Earnings cheer as FTSE 100 heavyweights beat hopes
The FTSE 100 results season is nearly over, with the majority of earnings ahead of expectations despite strong headwinds. What are the main takeaways?
19th August 2026 12:03
by Graeme Evans from interactive investor
Earnings growth in the FTSE 100 index accelerated strongly to 17% in the first half of 2026 after companies including Rolls-Royce Holdings (LSE:RR.), BP (LSE:BP.) and NatWest Group (LSE:NWG) beat City expectations.
The strong results season and improved guidance of Next (LSE:NXT), London Stock Exchange Group (LSE:LSEG) and at least a further 15 companies have boosted hopes for the strongest annual growth rate since 2022.
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The findings of Deutsche Bank’s Best of British report, which was published prior to Friday’s forecast-beatingAviva (LSE:AV.) results, highlight broad-based growth beyond the energy sector.
With 78% of companies above consensus expectations, the largest beats were found in utilities and the industrials sector and strongest share price reactions in staples and basic materials.
The growth rate of 17% compared with 6% in the second half of 2025 and 5% a year ago as higher oil prices meant energy turned from a headwind into a tailwind. Excluding this sector the growth rate was 8%, or 3% when also stripping out basic materials.
The positive earnings season trends helped the FTSE 100 to set a record intraday high of 10,989.45 on 31 July, with the blue-chip index up 22% in the year to last week.
Strong performers over that period included copper-focused miners Glencore (LSE:GLEN), Anglo American (LSE:AAL) and Antofagasta (LSE:ANTO) following share price gains of more than 80%, while Asia-facing banks HSBC Holdings (LSE:HSBA) and Standard Chartered (LSE:STAN) rallied 65% and 70% respectively.
Earnings growth in the early stages of the small and mid-cap (SMID) results season stands at 9%, having beaten consensus expectations by two percentage points on aggregate compared with the five percentage points in the FTSE 100.
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The FTSE 250 index set a record high of 25,134 in the first week of August and now trades at a slight premium to its 10-year history when viewed on a 12-month forward price/earnings basis.
Second-half earnings estimates for SMID firms have been trimmed, although Deutsche Bank notes that the City still expects the growth rate to be broadly similar to the first half at 9%. This would mean a solid acceleration for 2026 from the 4% seen in 2025.
The FTSE 100 consensus expects earnings growth in the second half to accelerate slightly to 19% year-on-year and to reach double-digits when excluding the energy sector.
The City now sees FTSE 100 earnings growth of 17% for this year, although Deutsche Bank is slightly more optimistic at 18%.
It said this took into account the beats of the first half, as well as recent economic data and the fact that companies are “demonstrating remarkable resilience” to geopolitical uncertainty and higher energy prices.
Based on its analysis of the earnings call transcripts of 97 companies in the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250, the bank said the tone was one of cautious optimism as bosses addressed key themes including AI adoption, cost discipline and geopolitical disruption.
It added: “Most companies reported resilient trading, profit growth, and reiterated or upgraded guidance despite highlighting headwinds such as geopolitical volatility, energy cost inflation, and consumer affordability pressures.
“Companies generally framed these headwinds as manageable through hedging, price increases, productivity initiatives and cost discipline.”
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AI was one of the most material and broadly discussed themes across sectors, both as a revenue and productivity driver.
Comments on the UK political environment were cautious but not entirely negative as some firms expressed a positive tone on national planning reforms and saw potential upside from place-based investments.
However, some uncertainty around the Autumn Budget and the government’s fiscal policy remains.
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