LIVEDaily Stock Market Report (Mon 2nd Nov 2026) - IBST, IXI
Good morning! There is good news in relation to Binance after the largest crypto hack of all time.
The company has announced that 90% of losses have now been covered for its users. It had set aside its own company funds (some $6.3bn) to help cover losses for any assets that could not be reclaimed.
Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple and other popular tokens have already been fully covered. The losses that have not yet been covered relate to less liquid tokens which Binance says will require more time to source.
The company reopened for withdrawals and deposits on Sunday, processing $4.6 billion out and $1.0 billion in. Withdrawals are said to be “stabilising as expected”.
Compared to previous crypto heists, this one seems to be working out OK for customers so far. So we have a good news story to start off our week!
Overnight market movements:
The FTSE is down 0.2% at 10,715
S&P 500 is up 0.5% at 7,620
Brent crude (January) is down 2.9% at $110.10/bbl
Gold is up 0.9% at $3,905/oz
Bitcoin is up 0.4% at $78,100
Roland Head joins me today.
The table is complete.
Companies Reporting
Name (Mkt Cap) | RNS | Summary | Our view (Author) |
|---|---|---|---|
Endeavour Mining (LON:EDV) (£9bn | SR81) | On 28 October, the access ramp leading to the depleted Wona open pit partially subsided, restricting access to the Dangouna and Aviera underground portals at the Mana mine in Burkina Faso. The company says no one was harmed but underground mining at all three active portals at Mana has been suspended. Remains on track to achieve FY26 production and AISC guidance. | ||
Londonmetric Property (LON:LMP) (£4.5bn | SR38) | CFO Martin McGann will retire in summer 2027, after LMP’s full-year results. Plans to appoint a successor are underway. | ||
Kosmos Energy (LON:KOS) (£1.27bn | SR33) | Q3 revenue up 32% to $410m, Q3 net loss reduced to $43m (Q3 25: $125m). Q3 net production up 6% to c.69,200 boepd. On track to achieve 20% debt reduction target in 2026. Successfully completed $1.2bn lending facility amendment and extension. | ||
Firstgroup (LON:FGP) (£1.15bn | SR84) | Sale of assets and bus franchise contract awards in West Yorkshire | Agreed sale of assets for £109m to West Yorkshire Combined Authority, including five depots and 330 buses. Company expects £30m one-off gain and cash inflows of c.£55m in FY27, with remainder of cash inflows in FY28 and FY29. | |
Serica Energy (LON:SER) (£1.02bn | SR84) | Signed a contract for an Odfjell Drilling operated rig to execute a multi-well UK Continental Shelf drilling campaign targeting opportunities with the potential to add up to c.30,000 boepd of incremental production to Serica. The contract includes six wells, with the option for further activity. Drilling is expected to start in Q3 2027 on the Bruce field. | ||
IP (LON:IPO) (£645m | SR81) | IP has been appointed by Aberdeen Investments to manage a UK venture growth portfolio within the CG Scottish Widows Growth LTAF. | ||
Amaroq (LON:AMRQ) (£453m | SR28) | Introduces ‘String of Pearls’ development strategy, targeting surrounding deposits (the Pearls) close to its past-producing Black Angel & Nunngarut ore bodies. Management reports “high-grade” results from a 2026 sampling programme. | ||
Ibstock (LON:IBST) (£319m | SR20) | UK brick market volumes fell by 17% in Q3, with Ibstock’s share remaining consistent. H2 performance is now expected to be “materially below previous expectations”. | PROFIT WARNING (RED =) (Roland) | |
Chrysalis Investments (LON:CHRY) (£291m | SR42) | Q3 NAV per share rose by 1.9% to 133.54p, versus 30 June 26, based on the unchanged share count prior to September’s capital redemption. There was a c.2.62p increase in the fair value of the portfolio, offset by fees and expenses. | ||
Kistos Holdings (LON:KIST) (£259m | SR94) | Kistos has acquired a 30% interest in the Abbey and Baker gas fields and associated infrastructure from Petrogas. The deal is expected to add 9mmboe of net 2P reserves on final investment decision [expected in 2027]. Further information will be provided on completion. | ||
AdvancedAdvT (LON:ADVT) (£233m | SR55) | H1 revenue +13% to £28.8m with operating profit of £8.2m (H1 25: £2.9m) and adj EPS +17.6% to 6.16p. FY27 outlook: H2 trading remains in line with expectations. | ||
