Daily Stock Market Report (Thur 22nd Oct 2026) - Agenda
No major financial news overnight, so I thought I’d mention something less serious: the news that AirBnB won’t let hosts require their guests to clean their properties any more.
I’ve never had a really bad AirBnB experience, but it’s also been a few years since the last time I used one.
I think my issue with the platform is that you end up spending hotel-like prices, but then you don’t get an experience that matches up with hotel expectations. I’d rather stay in an average hotel.
So I’m pleased to see that the platform is now requiring hosts to treat its guests more like the paying customers they are: from next month they can no longer tell guests to wash and put away dishes, strip beds and do laundry, or carry garbage to outside bins.
The funny thing is that in most cases, customers have already paid something called a “cleaning fee”! Why did hotels never think of that?
Overnight market movements:
The FTSE is down 0.4% at 10,700
S&P 500 is down 0.8% at 7,700
Brent crude (December) is up 2.5% at $110.50/bbl
Gold is down 1.2% at $4,090oz
Bitcoin is down 2.2% at $82,700
Mark Simpson and Dr. James Fox are writing the company analysis today.
The Agenda is complete. Spreadsheet accompanying this report: link.
Companies Reporting
Name (Mkt Cap) | RNS | Summary | Our view (Author) |
|---|---|---|---|
AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) (£196bn | SR55) | Ultomiris has been approved in the US to reduce proteinuria in adults with primary immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN) at risk for disease progression. | ||
Barclays (LON:BARC) (£55.9bn | SR65) | Return on tangible equity of 11.7%, on track to deliver 2026 and 2028 targets. Q326 EPS of 12.3p, up 18% year-on-year and 43.0p year-to-date, up 23% year-on-year. | ||
Relx (LON:REL) (£51.8bn | SR58) | Underlying revenue growth year-to-date 7%. “Expect another year of strong underlying growth in revenue and adjusted operating profit, as well as strong growth in adjusted earnings per share on a constant currency basis.” | ||
London Stock Exchange (LON:LSEG) (£42.3bn | SR43) | Q3 total income +8.8%. Raising revenue, margin and cash flow guidance: expecting full year growth of at least 8.0%, EBITDA margin expansion of 100-120bps, and equity free cash flow of at least £2.8 billion. Acquiring Octus (provider of credit solutions) for $3.535 billion. | ||
Intercontinental Hotels (LON:IHG) (£18.7bn | SR60) | YTD global RevPAR +4.6%. Confident of achieving consensus expectations for the year. | ||
Pearson (LON:PSON) (£8.19bn | SR73) | On track to deliver 2026 guidance of mid-single digit underlying revenue growth with a narrowed adjusted operating profit range of £650m-£675m (previously £640m-£685m). | ||
J Sainsbury (LON:SBRY) (£7.97bn | SR48) | Argos sale to complete by end of Feb 2027. Previous profit guidance would be equivalent to a range of £965 million to £1,065 million on a continuing operations basis. SBRY raises the lower end of this range: new range is between £1,025 million and £1,065 million. | ||
Rentokil Initial (LON:RTO) (£7.95bn | SR47) | Organic Revenue growth of 3.4%. Expect to deliver FY 2026 profit in line with current market expectations. CFO to retire from full-time role from Jan 2027 for family health reasons. | ||
Renishaw (LON:RSW) (£3.89bn | SR75) | Q1 revenue 47% higher than a weak comparator in the prior year. 3% higher than Q4 2026. “We continue to expect strong progress on revenue and operating margin for FY2027 as a whole.” | ||
Inchcape (LON:INCH) (£2.32bn | SR60) | Q3 volumes up 3%. Organic revenue growth 1%. Expecting FY 2026 adjusted EPS growth of c.10% despite lower operating margins. Organic volume growth expectation unchanged. Adjusted operating margin 5.5% due to underperformance in Australia. | ||
AJ Bell (LON:AJB) (£2.3bn | SR84) | Customers +24% to 796k, AUA +225 to £126bn. “Our long-term growth opportunity remains significant, with the structural drivers supporting the platform market firmly in place. We look forward to announcing our annual results in December for what has been another successful year.” | ||
Harbourvest Global Private Equity (LON:HVPE) (£2.29bn | SR67) | Results for the Six Months Ended 31 July 2026 & Launch of Tender Offer | NAV ps +2.4% to $60.82. Net portfolio cash flow of $234m including secondary sale proceeds. Net debt down $107m to $340m. Tender offer for $400m, at NAV. | |
Rathbones (LON:RAT) (£1.73bn | SR37) | FuMA +7.2% YoY to £121.1bn and nine-month operating income +6.7% YoY £731.1m. Continue to expect to meet underlying operating margin target of 28.7% in Q4. | ||
