Mark Watson-Mitchell – 18.01.2026 Last Friday morning, 16th January, the FitzWalter Capital investment group announced that it has increased its possible offer for Auction Technology Group (LON:ATG) to 400p per share, valuing the company at £491m, a 48% premium to the undisturbed share price on Friday 2nd January. FitzWalter Capital It is a global private investment firm headquartered in London, with offices in New York and Hamburg. Founded in 2020, the firm manages $2.4bn o

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 15.01.2026 The 2025 Full Year Trading Statement issued by Hunting (LON:HTG) , the £600m-capitalised global precision engineering group, covered the period to end-December last. Last July, I stated that the group’s shares were undervalued at 339p, since when they have risen over 20%. I believe that the group has the potential for significant growth in its main operating divisions, and that its shares, now at 401p, are an attractive investment. The Update

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 15.01.2026 This morning's Trading Update from one of my old favourites, the Mpac Group (LON:MPAC), has declared that the FY25 trading performance was in line with market expectations, with improving operating margins and a stabilised order book. The group, which is a global leader in high-speed packaging and automation solutions, expects to report revenues of approximately £170m for the full year 2025, a significant increase from £122.4m in 2024, with

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 14.01.2026 An excellent set of results were announced this morning by Ramsdens Holdings (LON:RFX) , the financial services group. It reported a record year for the twelve months to end-September 2025, with profit before tax increasing by 43% to £16.2m on revenue of £116.8m, up 22% from the previous year. This strong performance was driven by growth across all four key income streams, particularly the purchase of precious metals segment which saw a 52% i

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 13.01.2026 Tomorrow morning, Wednesday, 14th January, will see Ramsdens Holdings (LON:RFX) releasing its Annual Results, covering the year to end-September last. Yesterday the group’s shares put on a healthy 4.40% gain, to close 17.50p up at 415p, which is more than double my feature price of 201p three years ago and is now at an All-Time-High, perhaps the precursor to good news. In early October 2025, the financial services business issued its Pre-Clos

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 13.01.2026 This morning SRT Marine Systems (LON:SRT) , the global provider of intelligent maritime surveillance systems for sovereigns and maritime navigation safety systems, has reported a strong first half for FY26, with unaudited group revenues reaching £51.1m, which is a significant 95% increase from £26.2m in the prior year's comparable period, while its profit before tax rose by 47% to £3.1m. The company's gross cash balance also grew substantial

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 13.01.2026 The Gym Group (LON;GYM) has this morning stated that it anticipates full-year results for 2025 to exceed analyst forecasts, driven by an 8% revenue increase to £244.9m and a 3% like-for-like revenue growth. The group declared that the numberr of members rose 4% to 945,000, with average revenue per member per month increasing to £21.60. Last year, the company opened 16 new sites, taking the total up to 260. It also reported that its net debt

Mark Watson-Mitchell – 12.01.2026   I now realise what Donald Trump is doing on the international stage – he is creating tensions across the globe, so that he can then be lauded for ‘settling’ the various wars and conflicts that are created by his manoeuvres. And then claim the Nobel Peace Prize for his valiant efforts. Grabbing Out For Greenland He is currently ‘bullying’ his way into the annexation of Greenland – such an intention of which I totally abhor. It is the world’s

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 12.01.2026   Tomorrow morning, Tuesday 13 th  January, will see the issue by the Gym Group (LON:GYM)  of its Trading Update for year to end-December 2025. Its shares at 159p look ready for a strong uplift. In a Leisure Sector Digest report published early last month by brokers Panmure Liberum its analyst Anna Barnfather stated that: “We expect Gyms to continue to perform well in 2026, underpinned by rising participation rates and sustained membership gr

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 12.01.2026 We have been banging on about this little £241m-capitalised group for years, and now it is beginning to show some real strength, enough to be exciting new investors. Gulf Marine Services (LON:GMS) last week announced more good news on the contract front - reaction to which generated a good share price move back above the 20p level, last seen in early August 2025. GMS Executive Chairman, Mansour Al Alami, stated that: "This contract extension

