A run of guidance upgrades and contract wins dominated the small-cap news flow this morning, led by Kainos Group's second consecutive lift to its outlook and a record contract award for Made Tech. Elsewhere, BHP's full-year results confirmed copper has overtaken iron ore as the miner's primary earnings engine, while corporate activity ranged from HgCapital Trust's new growth investment to Frasers Group tightening its grip on Hugo Boss.
Kainos raises FY27 guidance on record backlog
Kainos Group (LSE:KNOS), the UK-headquartered IT services provider spanning Digital Services, Workday Services and Workday Products, told markets that trading since 31 March has strengthened enough for the board to raise guidance for the year ending 31 March 2027. The upgrade builds directly on the double-digit revenue growth, strong sales and record backlog levels the company delivered in the year to 31 March, and signals that momentum has carried straight through into the new financial year rather than fading.
Kainos now expects revenue and adjusted pre-tax profit for FY27 comfortably ahead of current market expectations, which range from £498m to £514m in revenue and £75m to £84m in adjusted pre-tax profit, against consensus figures of £509.3m and £77.1m respectively. Digital Services is growing strongly on the back of significant contracts won in the second half of the last financial year and further wins since April, while both Workday Services and Workday Products posted double-digit revenue growth over the same period a year earlier.
"Kainos operates in markets driven by clear structural trends and remains well positioned to deliver on its strategy," said Kainos.
The upgrade reinforces the case that Kainos's public-sector and enterprise digital transformation exposure is structurally resilient rather than cyclically fortunate, with a robust pipeline and multi-year contracted backlog cited despite a volatile macroeconomic backdrop. With half-year results due on Monday 9 November, the company has set a high bar for itself, but the breadth of the upgrade across all three divisions suggests analysts will need to move estimates materially rather than trim at the margin.
Time Out grows revenue base as markets portfolio expands
Time Out Group (LSE:TMO), the media and leisure company behind the Time Out Market food hall concept, expects group revenue for the year ended 30 June of approximately £72m, against £73m in the prior year, though revenue from continuing operations rose 11% to £61m once businesses licensed, franchised or closed during the year are stripped out. Continuing Markets revenue climbed 8% to £40m, with the division's 13 operational venues trading in line with management expectations and welcoming 12m visitors during the year, while Continuing Media revenue grew 17% to £21m and returned to adjusted EBITDA profitability.
The group opened three new Markets during the year, in Budapest, New York Union Square and Vancouver, lifting the portfolio from 10 to 13 locations, and has five further Markets in development, including the first two under a new capital-light franchise model in New Delhi and São Paulo. Media's return to profitability was helped by UK and US sales growth, improved client retention and a cost efficiency programme. "Securing our London flagship at Piccadilly Circus marked one of the most important milestones in Time Out's history," said Chris Ohlund, chief executive.
The shift toward capital-light franchising for future Markets openings marks a meaningful change in how Time Out intends to scale the format, reducing the capital intensity that has historically constrained the pace of new venue rollouts while still growing the addressable footprint.
BHP profit rises as copper output hits 2m tonnes for second year
BHP Group (LSE:BHP) reported attributable profit of $9.8bn for the year to 30 June, up 9% on the prior year, with underlying EBITDA rising 27% to approximately $33bn on record iron ore production at Western Australia Iron Ore and copper output of roughly 2m tonnes for a second consecutive year. Copper generated more than $18bn in underlying EBITDA, 54% of the group total, marking the first time the metal has outweighed iron ore as BHP's primary earnings driver.
"Copper is the engine that is driving BHP's growth," said Brandon Craig, chief executive, noting the division's $6.9bn of free cash flow now funds its own expansion. Net debt fell to $8.7bn from $12.9bn a year earlier, below the company's $10bn to $20bn target range, helped by $4.3bn in silver streaming proceeds and a $2bn infrastructure payment tied to WAIO's power needs.
