FTSE 250 duo’s results get five-star response
In a dour session for the FTSE 250, two stocks stood out after posting strong results. What did the City like about their performances?
16th September 2025 15:33
by Graeme Evans from interactive investor
A big dividend hike by rejuvenated Kier Group (LSE:KIE) and an upgrade to earnings guidance by Trustpilot Group (LSE:TRST) today ensured their shares dominated trading in the FTSE 250 index.
Kier rose 12p to 204p as it reported a full-year profit ahead of initial expectations, adding that the new trading period had started well amid the support of a record £11 billion order book.
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Chief executive Andrew Davies said: “Kier remains well positioned to continue to deliver infrastructure that matters and benefit from the UK government’s 10-year Infrastructure Strategy spending commitments.”
Recent wins have included a £100 million contract to deliver additional prison places at HMP Northumberland and £45 million of clean and waste water schemes for Southern Water under its new regulatory framework.
Revenues rose 3% to £4.1 billion, with the operating profit up 6% to a forecast-beating £159 million. The results featured an operating margin of 3.9%, representing further progress towards the company’s medium-term target of 4-4.5%.
Davies, who is stepping down after six years in the role, backed up confidence in the outlook and underlying cash generation by declaring a dividend of 5.2p a share for payment on 3 December.
The total for the year of 7.2p is 38% higher than a year ago and three times covered by earnings, compared with four times in the 2024 results.
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Peel Hunt, which has a price target of 260p, had expected a total dividend of 6.8p. It added: “Management continues to deliver. Deleveraging remains a theme, but the compounding growth enhances capital allocation options.”
The shares are up 39% this year, having come under pressure in the past month.
Despite evidence of operational and financial momentum, Panmure Liberum said the shares continued to trade at a material discount to peers on 7.9 times forward earnings.
It said that applying the average forward price/earnings multiple of peers to Kier’s prospective earnings indicates there is 65% upside to the shares.
Panmure, which has a target price of 322p, added: “Kier’s valuation fails to reflect the transformed balance sheet, high-quality order book and the group’s future growth potential.”
Trustpilot shares led the FTSE 250 index, recovering from recent weakness with a rise of 22.2p to 222.8p after the consumer reviews platform upgraded full-year margin guidance.
Adjusted earnings in today’s half-year results came in ahead of expectations at $18 million (£13.1 million), driven by a four percentage point increase in the margin to 14.6%.
Operating leverage drove the improvement, which Trustpilot expects to sustain after forecasting a similar margin performance across the full year. Upgraded guidance in July’s trading update signalled a rate of 14%.
The group today maintained its outlook for high-teens constant currency revenue growth, which compares with the consensus of 18% and the 21% increase to $123 million in half-year results.
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Chief executive Adrian Blair said major wins including Boots, Barclays and Vimeo showed the growing importance of customer trust and the Trustpilot platform to leading brands.
He added: “Innovations like AI review summaries and semantic search are meaningfully advancing how consumers experience Trustpilot.”
Today’s surge for shares reduced the fall so far this year to about 25%.
Berenberg lifted its earnings forecasts by 9% for the 2025-27 financial years, primarily reflecting the increased margin expectations.
The bank said: “While we reduce our price target to 300p, this reflects a more prudent valuation methodology, rather than any decline in Trustpilot’s business prospects, which remain strong.”
Peel Hunt added: “Bookings continue to grow well, and while there are investments pencilled in for the second half, we see potential for further outperformance, especially in full-year profit. We maintain our Buy rating and 380p target price.”
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