Insig AI plc, a provider of AI-led analytics and machine learning solutions, has reported a huge increase in revenue in its half-year results while it massively narrowed losses.

For the six months ended 30th September 2025, revenue grew 164% to £438,000 while operating losses were £1.1m (H124: £5.2m).

The firm raised £1m in new equity and plans to deploy capital into the digital assets and AI space.

Lloyds Banking Group has completed its £1.7bn share buyback programme.

The programme was managed by Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc and saw Lloyds repurchase 2.2bn ordinary shares between 21 February and 8^th December 2025.

Oxford Metrics plc has announced a return to growth with its latest annual results.

The smart sensing and software company – which services the life sciences, entertainment, engineering and smart manufacturing markets – reported £44.8m revenues for the year ended 30th September 2025, up 8% on the previous year.

Adjusted EBIT was £2.2m, up 29%, but profit before tax was down 80% from £500,000 to £100,000.

Paramount Skydance has launched a hostile £81bn rival bid for Warner Bros’ film and TV studios despite a £54bn takeover by Netflix being agreed.

Paramount, who lost out in the bidding process alongside Comcast, subsequently made a complaint that Netflix was unfairly favoured during negotiations.

Now it has taken more aggressive action with a proposed deal backed by financing from Affinity Partners – the investment firm run by Jared Kushner, son-in-law of US President Donald Trump – several Middle Eastern government investment funds and Larry Ellison, father of Paramount boss David Ellison.

Any deal will not include Warner Bros’ Discovery Global division, which includes CNN and TNT Sports.

Commentators say the traditional film and TV industry sees any successful Netflix deal as a threat – seeing as the world’s biggest streaming platform would own one of Hollywood’s largest and most iconic studios.

Warner Bros Discovery’s board of directors said it would review Paramount’s offer but is still recommending the Netflix deal for now.

As well as its high-profile film studio, Warner Bros’ portfolio includes HBO, the HBO Max streaming platform and DC Studios.

The deal, not expected to close until late 2026 or 2027, is likely to be closely scrutinised by competition regulators in the United States and UK.

Private equity-backed Polaris Software has acquired Massachusetts-based Sitestream as it expands into the US public sector compliance market.

Banbury-based Polaris partners with all UK police forces, enhancing their digitisation and optimisation efforts to free up public resources, increase productivity and reduce costs. 

Sitestream has long leveraged Polaris’ platform. The acquisition paves the way for large-scale expansion across a wide range of municipal compliance applications in the US.

The British Business Bank has agreed a £75 million cornerstone commitment to SV Health Investors’ new flagship fund –  SV8 Biotech Fund LP – which is dedicated to multi-stage therapeutics.

It is the bank’s largest fund commitment to date and brings its total fund commitments to life sciences above half a billion, with £560m committed across 15 life science funds. 

These fund commitments have collectively leveraged £3.04 billion from private sector investors, bringing in six pounds for every one pound invested, it says. 

Welsh EdTech Learna has been acquired by Dutch firm Reducate in a multi-million-pound deal.

Learna was founded in Cardiff in 2010 and serves more than 1,500 active learners.

It delivers 100% online, modular, tutor-led programmes – postgraduate masters, diplomas and certificates – for doctors and healthcare professionals, designed around medical career progression.

Author: Alastair Winsey, founder of AIVA Revolution

Twenty minutes from order to delivery – that’s the new normal.  

Deliveroo brings dinner to your door faster than you can decide what to watch on Netflix. It’s an extraordinary level of speed and convenience, driven by tech giants with billion-dollar budgets that have completely rewritten how customers expect to be served.

For hospitality, that’s both the challenge and the opportunity. If the sector is going to stay relevant, venues must be more competitive, more forward-thinking, and far more connected to their guests than ever before.

And while hospitality provides a vivid example, this shift is rippling across every service-led sector, from retail to real estate, where relationships and responsiveness now define competitive advantage.

