LONDON BRIEFING: Energy bills to rise 13%; Pets At Home cuts dividend

Wed, 27th May 2026 07:56

(Alliance News) - The price cap for household energy bills in Great Britain is set to rise by 13% from July, Pets At Home reports lower earnings and cuts its dividend and AIB's chief financial officer steps down.

Here is what you need to know before the London market open:

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MARKETS

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FTSE 100: called down 0.1% at 10,480.59

GBP: higher at USD1.3454 (USD1.3443 at previous London equities close)

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ECONOMICS

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Ofgem's price cap is to rise by 13% from July 1 driven by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, the regulator for Great Britain has said. The jump will equate to a rise of GBP18 a month for the average household using both electricity and gas, with households seeing an increase of 24% on their gas bills and 5% on their electricity bills. The new annual cap is GBP1,862, up from GBP1,641 before. This is slightly above Cornwall Insight's forecast of GBP1,850. Ofgem Chief Executive Tim Jarvis says: "Today's price change reflects continued volatility in global energy markets. This means higher wholesale gas prices, driven by ongoing conflict in the Middle East, is impacting the price we pay for energy. We understand many will be concerned about rising prices. While energy use typically falls over the summer months, there are still practical steps households can take to manage costs, including exploring fixed tariffs or changing their payment method." Jarvis adds: "While our energy supplies remain secure, the best way to limit this exposure is by investing in our energy network. That's why we're unlocking the funding needed for the biggest transformation of our lifetime to deliver a system that is secure, resilient and works for consumers across Great Britain."

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BROKER RATINGS

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Oddo BHF cuts Intertek to 'neutral' (outperform) - price target 6,000 (5,000) pence

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RBC raises Cranswick to 'outperform' (sector perform) - price target 6,100 (5,500) pence

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COMPANIES - FTSE 100

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AstraZeneca says the US Food & Drug Administration extends the decision date for camizestrant to allow the review of additional data. The Cambridge-based pharmaceutical company says the FDA extends the date for the new drug application for the first-line treatment of patients with hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative advanced breast cancer whose tumours have an emergent ESR1 mutation. The application is based on positive results from the pivotal Serena-6 phase three trial. The FDA granted the breakthrough therapy designation for the camizestrant comibnation in May 2025. In April, the FDA's oncologic drugs advisory committee did not reach a majority vote in favour of the benefit of switching to the drug. As a result, AstraZeneca has provided additional analyses in support of the application, as requested by the FDA. "We look forward to continuing the dialogue with the FDA in order to bring the benefits of camizestrant with this innovative treatment strategy to eligible patients in the US as quickly as possible," says Susan Galbraith, AstraZeneca's executive vice president for Oncology Haematology Research & Development.

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COMPANIES - FTSE 250

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Pets At Home reports lower full-year earnings but reports progress made in stabilising the Retail business. The Cheshire, England-based operator of pet care centres and veterinary practices says pretax profit sinks 28% to GBP86.5 million in the 12 months to March 26 from GBP120.6 million a year prior. Revenue edges down 0.8% to GBP1.47 billion from GBP1.48 billion. Basic earnings per share fall 28% to 13.8 pence from 19.0p. The firm cuts its annual dividend by 43% to 7.4p per share from 13.0p. The company says this is in line with its previously announced new capital allocation approach. It plans a further GBP50 million share buyback programme. Underlying pretax profit sinks 30% to GBP92.8 million from GBP1330.0 million. It drops 58% in Retail but rises 10% in the Vet Group. New Chief Executive Officer James Bailey says: "Pets at Home is a business with many strengths, a strong shared purpose and great potential and I am excited to lead it through its next chapter...Material progress has been made over the past 6 months stabilising the Retail business, delivering improved satisfaction and better availability. We have the opportunity now to build momentum through profitable volume led growth in Retail while continuing to execute the proven growth levers of our Vet business and launch our Insurance offering."

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Bodycote maintains its 2026 outlook and says it is trading in line with expectations. The Macclesfield, England-based thermal processing firm reports core revenue growth of 9.0% at constant currency in the first four months of the year, led by Specialist Technologies. It also sees "strong growth" in Aerospace & Defence and Industrial Gas Turbines. Group revenue rises 1.9% at constant currency, with core growth offset by plant exits under its Optimise programme. The company continues to expect core organic revenue growth in 2026, moderating in the second half, improved operating margins and strategic progress. "We are mindful of ongoing geopolitical uncertainty and will continue to closely manage input costs and to focus on preserving agility in our cost base," Bodycote says.

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OTHER COMPANIES

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AIB Group Chief Financial Officer Donal Galvin steps down to pursue other opportunities. The Dublin-based lender says Galvin will remain with the firm to ensure a "smooth handover of responsibilities", including the announcement of half-year results on July 30. A process to appoint Galvin's successor will start immediately. Galvin joined AIB in September 2013 as group treasurer, and was appointed as CFO in March 2019. "I have greatly enjoyed my time with AIB and playing my part in the restoration of such an important institution in Ireland. The time is right for me personally to pursue other career opportunities, and I am pleased to leave AIB in such a strong financial position," says outgoing CFO Galvin.

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Ultimate Products hires Simon Harrison to be chief executive officer, joining the company in September. Harrison currently is CEO of Liverpool-based food and beverage maker Princes Group, but the FTSE 250 listing last week said Harrison will be leaving on June 30 "to pursue another opportunity". Harrison has been with Princes Group for five years, the last two in the top job, prior to which he worked a soft drinks bottler Coca-Cola European Partners, now called Coca-Cola Europacific Partners. Ultimate Products says Harrison will join the company on September 5 and replace Andrew Gossage as CEO on October 26. Both Gossage, who has worked at Ultimate Products for 20 years, and Simon Showman, who founded the company and led it for 27 years, will become non-executive directors later this year.

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Nvidia will increase investment in Taiwan to USD150 billion a year, the Santa Clara, California-based chip company's chief executive officer said Wednesday, describing the export-driven island as the "epicentre of the AI revolution". Jensen Huang, the CEO of the world's most valuable company, said "Taiwan is booming" and Nvidia's investment, up from USD100 billion, will "fuel an incredible ecosystem here". Taiwan is a powerhouse in the manufacturing of semiconductors used to train and power artificial intelligence systems. The island is home to hardware production titan TSMC, which turns Nvidia's cutting-edge designs into silicon components, and Foxconn, which assembles the processors to make data centre servers. "Four years ago, five years ago, Nvidia was spending about USD10, USD15 billion a year in Taiwan," Huang said in Taipei where the company is building a new office. "Now, we're spending USD100 going to USD150 billion in Taiwan each year."

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By Michael Hennessey, Alliance News reporter

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