Mark Watson-Mitchell – 25.03.2026     This morning Nat Rothschild’s £870m-capitalised Volex Group (LON:VLX) has announced a strong trading update for its year to end-March, with full-year revenue now expected to be at least $1,220m, significantly exceeding market expectations, and underlying operating margins anticipated to be above the 9-10% target range. That outperformance was primarily driven by high demand for data centre products, with revenues in that segment expected

Mark Watson-Mitchell – 24.03.2026     This morning’s Interim Results from Gattaca (LON:GATC) showed a massive advance. The specialist staffing business reported a strong first half for the six months to end- January, with revenue increasing by 10% to £212.4m and Net Fee Income (NFI) rising by 13% to £21.4m, driven by growth in sectors like Defence and Energy. The group’s operating profit saw a significant increase of 431% to £2.6m, while its underlying pre-tax profit grew 187

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 19.03.2026   On Tuesday 26 th  August last year, I featured again the shares of Ashtead Technology (LON:AT.) , then with its shares at 344p, it was capitalised at £276m. The shares went on to score Lows of 297p last November and repeated in January this year, since when they have rebounded to 445p – showing that there is quite an active market range for the company’s equity. On Tuesday of this week, the group reported an impressive set of Final Results

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 19.03.2026 After the recently announced results from the marine services group James Fisher & Sons (LON:FSJ) , James Fisher - submarine rescue analyst Thomas Rands at Berenberg, has substantially raised his Target Price for the group's shares to 790p. The £271m-capitalised group's shares are currently trading at 542p. The Business This global company provides services such as engineering, inspection, installation, commissioning, operations, maintenan

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 18.03.2026 The £125m-capitalised Ramsdens Holdings (LON:RFX) has this morning announced a further upgrade to its full-year profit expectations for FY26, now anticipating profit before tax to be at least £24m and potentially up to £28m, driven by strong trading across its core income streams and a sustained high gold price. The average gold price year-to-date is approximately 50% higher than the prior year, contributing to increased purchase volumes

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 18.03.2026 This morning Costain Group (LON:COST) , the infrastructure company, has announced yet another contract win for its already record Order Book. It has secured a new contract valued at approximately £45m with Severn Trent to undertake critical infrastructure upgrades at the Rugby Newbold Sewage Treatment Works, with work scheduled to continue until 2028. As the principal contractor and designer, Costain will focus on constructing new faciliti

Trustpilot – excellent results, shares up nearly 48% in one week, now 233p, brokers TP 423p Mark Watson-Mitchell – 18.03.2026   Up 47.7% in just eight days!   At the beginning of last week, on Monday 9 th March, SQC Research  featured the shares of Trustpilot Group (LON:TRST) , the world’s largest open customer feedback platform.   “Trustpilot Group – further growth to come, Finals next week, shares 157.30p offering quick upside, SQC TP 195p”   Yesterday the company reported

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 16.03.2026   At the end of this week, on Friday, 20 th  March, Tim Martin will deliver to the market the Interim Results for his £677m-capitalised J D Wetherspoon (LON:JDW)  pubs and hotels group. It almost does not matter whether it will be good or bad news, of one thing you can be assured – it will certainly create a mass of column inches in the financial media. As an example of Tim’s media attention, when commenting upon surging oil prices, he was qu

Mark Watson-Mitchell – 16.03.2026    This morning my favourite Marine Domain Awareness specialist group, SRT Marine Systems (LON:SRC) , has reported a strong first half for the six months to end-December 2025. It showed revenues increasing by 95% to £51.1m and profit before tax rising by 48% to £3.1m. The company's gross cash position grew by 86% to £41.6m. Importantly, the group stated that it maintains an active contract order book of £350m from five sovereign customers.

