Davy Morning Equity Briefing
May 27, 2026
AIB Group
CFO to depart
At one level, the departure of AIB Group (AIBG) CFO Donal Galvin will come as a surprise. AIBG has executed significant strategic initiatives, including a return to fully private ownership and material M&A, in recent years. At another level, pay constraints for domestic Irish banks, relative to other banking systems and sectors, remain an issue from an executive retention perspective.
Greencore Group
H1-26 results in line with market expectations
Greencore’s H1-26 results mark the first set of reported numbers for the combined group, with underlying trading proving resilient and resulting in an in-line operating profit result. For FY26, the group expects to deliver adjusted operating profit in line with current market expectations of £232m. The business is on track for synergy attainment. A conference call will be held at 08:30.
Watkin Jones
Market headwinds put pressure on 2026 expectations
External factors, including higher interest rates, market uncertainty and an increase in the pace of build cost inflation (BCI), have put pressure on the FY 2026 outlook for Watkin Jones. While the company may still be able to reach current market forecasts for performance in FY 2026 if it converts a number of forward sales from its pipeline, Davy expects to modestly reduce estimates for the year.
UK housebuilders
Concrete problems
This was a difficult earnings season for the UK housebuilders, dominated by discussions of increased build cost inflation (BCI), lacklustre net private sales rates and, in some cases, the requirement to increase incentives. Affordability has taken a hit, but the damage is only around one-fifth of that in the 2021-2024 period. Ultimately, BCI and margins, rather than net private sales rates, will be the primary concerns for the sector.
