The Accounts · daily brief
15 October 2026
Discovery flags uncertainty as Baxter pays £165m dividend
The takeaways
- Discovery Communications flags a material uncertainty as a group merger impacts its future structure
- Baxter Healthcare paid a £165m dividend while operating profit fell 42% at the medical supplier
- Mowi Scotland grew harvest volumes by 14% but a drop in market prices brought turnover down to £632m
Hiring signals · who grew, who shrank
Hiring
- Lancaster Brewery Group Limited 30 → 117 staff ▲ +290% staff cost +276%
- Care Uk Care Services Limited 278 → 837 staff ▲ +201% staff cost +225%
Cutting
- Cibt Uk Limited 695 → 354 staff ▼ −49% staff cost −16%
- Cercis Limited 82 → 55 staff ▼ −33% staff cost −20% material-uncertainty note
Average headcount from the accounts filed yesterday — a look back at last year's payroll, not a live hiring tracker.
Circle Health Group Limited [1]
Formerly known as BMI Healthcare, the private company operates as the principal UK hospital and medical services provider within the Abu Dhabi-based PureHealth group, delivering specialist treatments and clinical care via circlehealthgroup.co.uk.
Asset write-back
| Line | FY25 | FY24 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Profit & loss | |||
| Turnover | £1.3bn | £1.2bn | ▲ +4% |
| Gross profit | £415.2m | £417.9m | ▼ −1% |
| Admin expenses | £233.7m | £245.3m | ▼ −5% |
| Operating profit | £185m | £155.8m | ▲ +19% |
| Finance costs | £128.4m | £128.7m | ▼ −0% |
| Profit before tax | £66.3m | £29.3m | ▲ +126% |
| Net profit | £80.1m | £24.9m | ▲ +222% |
| Cash & balance sheet | |||
| Cash | £89.2m | £71.8m | ▲ +24% |
| Net assets | £187.6m | £116.3m | ▲ +61% |
| Dividends paid | −£9.6m | — | |
| People & pay | |||
| Avg. headcount | 7,842 | 7,560 | ▲ +4% |
| Staff cost | £409.9m | £374.8m | ▲ +9% |
| Director pay | £1.9m | £1.4m | ▲ +31% |
| Highest-paid director | £803k | £838k | ▼ −4% |
Turnover at the PureHealth-owned private hospital group rose a steady 4% to £1.25bn. The primary movement sits further down the P&L, where profit before tax more than doubled to £66.3m. The filing attributes the jump to the reversal of a previous fixed asset impairment, rather than an increase in core trading.
Discovery Communications Europe Limited [2]
Operating as a European television programming and broadcasting arm, the entity is a subsidiary of the US-listed media conglomerate Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.
Merger uncertainty
| Line | FY25 | FY24 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Profit & loss | |||
| Turnover | £681.1m | £1.0bn | ▼ −32% |
| Gross profit | £123.2m | £156.6m | ▼ −21% |
| Admin expenses | £103.5m | £250m | ▼ −59% |
| Operating profit | £34.9m | −£92.8m | ▲ +138% |
| Finance costs | £37.5m | £39.7m | ▼ −6% |
| Profit before tax | £53.5m | −£117.8m | ▲ +145% |
| Net profit | £33m | −£128.8m | ▲ +126% |
| Cash & balance sheet | |||
| Cash | £511k | £961k | ▼ −47% |
| Net assets | £399.2m | £369.9m | ▲ +8% |
| People & pay | |||
| Avg. headcount | 242 | 234 | ▲ +3% |
| Staff cost | £29.2m | £27.3m | ▲ +7% |
| Director pay | £1.2m | £1.2m | ▲ +5% |
| Highest-paid director | £701k | £705k | ▼ −1% |
A shift in the group's transfer pricing model reduced the top line by nearly a third, dropping turnover to £681.1m. The bottom line swung to a £33m net profit, following a prior year that included a £147.9m goodwill impairment. The accounts include a going-concern note: the auditor flags a material uncertainty over the company's future operational framework following a planned merger between its ultimate parent and Netflix.
Baxter Healthcare Limited [3]
Operating via baxterhealthcare.co.uk, the business is the principal UK subsidiary of the NYSE-listed medical technology group Baxter International Inc., manufacturing and supplying pharmaceutical products, medical devices, and clinical solutions.