IP (LON:IPO) (£620m | SR81) | Revenue and adjusted EBITDA performance in FY26 is expected to be slightly ahead of current market expectations ($249.9m revenue, $86.3m Adj. EBITDA.) | ||
Auction Technology (LON:ATG) (£588m | SR52) | Revenue and adjusted EBITDA performance in FY26 is expected to be slightly ahead of current market expectations ($249.9m revenue, $86.3m Adj. EBITDA.) | ||
Bloomsbury Publishing (LON:BMY) (£548m | SR81) | H1 Revenue -5% to £151.6m, Adj PBT -30% to £16.8m. Net cash £22.8m (26H1: £2.4m). Confidence in delivering record results in line with Adjusted Profit expectations. (£354.3m revenue, £49.9m Adj. Profit). | ||
Essentra (LON:ESNT) (£320m | SR62) | Q3 Revenue +14.6% CCY. FY26 adjusted operating profit expected towards the upper end of market expectations. (Consensus Range: £32.3m to £34.3m.) | ||
Secure Trust Bank (LON:STB) (£268m | SR84) | Q3 Loan Book +1.4% to £3.5bn. Customer deposits remained broadly stable. Credit performance has remained robust. “While softer market conditions in asset-based lending have impacted fee income in Business Finance, we remain on track to deliver consensus FY 2026 profit before tax expectations, supported by growth across the broader business.” | ||
Cab Payments Holdings (LON:CABP) (£211m | SR43) | 9m total income +22% to £102m. The Group looks forward to completing a successful year notwithstanding a particularly strong comparator in the fourth quarter last year. | ||
Synthomer (LON:SYNT) (£186m | SR90) | Q3 performance in line with previously upgraded expectations for the full year. | ||
Camellia (LON:CAM) (£145m | SR75) | Trading result for 2026 is expected to be weaker than previously anticipated. Forecasts full-year revenue to be £255-£26m, compared with £268m in 2025. The reduction principally reflects the sale of some Indian tea gardens and lower macadamia and avocado sales. The current forecast is for a full-year trading loss of between £3-5m compared with a trading profit of £1.0m in 2025. | ||
Arbuthnot Banking (LON:ARBB) (£131m | SR74) | Customer loans and leased assets +12% to £2.5bn. FuMA +21% to £3.1bn. Customer deposits +10% to £4.9bn. | ||
Arrow Exploration (LON:AXL) (£111m | SR88) | Current total corporate production is over 6,500 boe/d, including production from Icaco 8 (IC-8) and Icaco 7 (IC-7). 1 Oct estimated cash balance is over US$28 million | ||
Record (LON:REC) (£86.6m | SR83) | AUM +7% in Q2 to $130.3bn, incl. $10.4bn net flows. Performance across the Group remains in line with expectations for the full year. | ||
KRM22 (LON:KRM) (£20.5m | SR19) | Two new 3-yr customer contracts for the Risk Manager application worth $1.3m total. Total ARR goes up to £8.5m. | ||
IXICO (LON:IXI) (£18.6m | SR25) | two contracts with a combined value of approximately £1.5 million. 1st is with a biotechnology company to manage and analyse neuroimaging for a Phase 2b clinical trial in AD. Revenue over 3 years. 2nd is a contract extension with an existing large international life sciences and diagnostics client. Revenue over 1 year. | ||
Kakuzi (LON:KAKU) (£18.1m | SR67) | Expects net earnings to be significantly below the previous year as a result of the continued downturn in the macadamia market and a lower macadamia crop.
| ||
Metals One (LON:MET1) (£16.3m | SR16) | Entered into a binding term sheet for the proposed acquisition of the remaining interests in LBR that Metals One does not already own. | ||
ARC Minerals (LON:ARCM) (£14.8m | SR27) | "We have moved to an important stage both in Botswana and Zambia. At the Virgo project, the ambitious drilling campaign has now started and is progressing well. In Zambia, we are moving the dual strategy at the Kabompo project to an advanced phase with a number of active discussions being pursued" |
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20 comments
Interesting re Airbnb - they have already moved their internal costs which were paid by customers into external pricing - so it is now deducted from room price - which I think puts a little downward pressure on price to drive bookings. This is a similar move and to me - suggests occupancy is disappointing and already weak..... which suggests weakness in the economy is raising its head. I run an Airbnb and occupancy is behind last year which can be for a variety of reasons but has never caught up the post covid boom .... which was artificially high IMO..... Airbnb as a business want to push weakness on to hosts which may or may not be successful depending on how much slack there is in the system. Never-the-less its a sign of weakness out there not being captured in unemployment nor inflation data yet.