Public Policy Holding (LON:PPHC) (£229m | SR15) | Acquired Reevemark, “an elite New York-based strategic communications firm specializing in high-stakes situations ranging from litigation, crises, brand and reputational issues to restructurings, shareholder activism and transactions”. Total consideration is up to $80m, with initial consideration of $28m. Reevemark expects to generate a pre-tax profit of $3.9m in 2026. | ||
MPAC (LON:MPAC) (£103m | SR61) | Chair Andrew Kitchingman will step down from the Board following the May 2027 AGM. He will be replaced by current non-exec David Squires. | ||
Home Reit (LON:HOME) (£65m | SR24) | All subsidiaries have entered into creditors’ voluntary liquidation. Targeting to further reduce expenses (excluding legal fees) to between £2.0m and £2.5m per annum. In third quarter of calendar year, paid £0.5m of legal costs. | ||
Vast Resources (LON:VAST) (£62m | SR5) | FY April 2026: revenues $0.8m. After-tax loss $10.45m, driven by transaction costs associated with the reverse takeover of Gulf and the recording of an environmental regulatory penalty. Raised $11m of equity and obtained loan financing in August. Non-exec Chair to retire by the end of this calendar year. | ||
Victoria (LON:VCP) (£45m | SR54) | Seeking formal consent from holders of the 2028 notes for refinancing transaction. Organic revenue growth in H1 c. 5%. H1 EBITDA excluding Balta slightly ahead of H1 last year. Continues to target total net proceeds of £70 million from surplus and non-core asset sales in FY27. | RED = (Graham) | |
Goldplat (LON:GDP) (£39m | SR96) | Updated Mineral Resource estimate for the tailings storage facility at its 90.63%-owned subsidiary Goldplat Recovery in South Africa. Measured Mineral Resource of 130,560 ounces of gold, of which 118,330 ounces are attributable to GDP. Supersedes previous estimate (total resource of 81,959 ounces of gold). | ||
Helium One Global (LON:HE1) (£34m | SR23) | 50% working interest in the Galactica-Pegasus helium development project in Colorado. The Operator reports that six tube trailers have now delivered on a scheduled basis and the Pinon Canyon facility is in its production ramp-up phase, which is expected to continue into 2027. | ||
Quadrise (LON:QED) (£31m | SR8) | Valkor has advised QED that it now expects to pay US$300,000 of the outstanding US$950,000 site licence fee balance, that was due by 31 October 2026, in early November 2026. The remaining US$650,000 balance is expected to be paid upon completion of Valkor's ongoing fundraising process in Q4 2026. | ||
Blencowe Resources (LON:BRES) (£30m | SR14) | Further successful testing of Orom-Cross graphite in high-performance supercapacitor cells developed with existing offtake partner YUNASKO and leading US graphite specialist American Energy Technologies. | ||
Kavango Resources (LON:KAV) (£27m | SR10) | Zimbabwe: the Ministry of Mines & Mining Development on 30 October 2026 permitted the commissioning of the 50tpd Hillside pilot processing plant and Tailings Storage Facility. | ||
Sareum Holdings (LON:SAR) (£25m | SR14) | No revenues, £3.7m operating loss. Cash £1.2m. In July, Sareum “completed dosing in the Phase 2-enabling toxicology programme for SDC-1801” (autoimmune disease). Raised £3.2m in October. | ||
IXICO (LON:IXI) (£26m | SR32) | Won a global Phase 3 clinical trial contract in Huntington’s disease, worth £2.7million in revenues to IXICO over the next six years. | AMBER (Roland) | |
Eco Buildings (LON:ECOB) (£16m | SR1) | ECOB’s Albanian operations have entered into a Manufacturing and Supply Agreement, relating to 60 residential villas at the Lake Gjokaj residential development. Total contract value c. €11.9m. | ||
Croma Security Solutions (LON:CSSG) (£11m | SR70) | Revenue up 13.8% to £10.97m. EBITDA falls to £1.04m. Cash £4.91m. “Trading in FY27 is on track, with the newly acquired businesses performing well…” | ||
Newmark Security (LON:NWT) (£9m | SR63) | Positive start to the current financial year. Human capital management ARR up 13% year-on-year to £4.3m. Disposal of Safetell completed. Access Control is in the process of being sold. |
Analyst notes
- Ibstock (LON:IBST)
Ibstock: 2026 profit guidance cut by c.25% as debt risks mount, our view remains negative
I estimate today's profit warning has wiped around 25% from previous expectations for this year. More worryingly, my sums suggest that Ibstock could be at risk of breaching its lending covenants at the end of 2026 if the company fails to deliver meaningful debt reduction. While it's unusual for us to be fully negative on an established mid-cap stock, I think our RED view remains justified here.
