FTSE 100 drugs giant reports pre-tax profits of $12.4bn for 2025, driven by cancer drug sales

Pharmaceutical heavyweight AstraZeneca has recorded a 40% leap in annual profits and forecasted continued earnings growth over the coming year, banking on robust demand for its cancer medicines.

The FTSE 100 company posted pre-tax profits of 12.4 billion US dollars (£9.06 billion) for 2025, climbing from 8.69 billion dollars (£6.35 billion) in 2024, propelled by a 49% surge in the fourth quarter on a constant currency basis.

Operating profits rose 36% on a constant currency basis to 13.74 billion dollars (£10.04 billion), whilst revenues increased 8% with currency fluctuations excluded, reaching 58.74 billion dollars (£42.93 billion).

The company indicated that revenues are projected to climb by a “mid-to-high single-digit percentage” in 2026, whilst underlying earnings per share are anticipated to grow by a low double-digit percentage.

The Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical group is wagering on sustained strong appetite for its oncology treatments, whilst simultaneously expanding further into the US and Chinese markets and investing in increasingly sought-after weight-loss therapies.

These strategic moves are intended to help cushion the blow from losing patent protection on Farxiga, its blockbuster diabetes medication.

Farxiga’s sales growth registered a modest 2% on a constant currency basis during the fourth quarter.

Chief executive Pascal Soriot reaffirmed targets of achieving 80 billion dollars (£58.47 billion) in annual sales by 2030 through new medicines and strategic investments, with the company poised to announce results from as many as 20 advanced clinical trials this year. He stated that the “momentum across our company is continuing in 2026”.

“We have more than 100 Phase 3 studies ongoing, including a substantial and growing number of trials of our transformative technologies which have the potential to revolutionise outcomes for patients and drive our growth well beyond 2030,” Mr Soriot added.

Recently, the group announced an £13.52 billion ($18.5 billion) partnership with China’s CSPC Pharmaceutical Group to accelerate the development of experimental weight loss and diabetes drugs.

This move allows AstraZeneca to increase its investment in the rapidly expanding market for weight loss and diabetes drugs, previously dominated by blockbuster brands Mounjaro, Ozempic and Wegovy.

The annual results were released after AstraZeneca began trading shares on the NYSE earlier this month, while maintaining its listings on the London Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stockholm.

AstraZeneca, which has key UK bases in Macclesfield and Cambridge, generates nearly half of its revenues in the US and aims to further expand in the world’s largest drugs market.

Last July, the company announced plans for around £36.55 billion ($50 billion) investment in the company by 2030, while several joint ventures in China are targeting the world’s second largest economy.

Shares in AstraZeneca rose 1% in Tuesday morning trading, with the stock having increased 28% over the past six months.

Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, commented: “The numbers this morning continue to show how AstraZeneca seems to have its house in order when it comes to its drug pipeline.”

He further added: “The outlook and recent performance more than justifies the recent surge in the share price which has finally seen it break higher after years of sideways trading.”

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Home security has become a growing concern for UK households, and in 2026, many homeowners are taking a closer look at something that’s often overlooked: their door locks.

While alarms, cameras and lighting tend to dominate conversations around home security, experts are increasingly pointing to door locks as one of the most important — and vulnerable — parts of a property’s defenses. As burglary methods evolve and older hardware struggles to keep up, upgrading door locks is quickly becoming a priority rather than an afterthought.

Changing Burglary Tactics Are Driving Lock Upgrades

Modern burglaries rarely resemble the dramatic break-ins portrayed in films. In reality, most intrusions are quick, targeted, and focused on exploiting weak points around doors and entry systems.

Older locks, particularly those fitted more than a decade ago, were not designed to withstand today’s most common attack methods. Techniques such as snapping, drilling, bumping and lock manipulation have become more widely understood, leaving outdated hardware exposed.

As awareness of these risks has grown, homeowners are realising that upgrading door locks can significantly reduce the likelihood of forced entry — often without the need for major renovations or expensive security systems.

