The Accounts · daily brief
29 September 2026
Break-up basis, and board pay outpaces sales at 1st Central
The takeaways
- Conntrak Gulf files on a break-up basis as the former Aramark food services arm prepares to wind up
- First Central director pay jumped 63% as a softening motor insurance market shrank its topline
- A heavy tax charge pushed North Sea producer NEO NEXT+ into a net loss despite a £282.7m dividend
Hiring signals · who grew, who shrank
Hiring
- Pop Mart Uk Corporation Ltd 66 → 187 staff ▲ +183% staff cost +321%
- Geary'S Bakeries Limited 546 → 841 staff ▲ +54% staff cost +55%
Cutting
- Sarens Psg Limited 40 → 21 staff ▼ −48% staff cost −49%
- Cappagh Browne Utilities Limited 306 → 174 staff ▼ −43% staff cost −39%
Average headcount from the accounts filed yesterday — a look back at last year's payroll, not a live hiring tracker.
Filing of note
Conntrak Gulf Limited
Operating in the food services sector, the company was formerly known as Aramark Gulf Limited before being divested by the global catering group Aramark in September 2023 and rebranded under the Conntrak name.
Filed on a break-up basis — the business is being wound up.
| Line | FY24 | FY23 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Profit & loss | |||
| Turnover | £14.8m | £16.1m | ▼ −8% |
| Gross profit | £324k | £8.2m | ▼ −96% |
| Admin expenses | £720k | £10.7m | ▼ −93% |
| Operating profit | −£395k | −£2.5m | ▲ +84% |
| Finance costs | £5,821 | £0 | |
| Profit before tax | −£378k | −£2.5m | ▲ +85% |
| Net profit | −£462k | −£2.6m | ▲ +83% |
| Cash & balance sheet | |||
| Cash | £916k | £1m | ▼ −11% |
| Net assets | £2.5m | £3.1m | ▼ −20% |
| People & pay | |||
| Avg. headcount | 363 | 417 | ▼ −13% |
A final set of accounts to finish. As flagged by the desk, the former Aramark catering arm has filed its consolidated accounts on a break-up basis, with the directors intending to wind the company up within twelve months. The auditor handed down a qualified opinion on the set, which shows the business narrowing its operating loss on a slightly reduced headcount.
Itv Rights Limited [1]
ITV Rights Limited operates as the principal rights-holding entity for the UK broadcasting and online operations of the listed media group ITV plc (itvplc.com), serving as the primary vehicle to supply programming to Channel 3 licensees and the group's digital channels.
Material uncertainty
| Line | FY25 | FY24 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Profit & loss | |||
| Turnover | £1.2bn | £1.1bn | ▲ +15% |
| Gross profit | £3.8m | £16.8m | ▼ −77% |
| Operating profit | £6.7m | £3.4m | ▲ +97% |
| Finance costs | £6.3m | £14.1m | ▼ −56% |
| Profit before tax | £2.5m | −£9.9m | ▲ +125% |
| Net profit | £1.9m | −£7.4m | ▲ +125% |
| Cash & balance sheet | |||
| Net assets | £229.4m | £227.6m | ▲ +1% |
| People & pay | |||
| Avg. headcount | 0 | 0 | |
The listed broadcaster's rights-holding vehicle is preparing for an exit. The directors note a material uncertainty around going concern as the business prepares to be sold to Sky, which will sever its current funding arrangement. The table shows operating profit doubling, but underlying trading was weaker, with the prior year including £13.4m of other operating income that did not recur.
Neo Next+ Energy Petroleum Limited [2]
Operating as part of the NEO NEXT+ joint venture between TotalEnergies, HitecVision, and Repsol, the company is a private offshore oil and gas producer focused on the UK Continental Shelf in the North Sea.
Heavy tax charge
| Line | FY25 | FY24 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Profit & loss | |||
| Turnover | £1.0bn | £1.2bn | ▼ −16% |
| Admin expenses | £3.9m | — | |
| Operating profit | £411.8m | £478.5m | ▼ −14% |
| Finance costs | £169.9m | £189.5m | ▼ −10% |
| Profit before tax | £242.2m | £308.3m | ▼ −21% |
| Net profit | −£19.3m | £144m | ▼ −113% |
| Cash & balance sheet | |||
| Cash | — | £20.3m | |
| Net assets | £324.8m | £609.6m | ▼ −47% |
| Dividends paid | −£282.7m | — | |
This North Sea oil and gas joint venture swung into the red, but you have to read down the P&L to see why. Operating profit remained robust, but a significant tax charge offset the profit before tax. The period also saw a £282.7m dividend paid during a year of heavy restructuring and mergers.