VRBO who we use as an owner has just increased the commission by 4.5% (a 30% increase approx I believe) on the grounds of making all thier (Experian) platforms consistent, do I really believe this NOPE. They already charge a huge amount the owners do all the work but we have no choice but to use them
Just adding a note here to emphasise that I'm leaving the company analysis today in the capable hands of Mark Simpson and James Fox. Cheers!
The other big news overnight is regarding the cyber security threat identified by a firm using AI.
Without meaning to sound too mercenary, I was wondering if anyone thinks any UK listed cyber security firm looks particularly attractive right now? I can of course just ask AI, but thought I'd fish in the community's expertise!
I own Shearwater (LON:SWG) which even after the strong recent rise still looks attractively priced and is due to report next Tuesday.
Shearwater (LON:SWG)
Should be trading at much higher prices.
I do not hold.
All the best
Graham, can you please have a look at Essentra (LON:ESNT) as I believe the turnaround is in full swing here and significant upside to be realized. I hold.
Graham - for someone who has a family holiday home which we run also as an Airbnb to cover costs, I’d suggest you might be missing the target here. As I’m sure you will appreciate, running a single property as an Airbnb does not have the economies of scale of a hotel and the clean / turnaround costs can be a significant expense, when you take into account laundry, rubbish removal and the cost of having a reliable turnaround company to manage everything. We always ask guests to load the dishwasher and leave rubbish in a spot so it’s easy for our cleaners to do their job. I’m really not sure why that’s too much of an ask. If guests start leaving dirty dishes and plates all over the place it becomes a nightmare for the cleaner and ultimately mean we have to pay the cleaners extra time, the cost of which will ultimately end up being passed onto the guest.
Don’t forget these are people’s homes Graham, and all we ask as a host is that people treat it with respect and leaves things relatively tidy when they leave.
I appreciate your daily macro comments, but I’m not sure this sort of commentary is particularly relevant or helpful
why should guest pay your cleaners fee?
They don’t in our case as we just charge an all inclusive price, but ultimately the turnaround costs form part of the fee. Some hosts decide to charge a lower nightly rate and then and additional fee to cover the clean.
You do realise that your hotel cost includes paying towards the cleaners? The amount is just hidden within the amount you are charged.
You do realise that wherever you stay, hotel or Airbnb, you are paying for the cost to clean right? Unfortunately we haven’t managed to locate the cleaning fairy yet!
Harves Most air bb are not people's homes but investments. But I agree its not the right forum.
Couldn't agree more but unfortunately these days respect is in short reply.
Well said and I totally agree, the thought of guests scarpering from my Gite in France leaving dirty dishes, pots and pans, bins full of rubbish, toilet bins full of soiled tissue etc horrifies me. It is entirely reasonable to request these tasks are done and the property left in good order, its our home. Also remember it takes me around 5hrs already to totally clean a 3 bed house after 1 week, make the beds etc and make sure its as good as it can be.
Gite owner
The rule of thumb should always be 'leave it as you find it'. This means that if the cleaners have done their job they won't have much to do next time.
If you rent it out, everyone, in general, will regard it as a business. No one cares what you think - they compare it to other businesses and see what they can get. It's not personal, it really is just business.
IG group (LON:IGG) have released an update today ahead of their ‘Strategic Review’ meeting at UBS in London this afternoon. Hopefully they can reassure the market after their recent steep share price decline. I unfortunately hold
Good morning Graham, if time permits, please could you look at Bloomsbury Publishing (LON:BMY) interims today?
Yes - will be interesting to see how the Mkt reacts - actuals are down but theres plenty of jam tomorrow - lots of it!
I find this statement somewhat confusing:
"Confidence in delivering record results in line with Adjusted Profit expectations."
Get excited but don't get too excited.