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 12.03.2026   Next Monday, 15 th  March, SigmaRoc (LON:SRC) will report its results for the year to end-December 2025. They should be very good, showing an almost 36% increase in pre-tax profits, on the back of a near 8% rise in revenues. Those results and the accompanying statement could well help the European group’s shares, now 126p, move back above this year’s High of 153p. The £1.39bn-capitalised group’s declared Mission is to supply essential mine

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 12.03.2026 Canny followers of the shares of James Fisher & Sons (LON:FSJ) have this morning had an excellent buying opportunity following the group announcing its 2025 Final Results. In reaction, t he group's shares fell by some 36. 58p to a Low of 467.42p, before bouncing back up to the current 499p - a level at which new investors should be scrambling to get aboard the £250m-capitalised group's equity. James Fisher Defence - deep saturation In fac

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 11.03.2026   Next Tuesday morning, 17 th  March, Zotefoams (LON:ZTF)  will announce its 2025 results and they should be impressive with a 35% improvement in profits. The group is a global leader in the development, manufacture and distribution of supercritical foams. Its materials are aimed at core applications across industry sectors such as Aviation and Aerospace, Mass Transportation, Medical, Sports & Leisure, Construction & Insulation, and Industria

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 11.03.2026 SRT Marine Systems (LON:SRT) , my favourite global provider of intelligent maritime surveillance systems for sovereigns and maritime navigation safety, has declared some very good news. It has been announced, this morning, that the Philippines Ombudsman Complaint has been Cleared & Dismissed. SRT Marine Systems (LON:SRT) , my favourite global provider of intelligent maritime surveillance systems for sovereigns and maritime navigation safety

Mark Watson-Mitchell   A year ago, on Thursday 20 th  March, I featured the shares of James Fisher & Sons (LON:FSJ) when they were trading at 323p, declaring that they were ‘a cracking portfolio must.’ They have since been up to 534p, a very useful 65% gain over the last year . This £259m-capitalised group is a global company that provides services such as engineering, inspection, installation, commissioning, operations, maintenance, lifting and handling to the oil and gas, m

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 10.03.2026 This morning Costain Group (LON:COST) has reported a strong performance for 2025, with adjusted operating profit increasing by 9.3% to £47.1m and an improved adjusted operating margin of 4.5%. Revenue for the year was £1,045.7m, down from £1,251.1m in FY 24, primarily due to a reduction in the Transportation sector offset by growth in Natural Resources. The company achieved a record forward work position of £7.0bn, representing a 30% increa

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 06.03.2026 Next Tuesday, 10th March, Costain Group (LON:COST) , the UK construction and consultancy, will declare its results for the year to end-December 2025. Considering Governmental delays coupled with economic headwinds, it will have done well to maintain its profits on the back of an expected 16% lower revenue for that year. However, I look for the £472m-capitalised business to express confidence in its prospects for the current year, as it expec

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 04.03.2026 A year ago, I commented that the investors in the shares of construction group Galliford Try (LON:GFRD) could gain confidence from this group’s continued strong performance, while analyst estimates underlined the overall attractions of the group and the prospects for its rising share price from the then 384p. At that time, 6th March 2025, I suggested that investors should hold tightly to the group’s shares as they progress higher in sales,

Mark Watson-Mitchell – 04.03.2026   This morning SRT Marine Systems (LON:SRT)  has announced the signing of a new maritime surveillance contract with a sovereign customer valued at $261m, an increase from the previously anticipated $200m. The commencement of this project is contingent on the completion of a UKEF-supported finance package. The company also noted ongoing progress with existing projects in Asia and the Middle East, highlighting the increasing demand for independ

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 03.03.2026 This morning's Interim results from the Kier Group (LON:KIE) reported a strong first half to end-December 2025, achieving an average net cash position of £16.8m, a significant improvement from the prior period's net debt of £(37.6) million. The group also announced a new £25m share buyback programme. Revenue grew by 2.6% to £2,029m, with adjusted operating profit increasing by 6.6% to £71.0m, and the adjusted operating margin improved by 10

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 03.02.2026 This coming Wednesday, 4th March, will see the £824m-capitalised Metro Bank (LON:MTRO) declare its Final Results for the year to end-December 2025. They should reveal an impressive leap from £14.0m of losses in 2024 to over £98.0m of pre-tax profits last year. And that is just the start of a major recovery. After some hassles three years ago, the group has undergone a significant period of change. 2024 proved to be a year of successful tr