ii view monthly round-up: March 2025

ii view monthly round-up: March 2025

UK company shares lost ground in March. The FTSE 100 index is down 2.6% with just hours of the calendar month left. The FTSE 250 retreated 2.9% and the FTSE All Share index is down 2.8%.  

Rental equipment hire company Ashtead Group (LSE:AHT) detailed results broadly matching City forecasts but lowered expected future Canadian sales. 

Third-quarter rental sales to late January rose 1% to $2.38 billion but with expected sales in Canada have been hindered by a less than hoped-for recovery in film industry demand following the writers and actors strike. Shares in the FTSE 100 company, which is in the process of moving its primary stock market listing to the US, were down 13% for the month. 

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Vistry Group (LSE:VTY), the housebuilder focused on affordable homes, detailed lower sales rate at the start of 2025 compared to the start of 2024, although it pointed to expectations for profit progress through 2025. 

Hit by factors including build cost discrepancies, pre-tax profit fell 64% in 2024 to £105 million. Vistry’s 2025 profit optimism came amid a combination of new management and hopes for an uptick in partner funding due to the government’s new allocation of £2 billion for affordable housing. Vistry shares fell 7% in March. 

In the US, database software and cloud data hosting provider Oracle Corp (NYSE:ORCL) outlined sales and earnings forecasts that missed high Wall Street expectations.

Third-quarter sales to late February rose 6% to $14.13 billion, with management predicting fourth-quarter sales of up to 10% to $15.6 billion. Buoyed by cloud-datacentre related demand for AI software hosting, Wall Street was hoping for growth of 11%. Oracle shares fell 12% over the month.

In Europe, German car maker Volkswagen AG (XETRA:VOW) reported 2024 profits that beat previously reduced predictions, driven by a better-than-expected Q4 performance.

As well as VW, other group brands include Audi, Skoda, Seat, Cupra, Lamborghini, Scania and Ducati. The German giant flagged political uncertainty, increasing trade restrictions and geopolitical tensions among hurdles for the year ahead despite predicting 2025 revenue growth of up to 5%. Shares in the DAX 40 company fell 11% for the month. 

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On the upside, shares in Fresnillo (LSE:FRES) climbed 26%. In early March, the precious metals miner detailed shareholders returns beating City expectations, including a proposed special dividend. 

Higher precious metal prices and ongoing cost efficiencies were behind a more than doubling in adjusted annual profit (EBITDA) to $1.55 billion (£1.22 billion). A final dividend of 26.1 US cents per share, payable to eligible shareholders on 30 May, raised the total ordinary payment to 32.5 cents per share. An unexpected special dividend of 41.8 cents per share brought the total payout for the year to $547.5 million – the top of Fresnillo’s 33-50% dividend policy payout ratio. 

Gold and silver prices also likely contributed to the miner’s stellar performance, rising 8% and 11% respectively, and pushed by safe haven demand under Donald Trump trade tariff concerns and confusion. 

On the AIM market, full year results from Fevertree Drinks (LSE:FEVR) saw management forecasting strong revenue and profit growth over the medium term. The optimistic prediction followed a January signing of a partnership deal with US drinks giant Molson Coors, aimed at expanding what is already its biggest business by geographical region. Shares in the premium soft drinks maker soared 18% over the month. 

IT firm Computacenter (LSE:CCC) flagged a second half which was the most profitable in its history, with the order backlog going into 2025 significantly up from that in late June. As well as supplying IT equipment, the FTSE 250 company also advises organisations on IT strategy, implements the most appropriate technology and optimises performance.  

North America demand had led the way over the full year to 31 December, driven by sales of AI related infrastructure from hyperscale customers such as datacentre operators. Computacenter shares rose 13% to late March. 

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Life and pensions company Phoenix Group Holdings (LSE:PHNX) upped its expected cash generation forecast, potentially enabling increased shareholders returns. 

Full year adjusted operating profit rose 31% to £825 million, with the owner of brands Standard Life and SunLife upping also upping its expected future profit prediction. Shares in the FTSE 100 company, whose shares sit on a forecast dividend yield of over 9%, climbed 9% for the month.

Finally, a strategy update from Shell (LSE:SHEL) saw the energy giant raising planned shareholder returns while flagging an ambition to become the world’s leading integrated gas and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) business.

Prioritising share buybacks, shareholder returns are to increase to 40% to 50% of operational cashflows from a previous 30-40%. Targeted cost savings were also raised to a cumulative $5-7 billion by the end of 2028 from a prior $2-3 billion by the end of 2025. Shell shares climbed 6% in March.