full-year 2025 net profit will double to approximately $57m, up from $28.5m in 2024, driven by strong loan portfolio growth to $628.4m as at end-December, a 13% increase from the previous quarter and a 37% rise year-over-year, with client numbers growing by nearly 100,000 in the fourth quarter. The company also

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 28.01.2026 Ahead of today's AGM, Marston's (LON:MARS) , the brewery group, issued a First Quarter Trading Update for the 17-week period to Saturday, 24th January. For that period, the Group made a few major points: • Strong trading performance over the festive period where like-for-like sales increased by 4.0%, with growth of 5.6% across the five key festive dates, reinforcing the strength of Marston’s community-based estate during peak trading occasio

Mark Watson-Mitchell – 28.01.2026 The business of Gulf Marine Services (LON:GMS) keeps expanding. The leading provider of self-propelled, self-elevating support vessels to the offshore energy industry, has this morning announced that it has received a variation order from a major National Oil Company (NOC) in the Middle East for extension to an existing contract for two of its vessels, to provide for up to an additional six years of contract duration across the two vessels,

This morning Time Finance (LON:TIME) has reported strong interim results for the six months to end-November 2025, with own-book new business origination up 48% to £62.6m and a record gross lending book of £235.3m. Revenue increased by 4% to £18.8m, and profit before tax rose 10% to £4.3m, with a PBT margin of 23%. Earnings per share grew 7% to 3.47p, and net assets increased by 9% to £75.0m. The company also saw a reduction in net deals in arrears to 4.5% and net bad debt wri

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 27.01.2026 This morning the £731m-capitalised Dr. Martens (LON:DOCS) has reported a Q3 Group revenue decrease of 2.7% on a constant currency basis to £253m, with year-to-date revenue down 0.7% to £580m, primarily due to a disciplined approach to promotions and reduced clearance activity impacting Direct to Consumer revenue, which fell 6.5% in Q3. However, wholesale revenue showed strength, increasing 9.5% in Q3 and 4.2% year-to-date on a constant curre

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 27.01.2026   This coming Friday, 30 th January, will see Avon Technologies (LON:AVON) , the personal protection equipment specialists, issue a Trading Update ahead of holding its AGM that day. Based in Melksham, Wiltshire, the £594m-capitalised group, is a world leader in mission-critical protection equipment. Even though the group’s shares have risen over 60% since my April 2025 feature, before easing back to being just 38% up, this week’s statement