Our stance on this financial fiasco will remain fully negative for the time being, but it should be instructive to see how it is eventually resolved. I am still betting that more dilution will be needed in order to fully stabilise the company. While I've written very negatively in the past about Victoria's approach to leverage, I am surprised and impressed that existing shareholders have not already been diluted to a much greater extent. Investing in the discounted bonds could be an interesting investment idea, rather than investing directly into the equity.
This contract helps to underpin current forecasts and support the recovery of IXICO's order book following £1.5m of contract losses last year. I'm taking a neutral view today because I haven't done the research needed to form a conviction on this loss-making and specialised business, but my initial impression is that IXICO might be worth further research for investors with an interest in this sector.
Disclaimer
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21 comments
Thank you Roland. As long term holders of MBH (down 20%) and recent investors in BRCK (starter position close to today's price) I read analysis of brick manufacturers carefully. Patience needed.
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5:30pm Company Presentation from Beeks Financial Cloud (LON:BKS)
6:10pm Company Presentation from Cohort (LON:CHRT)
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Hope to see you on Monday evening. If you cannot join LIVE, please feel free to register and the recording will be distributed to you within 48 hours.
David
There has been a lot of coverage of BRCK (LON:BRCK) on this board following the poor results and we have today Ibstock (LON:IBST) confirming the trend of lower brick sales. Perhaps the more muted reaction in the share price means Mr Market had already decided ' read across' applied. Seems housebuilding market still in the lower reaches of doldrums and I think Marshalls (LON:MSLH) results due later this month may be just as illuminating
I note that Rockwood Strategic (LON:RKW) has taken stakes in Marshalls (LON:MSLH), Stelrad (LON:SRAD) and LSL Property Services (LON:LSL) plus two more, as yet unnamed, building related companies. In Richard Staveley's own words:
‘The valuations now in the UK market are unbelievable,’ he said. ‘We’ve just bought three market leaders, all on single-digit price-earnings ratios, all yielding between 4% and 5%.’
timarr
Hi Timarr, I also hold all 3 in varoius family ISAs. All were trading in line at the last updates and all are cheap on current metrics.
My view is that Stelrad, the largest European producer of steel radiators should play across the housing market RMI and new build ( private and affordable).
Marshalls should get some assistance from infrastructure as landscaping is by far its largest division.
LSL is the biggest provider of property valuation services nationally, I believe. It also operates a franchise model for private landlords similar to the Property Franchise Group that should provide some resilience.
They may get cheaper in the sort term but the balance sheets are not stretched unlike Ibstock.
All the best
RE:Ibstock/ Marshalls
I would think that Marshalls might benefit from home improvement - but whether this can be enough in the current climate remains to be seen.
The September S&P Global UK Construction PMI saw some further decline in house building but at a softer pace of decline...
https://www.pmi.spglobal.com/Public/Home/PressRelease/3203e5be51634752abf03b1da82356ae
The next update will be in a couple of days when the October report will be available.
There seems to be an overreaction to the increase in Bank tax with Natwest (LON:NWG) still falling.
Maybe a longer term hold with some generous dividends?
Wasn't that long ago Govt was an investor, albeit a reluctant one. Perfidious Albion.
If you take a 6 month period chart across the large UK banks only Natwest (LON:NWG) is up with the others down between 4% and 6% so it seems to me the expected sector reaction to the budget. Having worked many many years for a broking part of NW and seen the mess that foray into ' wealth management' created I do wonder if they have learnt lessons
Given the yield and the forecast growth rate at Natwest (LON:NWG) , the pricing is nuts. I appreciate that UK banks are rated below the European banks but a prospective 7 per cent suggests either the stock is mispriced the stock or the market is even gloomier about the UK economy than I am!!
Possibly also just a reflection of the risk free rate available at the moment.
It's the time of year when you start pondering how to run your portfolio into the new year ... if you are in a good position you are locking in gains and running winners. I am happy to lighten the load a little where I can and to avoid doing absolutely nothing - Im happy buying Treas 0.25% 2031 which trades at just below 81.... so a nice pick up to par and income efficient with a Yield to maturity of 4.8% its a nice hedge against everything going wrong except inflation getting much worse .... which im less concerned with for now (mainly because I think governments are out of room as riots spread).... classically defensive shares like Imperial Brands (LON:IMB) seem to be picking up too, which probably supports the bond view and caution.