Insurance and Security Standards Are Playing a Bigger Role

Another factor driving lock upgrades is insurance compliance. Many insurers now expect homes to meet minimum security standards, particularly for external doors on uPVC and composite properties.

Locks that fail to meet recognised security ratings may not only increase the risk of burglary but could also complicate insurance claims following a break-in. This has prompted more homeowners to seek out locks that are tested, certified and designed to resist common attack methods.

Rather than reacting after a burglary has occurred, many are choosing to upgrade proactively, ensuring their door locks meet modern expectations for both security and peace of mind.

Why Door Locks Are the Foundation of Home Security

While alarms and cameras can alert homeowners to a problem, door locks are the first line of defence. A strong locking system can prevent an intruder from gaining access in the first place, making other security measures far more effective.

High-quality locks are designed to work in harmony with the door itself, providing resistance against forced entry while maintaining smooth everyday use. When locks are worn, outdated or poorly installed, even the most robust doors can become vulnerable.

This has led to growing interest in modern locking solutions that offer improved strength, durability and compatibility with today’s door systems.

The Shift Towards High-Security Locking Solutions

One of the most noticeable trends in 2026 is the move towards high-security door locks that are specifically engineered to counter modern attack techniques.

These locks often feature reinforced materials, anti-snap protection, and advanced internal mechanisms that make them significantly harder to compromise. For many homeowners, upgrading to modern lock designs provides a cost-effective way to improve security without altering the appearance of their property.

You can see examples of modern high-security door locks and how they’re being used in UK homes by exploring specialist retailers that focus on security-rated locking solutions rather than generic hardware.

A Practical Upgrade With Long-Term Benefits

Unlike some home improvements, upgrading door locks offers immediate and lasting benefits. Improved security is the obvious advantage, but homeowners also report smoother operation, reduced wear on door mechanisms, and greater confidence when leaving their property unattended.

For rental properties and shared homes, upgraded locks can also help landlords meet safety expectations while reducing the risk of repeated break-ins — a growing concern in urban areas.

As security awareness continues to rise, it’s clear that door locks are no longer being treated as a background detail. Instead, they’re becoming a central part of how homeowners protect their properties.

Looking Ahead

With crime prevention advice, insurance requirements and consumer awareness all pointing in the same direction, it’s no surprise that more UK homeowners are choosing to upgrade their door locks in 2026.

Rather than waiting for something to go wrong, many are taking a proactive approach — strengthening their homes from the outside in and ensuring their first line of defence is up to modern standards.

Apple’s popular news app has been aggressively promoting articles from left-leaning news outlets – even as it has all but shut down posts from more conservative publications, according to an explosive study.

The Media Research Center, a conservative watchdog group focused on tracking media bias, analyzed a total of 620 stories that were featured by Apple News in high-traffic morning time slots between Jan. 1 and 31. The Apple News feed is a mixture of stories curated by a team of in-house editors and some by algorithm.

Of the 620 stories, a whopping 440 came from outlets that are rated as left-leaning, while the remaining 180 were published by centrist outlets. Meanwhile, outlets which are considered right-leaning – including The Post – were shut out entirely.

In January, Apple News featured a total of 72 articles by The Washington Post, 54 articles by The Associated Press, 50 by NBC News, 34 by The Guardian and 25 by NPR, according to MRC’s data. It published 54 Wall Street Journal articles. The numbers for The Post and Fox News were zero and zero, respectively.

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The Media Research Center found a whopping 440 out of 620 Apple News stories studied came from left-leaning outlets. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images / Getty Images)

MRC’s researchers relied on media bias ratings compiled by AllSides, a nonpartisan organization that uses a multi-partisan panel of experts – with two members from the left, two from the center and two from the right – that are trained to spot media bias.

It also conducts blind surveys of ordinary Americans, then averages both sets of results to come up with a rating.

AllSides’s experts did not participate in the MRC study or have any advance knowledge about its findings. Nevertheless, Julie Mastrine, who serves as director of AllSides’ media bias rating system, said she was “not surprised at all” by the results.

“The bottom line is that Americans that are relying on these Big Tech companies to provide them with news are not getting a balanced view and they’re not getting the full scope of perspectives available,” Mastrine said in an interview.