Because the truth is simple: younger generations won’t wait. Whether it’s a wedding, a restaurant booking, or a weekend escape, they expect instant answers. If they don’t get them, they move on, not tomorrow, but within minutes.

And even after they’ve left, the relationship shouldn’t end. Guests who’ve had a brilliant experience rarely return on their own. They’re waiting to be invited back, but most venues never follow up. I experienced this myself on a recent holiday. We had a fantastic stay, but there was no follow-up, no reminder, no reason to return. Another lost opportunity that the managing director probably never even knew existed.

That’s the real gap technology can close.

Because hospitality isn’t just about service anymore – it’s about nurture.

The FTSE 100 has pushed up slightly again so far today as it nears its all-time peak once again. 

Prudential (2.83%) is leading the FTSE 100 after confirming plans for an IPO for its Indian asset management joint venture ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company.

Vodafone (1.66%) ticked up as Barclays Capital it to “overweight” from “equal weight” and raised its price target to 120p from 100p on Monday.

Smith & Nephew (1.58%) and Rolls-Royce (1.43%) have also risen slightly. 

On the downside, Marks & Spencer (-2.21%) is one of the weakest FTSE 100 firms so far today, with housebuilders Barratt Redrow (-2.17%), Persimmon (-2.16%) and Berkeley (-1.83%) all also slipping. 

In the FTSE 250, Kainos (6.93%) topped the risers. The tech firm is now at its 2025 peak with a share price of 1,155p. 

Oxford Nanopore (5.13%) has spiked following the news that it has appointed Francis Van Parys as its next chief executive.

Trustpilot (4.65%), PayPoint (4.11%) and Baltic Classifieds (3.54%) are more FTSE 250 risers.

At the other end, SDCL Efficiency Income Trust (-17.49%) has dropped sharply after releasing its half-year results which showed ‘little improvement’ according to chair Tony Roper. 

Future (-5.13%) has fallen amid a tough period for the advertising industry, while Unite Group (-3.11%) and Rotork (-3.11%) are slightly lower today too.

Author: Patrick Killeen

ASOS has reported a drop in revenue in its latest annual results, but the online fashion retailer narrowed its losses as its turnaround plan continues to take effect.

The group’s revenue dropped from £2.9 billion last year to £2.5bn this year, with customers also falling from 19.7 million to 17m.

However, operating performance moved the right way, with the London-based firm posting an operating loss of £212m, a significant improvement on last year’s £332m.

The UK’s largest online pharmacy, is now the only online pharmacy in the UK to hold B Corp status in recognition of its commitment to social and environmental responsibility, transparency and accountability. 

Pharmacy2U, whose digital healthcare platform serves over 1.6 million patients, was able to meet rigorous standards across the areas of governance, workers, community, environment and customers.

It says the status reflects the company’s long-term commitment to balancing sustainable growth with responsibility to people and the planet.

LendInvest has posted another profitable half-year, making H1 FY26 its second consecutive period of profit as lending volumes rose.

New lending climbed 23% to £663.6 million, helping net operating income jump 29% to £21.5m, while adjusted EBITDA swung to a £3.7m gain and profit before tax reached £1.2m.

The company has said that its tech-enabled, capital-efficient model is now fully embedded and scaling without adding fixed overheads.

Looking ahead, it expects full-year performance to stay in line with market expectations despite a brief pre-Budget slowdown in property purchases.

London-listed Eagle Eye has landed a new three-year deal with a major regional US grocery chain covering more than 500 stores across nine states, starting with a six-month paid proof of concept.

The retailer will trial the company’s AI-driven Personalized Challenges and Personalized Promotion Ranking tools to improve one-to-one marketing, boost engagement and drive sales.

If rolled out to the wider customer base, the contract is expected to make a material contribution to EagleAI recurring revenue from the first half of FY27.

The win follows another multi-year North American food retail contract announced last month.

The Insolvency Service has appointed Duncan Beach as its new chief executive.

