Merchants Trust PLC (MRCH.L) on Thursday reported a strong increase in earnings for 2026, driven primarily by higher gains on investments.
Profit before finance costs and taxation rose to £168.70 million from £110.46 million a year earlier.
Finance costs increased slightly to £5.91 million from £5.66 million.
Profit before taxation climbed to £162.79 million compared with £104.81 million in the prior year.
Gains on investments rose to £123.69 million from £66.57 million a year earlier.
Profit after taxation attributable to ordinary shareholders increased to £162.41 million from £104.27 million in 2025. Earnings per share rose to 109.59 pence from 70.27 pence.
Revenue earnings per share for the year were 30.6p, compared to 29.4p in the previous year.
The Board has proposed a final dividend of 7.5p per share, payable on May 27 to shareholders on the register on April 17.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Business News
June 19, 2026 16:46 ET Major central banks continued to dominate the economic news flow this week too, led by the Federal Reserve, as they announced their latest policy decisions. The Federal Reserve policy session was in focus as it was the first to be led by the new chief Kevin Warsh. In Europe, central banks of the U.K. and Switzerland announced their rate decisions. In Asia, the Bank of Japan drew attention for its policy moves, while data out of China threw some light on the state of the economy.