The results confirm a structural rebalancing of BHP's earnings base toward copper, a shift the company has signalled for years but which has now shown up decisively in the numbers. With net debt running comfortably inside target and free cash flow funding copper's own growth, the balance sheet gives BHP room to keep leaning into the metal without straining the dividend.
Made Tech lands largest-ever contract, lifts FY27 guidance
Made Tech Group (AIM:MTEC), a provider of digital, data and technology services to the UK public sector, has been appointed as part of a consortium to a four-year contract with a UK government department worth approximately £40m to the company over its life, the largest contract in its history. Revenue from the deal starts in FY27 and builds more meaningfully in FY28.
The award prompted the board to lift its FY27 revenue guidance to a range of £63m to £66m and adjusted EBITDA to £6.3m to £6.6m, both ahead of prior market expectations of £60.3m in revenue and £6.0m in adjusted EBITDA. It marks the second guidance upgrade this year, following an acceleration in sales bookings during the second half, and has pushed the group's contracted backlog to approximately £115m. "This is the largest contract award in our history and marks an important milestone in our growth. The award also endorses our position at the centre of a number of critical programmes across government," said Rory MacDonald, chief executive.
Two guidance upgrades inside a single year is a rare signal of accelerating momentum for a company of Made Tech's size, and the extension of revenue visibility well into FY28 gives the market a much longer runway to underwrite than the backlog implied even a few months ago.
HgCapital Trust backs £20m Nourish investment
HG Capital Trust (LSE:HGT) will invest approximately £20m in Nourish, a UK social and community care software provider, as part of a wider strategic growth deal led by its manager, Hg.
The investment extends HgCapital Trust's exposure to software serving essential public-service sectors, an area the manager has repeatedly targeted for its resilient, subscription-based revenue characteristics.
Foresight Solar targets 14 GWh output boost from upgrade programme
Foresight Solar Fund (LSE:FSFL) is upgrading panels and inverters at nine UK sites in a programme expected to add up to £2.5m in annual revenue.
The upgrade is designed to strengthen dividend cover, targeting an incremental 14 GWh of output from the improved equipment across the nine sites.
Diageo appoints ex-P&G Beauty chief to board
Diageo named R. Alexandra Keith as a Non-Executive Director, effective 5 November subject to shareholder approval.
Keith previously led P&G's Beauty division, bringing consumer-brand leadership experience to the board as the drinks group continues to navigate a challenging period for its portfolio.
Huddled launches live-commerce software, JV with AEWW
Huddled Group (AIM:HUD) has launched new live-commerce software alongside a joint venture with AEWW, aimed at bringing next-day delivery capability to live-selling platforms.
"The ability to offer next-day delivery on these platforms will, we believe, be a genuine game changer," said Martin Higginson, positioning the tie-up as a way to close the fulfilment gap that has held back live commerce adoption in the UK.
Talisman Metals mobilises drilling rig at Tirzzit copper project
Talisman Metals (TLM) has engaged Geosond Maroc to carry out roughly 3,000 metres of reverse circulation drilling at its Tirzzit copper project in Morocco.
Results from the campaign are due from late in the drilling programme, giving the company a near-term catalyst as it works to define the scale of the copper target.
Sabien scraps £2m financing framework, presses on with SMCC talks
Sabien Technology Group (SNT) has abandoned its proposed strategic investment and financing framework, worth up to £2m, but says commercial discussions with SaveMoneyCutCarbon remain constructive.
The decision to walk away from the financing structure while keeping the commercial relationship alive suggests the two parties see more value in a trading arrangement than in the capital tie-up originally proposed.
Frasers pushes stake in Hugo Boss above 47%
Frasers Group (FRAS) has secured fresh acceptances covering 17.62% of Hugo Boss shares, lifting its total holding to nearly 48% of the German fashion house.
The increased stake pushes Frasers closer to a position of effective control over Hugo Boss, deepening its influence over the German group's strategic direction.