Beach joins from HSBC, where he was managing director and global head of risk and compliance transformation.

He replaces interim CEO Alec Pybus, who stepped in after former chief executive Dean Beale left the agency in May.

With more than two decades of strategic leadership experience, Beach brings a track record in driving large-scale change across complex organisations.

Evelyn Partners has appointed Victoria Gammon as a partner in financial planning, boosting its specialist advice offering from its Nottingham office.

A chartered and certified financial planner with more than 20 years’ experience, Gammon joins from IM Asset Management where she was an associate director.

She brings deep expertise in court of protection work and in advising clients receiving personal injury and clinical negligence settlements.

Her remit will cover clients across the Midlands and beyond, as Evelyn Partners continues to expand its regional financial planning capability.

Author: Patrick Killeen

Big Technologies plc has announced that it expects its annual performance to be in line with market expectations, after a hectic few months involving its founder and former chief executive.

The firm expects 2025 revenue to be in the range of £48.5 million to £49.5m.

The AIM-listed electronic monitoring specialist pointed to a string of fresh contract wins and a new US partnership that should start feeding into recurring revenue next year.

Today’s announcement comes after a hectic few months for the Rickmansworth-based firm.

It remains locked in a £320m High Court battle with founder Sara Murray OBE after her dismissal as CEO in March, with the company alleging document forgery linked to its 2021 IPO and other governance breaches – claims she has called “outrageous”.

Perplexity has struck a global partnership with Cristiano Ronaldo, with the footballing icon taking a strategic investment stake in the AI answer-engine company.

The California-based firm says Ronaldo uses the product as part of his preparation and decision-making, and the collaboration will help push the platform to a wider mainstream audience.

To launch the tie-up, Perplexity is rolling out a dedicated Cristiano Ronaldo hub featuring an interactive CR7 experience, including career timelines, curated questions and exclusive imagery for fans to explore.

Author: Patrick Killeen

Greengage & Co has set out plans to join the Access segment of the Aquis Stock Exchange Growth Market, aiming to scale its FinTech platform while launching a Bitcoin-backed yield strategy alongside the float.

Founded in 2018, the London-based company positions itself as a relationship-led bridge between traditional finance and digital assets.

The float is designed to fund what it calls a “Bitcoin Yield Reserve Strategy”.

Greengage said that this is different from passive corporate treasury Bitcoin holdings because it seeks yield on top of any potential price upside.

The plan is to purchase Bitcoin with IPO proceeds, then borrow against those holdings on a non-recourse basis and deploy the borrowed funds into high-yield private credit portfolios.

If Bitcoin appreciates, the business expects to keep that capital upside after loan repayment and if it falls sharply, the lender can liquidate the collateral but Greengage says it would have no liability beyond losing the pledged Bitcoin.

Author: Patrick Killeen

Oxford Nanopore Technologies has named Francis Van Parys as its next chief executive, replacing founder Gordon Sanghera who has led the FTSE 250 firm since its inception in 2005.

The London-listed company, which develops molecular sensing technology based on nanopores, said Van Parys will join the business and its board as an executive director on 2nd March 2026.

He arrives with more than two decades of senior leadership experience in life sciences and is currently president and CEO of Radiometer, the acute-care diagnostics specialist owned by Danaher.

Sanghera will remain with the group in an advisory role through to early 2027 to support an orderly handover.

Netflix has agreed a £54bn deal to take over Warner Bros’ film and TV studios.

The deal will commence once the latter’s Discovery Global division – which includes CNN and the TNT Sports – is separated.

As well as its high-profile film studio, Warner Bros’ portfolio includes HBO, the HBO Max streaming platform and DC Studios.

Paramount Skydance and Comcast were the rival bidders for Warner Bros. The former has made a complaint that Netflix was given preferential treatment during the bidding process.

The deal, not expected to close until late 2026 or 2027, is likely to be closely scrutinised by competition regulators in the United States and UK.