News blog

AIM 50 Digest 8 May 2026

BY: Andrew Hore |
POSTED: 10/05/2026 |

IQE (IQE) has ended its strategic review and there is no bid for the semiconductor wafer manufacturer. A placing and offer has raised £13m at 19.8p/share, while a strategic investment of £30m by semiconductor manufacturer MACOM, the issue of £15m of convertible loan notes and reinvestment of £23m from existing convertible loan notes takes the total raised to £81m. This will repay debt and fund the growth of IQE. There will be investment in Indium Phosphide (InP) and Gallium Nitride (GaN) technologies. MACOM will nominate two directors to the board. The 2025 results will be published in late May, and revenues are expected to be £97m and this is expected to grow by one-fifth this year.
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Jet2 (JET2) expects to report a 2025-26 operating profit of £435m to £440m. The results will be published on 8 July. Total cash is £3.3bn. So far, this year’s bookings are higher than the same time last year, although more recent bookings are tending to be later due to the Middle East conflict.
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Last year was a period of restructuring for Next 15 Group (NFG) and revenues fell 6% to £448.8m. Pre-tax profit fell from £68m to £63.4m. Net debt was £35.6m at the end of January 2026. There has been £11m of annual costs removed. Better integration of the businesses has helped performance to stabilise. Allegations of misconduct at Mach49 mean that no further earn out payments have been made. The balance sheet includes £68.9m of potential contingent consideration for that business. Arbitration proceedings are ongoing and this provides uncertainty about the potential financial cost to the business.
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RWS (RWS) has reached agreement to acquire IP management platform Obviously for an initial £16.5m and the earn out could be for up to £23.5m more. In the year to February 2026, Obviously generated revenues of £2.5m and lost money.
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Engineering services provider Renew (RNWH) acquired Edwards Diving Services, which provides marine and diving services to the water sector. The initial cost is £10m and there could be up to £3m more depending on achievement of profit targets. EBITDA should be £1.3m.
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Franchise Brands (FRAN) increased system sales by 4% in the first quarter of 2026. All the B2B divisions grew with water and waste services division is 8% ahead, while European Pirtek sales were 2% higher. Filta International continues to be the best performer with a 12% increase.
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Camellia (CAM) has maintained its final dividend at 260p/share. There was a swing from a loss to a trading profit of £1m. Net cash was £133.6m at the end of 2025 and there have been further disposals since then.
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Building materials supplier SigmaRoc (SRC) says cold weather held back the first quarter of 2026, although they were 5% ahead in March. Volumes declined 3% over the first quarter, although they would have been higher without the poor weather. This was offset by higher prices and better margins. Energy costs are hedged into 2027.
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Vertu Motors (VTU) has settled a business interruption insurance claim relating to Jaguar Land Rover’s production and supply being disrupted by a cyber attack. Net of a deductible the payment will be £3.4m and £1m has already been paid. The full year result will be published on 13 May.
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Serica Energy (SQZ) has set a coupon rate of 7.875% for the $300m of five-year senior unsecured bonds. They will be listed on Euronext Oslo.
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Kefi Gold and Copper (KEFI) has assigned a nil book value for its 13% stake in Saudi Arabia joint venture GMCO, having invested $13m. An independent valuation is being sought.
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Hargreaves Services (HSP) purchased 2.35 million shares in the tender offer at 850p each. Shareholders tendered 18.9million shares and they were scaled back.
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Redcentric (RCN) has completed the sale of the data centres business for £122.85m and an initially payment of £115.4m has been made. A tender offer is planned to return £90m at 160p/share. The rest of the cash will reduce debt and could be used for share buybacks.
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Lee Cowie has been appointed chief executive of accesso Technology (ACSO).
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M and C Saatchi (SAA) non-exec Nicholas Shott bought 15,806 shares at 126.47p each and 24,231 shares at 126.89p. AB Dynamics (ABDP) interim finance director Andrew Lewis bought 500 shares at 1037p each.

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