London, March 24, 2026, 12:20 AM GMT
Britain’s FTSE 100 clawed back most of a sharp early fall on Monday, ending down about 0.2% near a three-month low after opening 1.67% lower, or 166 points. Intertek rose 1.28% by 1700 GMT, Fidelity data showed. 1
The move matters because London stocks are still trading off war headlines as much as company news. Sterling rebounded, gilt yields reversed from levels last seen in 2008, and traders sharply cut back Bank of England hike bets after U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington would delay strikes on Iranian power plants for five days; Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club, said markets had been taken on a “wild ride.” 2
Investing.com’s UK 100 gauge showed Entain up 8.24%, Antofagasta up 7.32% and Croda International up 5.60%. BT Group fell 5.94%, BAE Systems lost 4.89% and BP dropped 4.22%, while decliners outnumbered advancers on the London Stock Exchange by 1,020 to 866. 3
Intertek’s advance stood out against that backdrop. Reuters describes the company as a UK-based total quality-assurance provider offering assurance, testing, inspection and certification services – independent checks used by companies to show that products, assets and supply chains meet required standards – across consumer products, health and safety, infrastructure and energy. 4
In full-year results published on March 3, Chief Executive André Lacroix said Intertek had delivered “another year of record performance” and was “entering 2026 with confidence,” adding that higher quality, safety and sustainability standards were supporting demand for its services. The company reported 2025 revenue of 3.43 billion pounds, up 4.3% at constant currency – stripping out exchange-rate swings – with adjusted operating margin of 18.1% and adjusted diluted earnings per share up 10.1% on the same basis. 5
Morningstar analyst Ben Slupecki called Intertek a “premium tester” but said a “muted 2026 outlook” in consumer products and industry and infrastructure had hurt the shares after results earlier this month. He added that the stock still looked undervalued after that selloff. 6
The competitive picture is also tight. Reuters reported last year that Bureau Veritas and SGS held merger talks that would have created a testing-and-certification group worth more than $30 billion and dwarfed competitors, a reminder that scale remains a live issue across the sector. 7
Still, Monday’s rebound may not settle nerves for long. Chris Beauchamp of IG Markets said the U.S. move was “a postponement, not a complete cease-fire,” and Reuters also quoted Brown Brothers Harriman strategist Elias Haddad as saying any lasting rally would depend on whether the de-escalation was genuine rather than just a pause. 8