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 09.01.2026 On Tuesday 20th January, the Kier Group (LON:KIE) , whose vision is to be the UK’s leading infrastructure services and construction company, will be reporting a Trading Update for the first-half of its current year. It should be more than positive and boasting of further growth in its Order Book – such news of which could help to boost still further the upward progress of its shares, now trading at 226p, up some 64% in the last year. The Busi

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 08.01.2026 Watch the shares of the £1.37bn capitalised electrical retail group Currys (LON:CURY) over the next few days. They closed at 130.70p after some 2.37m shares traded. In two weeks' time, we should see the group report its Trading Update for the Christmas/New Year period. Good First Half It was on Thursday, 18th December, that the group declared that its First Half business had shown a significant improvement in its financial performance for the

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 07.01.2026 Yesterday, the shares of SRT Marine Systems (LON:SRT) reached a new High, closing at 95p, following a heavier-than-normal trading volume. Regular readers will know by now just how keen I have been on this group’s shares, which have shown a clear 126% gain in the last year. Is it just a reflection of the general market's good mood, or is it possibly in anticipation of some further good news to be announced by the provider of maritime surveilla

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 07.01.2026 Well, I got that wrong. I recently wrote that I felt that the shares of EnSilica (LON:ENSI) could well fall back in price because I considered that the 'chipmaker' is needing a fund-raising for its future development. On Monday, 29th December, I stated that the then £38m-capitalised chipmaker's shares, then 39.50p, were being nudged higher ahead of a New Year new capital whip round. The group's shares were 32p a couple of days before Christm

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 06.01.2026 I was interested to note the sudden move this afternoon in the shares of my favourite infrastructure specialist the Costain Group (LON:COST) . As I write they are trading at 161.60p, valuing the whole group at just £431m, having risen 4p on the day. Now that may not sound like anything special in price moves, but they have not been this high since August. After the massive share buyback programme finished in the summer, with the shares hittin

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 06.01.2026 Last night the FTSE100, the UK Equity Market's official barometer of performance, closed at 10,004.57, up 53.43 points on the day. It had broken up to 10,046.30 on Intra Day dealings last Friday, but the close last night is considered the most important marker. Jason Hollands, Managing Director of online investment platform Bestinvest by Evelyn Partners, stated that: “The UK’s FTSE 100 index of blue-chip companies today closed above 10,000 p

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 05.01.2026 This afternoon Fitzwalter Capital has issued a Statement regarding Auction Technology Group (LON:ATG) . FitzWalter Capital Limited, for and on behalf of funds and/or investment vehicles managed or advised by it, notes today's announcement by ATG regarding FitzWalter's potential offer to acquire the entire issued and to be issued share capital of the Company not already owned by it. FitzWalter confirms that it made an indicative offer of 360 p

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 05.01.2026 This morning Gulf Marine Services (LON:GMS) , a leading provider of self-propelled, self-elevating support vessels to the offshore energy industry, has announced a two-year extension (comprising one year firm and one year option) to an existing contract for one of its mid-size vessels operating in the GCC. This extension relates to a separate contract and a different vessel from the contract extension announced last Tuesday. Management Commen

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 05.01.2026 It has been announced this morning that Auction Technology (LON:ATG) has rejected eleven unsolicited, conditional proposals from its largest shareholder, FitzWalter Capital Limited, with the most recent offer being 360p per share in cash, stating that these proposals fundamentally undervalue the company. The Group's shares, which closed at 270p on Friday night, could well trade above that possible Offer Price on the back of this morning's ne

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 02.02.2026 This morning, the FTSE100 Index broke convincingly through the 'magical' 10,000 level, rising to 10,046.25, before easing back to the current 9,980.76 on the back of some profit-taking. The FTSE's rise has shown that the performance of the Dow Jones Index has been somewhat laggardly, with suggestions that US players are confused over Trump's recent international moves. Undoubtedly, our market has the 'taste' currently and expectations are tha