Dividend payout
| Line | FY25 | FY24 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Profit & loss | |||
| Turnover | £653.7m | £662.5m | ▼ −1% |
| Gross profit | £93.3m | £97.9m | ▼ −5% |
| Admin expenses | £84.7m | £59m | ▲ +44% |
| Operating profit | £34.4m | £59.3m | ▼ −42% |
| Finance costs | £9.6m | £11m | ▼ −13% |
| Profit before tax | £30.8m | £58.2m | ▼ −47% |
| Net profit | £28.2m | £46.3m | ▼ −39% |
| Cash & balance sheet | |||
| Cash | £3m | £2.1m | ▲ +44% |
| Net assets | £80.4m | £212.6m | ▼ −62% |
| Dividends paid | −£165m | −£54.8m | ▼ −201% |
| People & pay | |||
| Avg. headcount | 1,508 | 1,507 | ▲ +0% |
| Staff cost | £95.9m | £93.3m | ▲ +3% |
| Director pay | £502k | £488k | ▲ +3% |
| Highest-paid director | £276k | £269k | ▲ +3% |
Operating profit at the medical technology supplier fell 42% to £34.4m, alongside an £11.9m exceptional gain from the sale of its national distribution centre. A £165m dividend was paid out during the period. This distribution exceeded the year's £28.2m net profit and left net assets more than halved at £80.4m.
Mowi Scotland Limited [4]
Mowi Scotland Limited is the Scottish salmon farming and processing arm of the Oslo-listed Norwegian seafood group Mowi ASA, operating hatcheries, sea farms, a feed factory, and processing facilities across the Highlands and Islands (mowi.com/uk).
Price squeeze
| Line | FY25 | FY24 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Profit & loss | |||
| Turnover | £632.5m | £658.3m | ▼ −4% |
| Gross profit | £111.8m | £116.8m | ▼ −4% |
| Admin expenses | £38.2m | £35.8m | ▲ +7% |
| Operating profit | £45.3m | £53.3m | ▼ −15% |
| Finance costs | £6.8m | £6.1m | ▲ +11% |
| Profit before tax | £43.1m | £48.2m | ▼ −11% |
| Net profit | £27.6m | £36.5m | ▼ −24% |
| Cash & balance sheet | |||
| Cash | £2m | £2.2m | ▼ −7% |
| Net assets | £544.1m | £516.4m | ▲ +5% |
| People & pay | |||
| Avg. headcount | 835 | 773 | ▲ +8% |
| Staff cost | £47.8m | £42.3m | ▲ +13% |
| Director pay | £925k | £922k | ▲ +0% |
| Highest-paid director | £418k | £442k | ▼ −5% |
The Scottish salmon farming arm of Norway's Mowi group operated alongside increased market supply. The filing notes that while harvest volumes increased by 14%, a 16% drop in achieved sales prices brought turnover down to £632.5m. This price contraction coincided with a 15% fall in operating profit to £45.3m, during a year that also included the acquisition of two rival farming operations.
Adecco Uk Limited [5]
Operating as a temporary employment agency and recruitment business across the public and private sectors, the company forms the principal British staffing arm of the Adecco Group UK and Ireland (adeccogroup.co.uk).
Margin pressure
| Line | FY25 | FY24 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
| Profit & loss | |||
| Turnover | £591.2m | £584.8m | ▲ +1% |
| Gross profit | £67.2m | £73.5m | ▼ −8% |
| Admin expenses | £78.4m | £84.6m | ▼ −7% |
| Operating profit | −£11.1m | −£11.2m | ▲ +0% |
| Finance costs | £1.9m | £23,000 | ▲ +8000% |
| Profit before tax | −£12.9m | −£11m | ▼ −17% |
| Net profit | −£8.8m | −£10.2m | ▲ +14% |
| Cash & balance sheet | |||
| Cash | £20.8m | £13.1m | ▲ +59% |
| Net assets | £10.8m | £19.5m | ▼ −45% |
| People & pay | |||
| Avg. headcount | 1,715 | 1,291 | ▲ +33% |
| Staff cost | £49.2m | £531.8m | ▼ −91% |
| Director pay | £1.6m | £1.5m | ▲ +4% |
| Highest-paid director | £702k | £47,000 | ▲ +1394% |
Turnover at the British staffing agency remained broadly flat at £591.2m, while a shift in the hiring market contracted margins. Gross profit fell 8% as employers stepped back from higher-margin permanent placements. Core trading remained loss-making, while remuneration for the highest-paid director rose from £47k to £702k.
Proof that you can sell more salmon and still make less money, provided the market is sufficiently flooded.
Sources
- Circle Health Group Limited
- Discovery Communications Europe Limited
- Baxter Healthcare Limited
- Mowi Scotland Limited
- Adecco Uk Limited