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In a statement provided after this story was published, an Apple spokesperson said the News app “provides access to news spanning a wide range of topics from more than 3,000 publications including the Wall Street Journal, Fox News, Bloomberg, USA Today, Washington Examiner, New York Post, CBS News, local outlets, and more.”

“Apple News users can tailor the app to their interests by choosing to follow or block specific publications or topics,” the spokesperson added.

As of Monday, Apple News had gone 96 consecutive days without showcasing a story from a conservative publication in its top stories.

MRC alleged that Apple News “broadly focused on President Donald Trump’s foreign policy and immigration policy in negative ways” during the analysis period. (Al Drago/Getty Images)

MRC, which began publishing data on news aggregators in November, said Apple News last published an article by a right-leaning source on Nov. 5, when it ran a story by British outlet The Telegraph about the civil war in the Sudan.

MRC noted that the Apple News feed “broadly focused on President Donald Trump’s foreign policy and immigration policy in negative ways” during that time period, including selecting “provocative headlines that raised doubts about Trump’s actions” as it related to immigration and foreign policy.

“Almost half of voting-age Americans own an Apple iPhone,” MRC’s Dan Schneider told The Post. “Of course, all its phones come pre-installed with Apple News. Swipe right and you’re inundated with Apple’s cherry-picked news stories. Most people don’t even know they are being fed a steady stream of leftist narratives.”

In 2023, AllSides conducted its own study of bias at the 10 most popular news aggregations services. Apple News was given a “lean left” rating, with only Yahoo News and Bing News deemed to be more skewed toward liberal views when curating stories.

“Right-leaning media is really underrepresented,” Mastrine said.

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From Jan. 1 to 12, MRC tracked the top 20 stories from AllSides-rated news outlets that appeared on Apple News at approximately 10 a.m. ET. From Jan. 12 to 31, MRC did the same, but checked the Apple News app at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Schneider said MRC “experimented with different times” to see if it altered the results, but aimed to review Apple News in the morning for consistency.

The 620 articles included in MRC’s breakdown for January includes 30 stories by The Athletic, the sports site owned by the New York Times. The Times itself stopped participating with Apple News in 2020. The number also includes 27 pieces of original Apple content, most of which were links to its “Apple News Today” daily podcast.

“It is a subliminal form of propaganda, paid for with corporate dollars but without campaign finance disclosures,” Schneider added. “It could be illegal.”

MRC’s Dan Schneider told the New York Post that Apple News’ behavior “is a subliminal form of propaganda.” (iStock)

The allegations are a potential headache for Apple and its CEO Tim Cook, who has cozied up to President Trump since he re-entered office last year. Key Trump-appointed federal regulators are actively looking to crack down on media bias in Big Tech and beyond.

In February 2024, FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson launched an inquiry into tech censorship and said his agency wanted to “better understand how these firms may have violated the law by silencing and intimidating Americans for speaking their minds.”

The FTC also cleared a major merger between ad giants Omnicom and Interpublic on the condition that they refrain from anything resembling politically-motivated ad boycotts in the future.

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Elsewhere, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, a fierce Trump ally, infamously blasted Jimmy Kimmel last September over inflammatory comments he made about the killing of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.

This week, Carr’s FCC opened a probe into ABC’s “The View” and whether it has broken rules requiring equal time for interviews with political candidates.

Investors have committed new capital to fintech company MyCredit, backing its strategy of scaling technology-driven credit platforms rather than a conventional lending operation.

The investment reflects a broader shift in fintech funding toward platforms where software, data infrastructure and AI form the primary drivers of innovation, growth, enabling companies to expand across markets without proportional increases in staffing or operational complexity.

MyCredit’s platform is designed to automate and innovate large parts of the credit lifecycle — from application assessment to risk scoring — using real-time data processing and machine-learning-based models. Industry analysts note that this architecture is particularly suited to expansion in regulated and emerging markets, where speed, transparency and consistency are critical.