Vision Express (Uk) Limited [3]
Operating as Vision Express, the company is the UK retail optical chain of listed eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica (following its acquisition of former parent GrandVision), providing NHS and private eye examinations alongside the dispensing of spectacles and contact lenses via visionexpress.com.
Margin pressure
| Line | FY25 | FY24 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Profit & loss | |||
| Turnover | £476.3m | £429.7m | ▲ +11% |
| Gross profit | £301.5m | £277.7m | ▲ +9% |
| Admin expenses | £270.4m | £242m | ▲ +12% |
| Operating profit | £31.1m | £35.7m | ▼ −13% |
| Finance costs | £85,000 | £258k | ▼ −67% |
| Profit before tax | £58.9m | £38.9m | ▲ +51% |
| Net profit | £48.8m | £28.5m | ▲ +71% |
| Cash & balance sheet | |||
| Cash | £589k | £634k | ▼ −7% |
| Net assets | £117.4m | £68.6m | ▲ +71% |
| People & pay | |||
| Avg. headcount | 3,873 | 3,623 | ▲ +7% |
| Staff cost | £168m | £148.3m | ▲ +13% |
The high street optician saw sales rise 11% as the directors report an increased average customer spend. However, administrative expenses expanded to £270.4m, contracting the margin as operating profit fell. The bottom line improved alongside a £23.0m investment income credit recorded below the operating line.
First Central Insurance Management Limited [4]
Trading as 1st Central and Picnic, the company is the UK retail motor insurance broker for the privately owned, Guernsey-registered First Central Group (firstcentralgroup.com), distributing policies underwritten by a panel of insurers that includes its Gibraltar-based sister entity.
Board pay up
| Line | FY25 | FY24 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Profit & loss | |||
| Turnover | £300.7m | £366.4m | ▼ −18% |
| Gross profit | £142m | £162.3m | ▼ −13% |
| Admin expenses | £110.1m | £135.7m | ▼ −19% |
| Operating profit | £18.4m | £21.9m | ▼ −16% |
| Profit before tax | £23.6m | £26.8m | ▼ −12% |
| Net profit | £17.7m | £20.3m | ▼ −13% |
| Cash & balance sheet | |||
| Cash | £98.3m | £62.5m | ▲ +57% |
| Net assets | £60.2m | £42.6m | ▲ +41% |
| Dividends paid | — | −£34.4m | |
| People & pay | |||
| Avg. headcount | 766 | 776 | ▼ −1% |
| Staff cost | £37.1m | £44.3m | ▼ −16% |
| Director pay | £1.3m | £782k | ▲ +64% |
| Highest-paid director | £344k | £283k | ▲ +22% |
The motor insurance broker saw its topline shrink as the filing points to a softening market and a drop in live policies. Staff costs fell across a leaner headcount, while directors' remuneration rose. Total director pay jumped 63%, with the highest-paid director receiving a 21% increase while operating profit slipped.
Quantum Pharmaceutical Limited [5]
Formerly known as Quantum Specials Limited, the business manufactures and supplies unlicensed medicines and hard-to-source pharmaceutical products as a subsidiary of Target Healthcare Group Limited (quantumpharma.co.uk).
Cost base expanding
| Line | FY25 | FY24 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Profit & loss | |||
| Turnover | £234.6m | £200.4m | ▲ +17% |
| Gross profit | £32.5m | £29.2m | ▲ +11% |
| Admin expenses | £21m | £15.8m | ▲ +33% |
| Operating profit | £10m | £12.3m | ▼ −19% |
| Finance costs | £1.4m | £1m | ▲ +37% |
| Profit before tax | £8.6m | £11.3m | ▼ −24% |
| Net profit | £6.8m | £9.9m | ▼ −32% |
| Cash & balance sheet | |||
| Cash | £10.1m | £3.3m | ▲ +205% |
| Net assets | £26.6m | £23.8m | ▲ +12% |
| Dividends paid | −£3.9m | −£1.5m | ▼ −160% |
| People & pay | |||
| Avg. headcount | 279 | 250 | ▲ +12% |
| Staff cost | £12.1m | £9.5m | ▲ +27% |
The unlicensed medicines manufacturer added £34.2m to its topline, but the extra scale did not translate to profit. Administrative expenses jumped by a third to £21.0m, which the filing attributes to strategic investment in the cost base. The period ended with a thinner margin and an operating profit that fell 19%.
If you need me, I will be looking for a funding structure that supports my own strategic investment in biscuits.
Sources
- Itv Rights Limited
- Neo Next+ Energy Petroleum Limited
- Vision Express (Uk) Limited
- First Central Insurance Management Limited
- Quantum Pharmaceutical Limited