I’m an old software Engineer and consider myself too antique to fully understand how you can steal stored crypto electrons from within memory/media/cloud storage and not just have binance switch off/delete the stolen ones and reestablish them in a valid location. Although, as you get mature you can’t beat a working five and three quarter inch floppy drive…
What I'm confused by (and I have no clue about crypto) is if it's so easily replaced after a massive theft like that, where's the actual value in it??
That's the question, where is the value in it? I see none and won't invest in it
What I'm confused by (and I have no clue about crypto) is if it's so easily replaced after a massive theft like that, where's the actual value in it??
well its not easily replaced is it - if it was easily replaced ftx probably wouldnt have gone down would it.
If binance is valued at say $50 bill - and they lose $5 billion - and its not later recovered. well thats obviously gonna hurt. That might be enough to wipe out some compaies if they are run on "wafer thin capital" - or main shareholders may simply have to do mini rights issue type thing and stump real wonga if they dont want to see their investment or % ownership going down the pan.
So as it will almost certainly hurt someone - so its not easily replaced at all as it needs to be bought back with real cash - or you have "real cash equivalent" loss
I’m an old software Engineer and consider myself too antique to fully understand how you can steal stored crypto electrons from within memory/media/cloud storage and not just have binance switch off/delete the stolen ones and reestablish them in a valid location. Although, as you get mature you can’t beat a working five and three quarter inch floppy drive…
ref anonymity - well that works two ways doesnt it pluses and minuses.
its not complicated - if someone loses their keys and someone uses those keys to gain entry to your house and steals your stuff - do you go back to the housebuilder or the keymaker or manufacturere of goods to demand immediate return of stuff - thats simply not an option.
banks are better now but if someone uses all your password data correctly to transfer funds out - bank are likely just gonna say contact the police rather than reverse the transaction.
like most stuff really the onus is on law enforcement to take action when theft has occuredits not complicated or particuallry copntroversial
"and not just have binance switch off/delete the stolen ones and reestablish them in a valid location"
do really think if someone steals $5 billion they are just gonna leave it with the first receipient it has been transferred too - its obviously gonna be moved on mulltipe times quickly to get it out of easy reach of anything.
would bitcoin have worked better with some sort of "protections in place." - if we look at then tow obvious ones that would help return of stolen bitcoin/
if you buy a bitcoin in good faith do you want to be liable to hand it back with money being refunded if it turns out to be stolen goods?
do you want to give carte blanche for the chain oversears to hand full details of your transaction history and personal details over to any law enforcement upon request ?
i suggest bitcoin wouldnt have got past go if those 2 safeguards had been in place.
In summary its a grownups game when it copmes to lookihg affer your possessions.
There are rules governing transfers in crypto, just like any other medium of exchange. Let me run through examples.
Cash - if your cash is stolen, no organisation can reverse it. "All transfers are final". That's why criminals like it.
Bank account - if its stolen, banks will try their best to work with their counterparty bank to retrieve/freeze. If its not retrievable, sometimes the banks will pay out of pocket to make the victim whole. But there is no guarantee you get reimbursed as a victim. Its down to the bank deciding.
Credit card purchase - if your card is stolen and used, banks will reimburse. Force merchants to eat the loss via chargebacks.
Crypto - if its stolen, the mechanism of the system is the same as cash. "All transfers are final". Again, why criminals like it.
Stablecoins - it appears they have modified the crypto system, so the stablecoin issuer is able to freeze that coin from being further transacted. So there is some protection here, similar. But who governs the Stablecoin providers and prevents them from abusing their freezing powers? They are not a government entity.
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Now, you may think (2) or (3) might be the best system. But is it?
(2) means everyone's banking fees goes up, to pay for those that have their money stolen.
(3) means that merchants increase prices for everyone, to build in a margin for chargebacks that are almost impossible to fight.
In light of (2) and (3) above. Doesn't a system like (1) and (4) have its benefits? Lower cost, but user beware.
Many older investors have a five and three quarter floppy drive.
This sounds very promising for Bloomsbury Publishing A Court of Thorns and Roses Book 6 Sales: Sarah J Maas Reveals. But no RNS yet so hopefully we`re ahead of the news release. 1.7 million initial sales would be a huge improvement on previous Sarah J Maas releases
Bloomsbury Publishing (LON:BMY) ( I hold) Probably the feminist / romantic neo fantasy genre misses the class of male baby boomers so the excitement of this misses me by some margin. Having said this waiting 6 years for this new novel you can understand the ' drooling' etc. One wonders ( finger in the air) if the same will be seen when the next instalment is released in Jan 27. I recall the company referring to lumpy reveue etc so this is an obvious example. HBO HP to come over Xmas cannnot be a bad supplement.
In case you wonder yes I have read a SJM book......
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