Rather than allocating capital toward rapid loan book expansion, the investment was driven by MyCredit’s long-term platform strategy, market participants say. Investors were attracted by the company’s ability to embed risk management, regulatory logic and automation directly into its technology stack, allowing the business to scale without increasing operational complexity.

In contrast to many consumer lenders that rely on manual processes and market-specific workflows, MyCredit’s architecture is designed to be adapted across jurisdictions with minimal structural changes, a factor that has become increasingly important as fintech companies face tighter regulatory scrutiny.

People familiar with the investment say this approach resonated particularly with backers seeking repeatable, technology-led growth models rather than short-term financial returns tied to a single market.

Aleksandr Katsuba, co-founder of MyCredit, has played a central role in shaping MyCreditinnovation and product strategy. According to sources close to the process, he led engagement with investors and framed the company’s value around its proprietary technology stack, positioning MyCredit as a fintech platform with long-term scalability rather than a market-specific lender.

“Technology allows fintech businesses to grow sustainably,” Katsuba said. “By investing in automation, data systems and controlled decisioning, the platform can expand without increasing risk exposure.”

Industry observers note that this truly aligns with current investor preferences, particularly as fintech markets mature and regulatory scrutiny increases. Platforms that embed compliance and risk management directly into their technology are increasingly seen as better positioned for cross-border growth.

Ebrahim Poonawala
BofA Securities, Research Division

Next up with us, we have Fifth Third Bancorp. From Fifth Third, we have Jamie Leonard, Chief Operating Officer. And joining Jamie, we have Brennen Willingham who is the Treasurer of Fifth Third. So thank you, both of you for joining us.

James Leonard
Executive VP & COO

Thank you.

Ebrahim Poonawala
BofA Securities, Research Division

And I believe, Jamie has some prepared remarks for us. So I hand it over to Jamie, first.

James Leonard
Executive VP & COO

Thank you, Ebrahim. And good afternoon. Thanks for joining us today. It is a pleasure to be out of the Cincinnati snow to discuss in Florida, why the Comerica acquisition represents such an important milestone for Fifth Third. How we are executing on the integration. And why we believe this transaction positions us for stronger, more resilient performance in the years ahead.

When we evaluated this transaction, we focused on one question. Will this combination create a meaningfully better bank? The answer is unequivocally yes, strategically, financially and operationally. This acquisition strengthens our competitive position, expands our capabilities and support superior long-term returns. It creates a more durable, more efficient and better growth-oriented franchise, not just a larger one. The financial logic is also compelling. There’s no tangible book dilution at close, with expected tangible book value per share accretion each quarter this year, achievable cost synergies and a long runway for sustainable growth.

This is a disciplined acquisition, aligned with our long-standing commitment to through-the-cycle value creation. As you know, while it’s important that the

Expanding a business globally used to feel like a slow, decade-long slog. Today, digital platforms let us flip a switch and reach customers in Sydney or Stockholm overnight.

But here is the catch: if you are operating in a regulated space—think fintech, healthcare, or gaming—that “switch” is attached to a mountain of legal paperwork and local hurdles. You simply can’t move fast and break things when the things you might break are national laws.

The Agility Paradox in Tight Markets

Scaling across borders is a massive feat, but if you’re playing in a heavily regulated field, you need a strange mix of speed and an almost total obsession with the rules. Lottoland has shown that the trick to growing fast without getting shut down lies in a “decentralized yet unified” approach—adapting the core product to meet local licensing requirements and cultural nuances without breaking the underlying tech. By investing in a modular tech stack that can quickly integrate regional payment gateways and regulatory reporting tools, they manage to move faster than traditional competitors. For UK entrepreneurs looking to export their services, the Lottoland model proves that entering a regulated market isn’t just about following rules; it’s about building a system where compliance is the engine itself, not a weight holding you back.

It sounds counterintuitive, doesn’t it? Usually, we think of “compliance” as the department that says “no” to every cool new idea. But when your tech is built to be modular, compliance becomes a plug-and-play feature. If a country changes its data privacy laws, you don’t need to rewrite your whole codebase; you just swap out a module.

Local Friction is a Reality

Let’s be honest: no two regulators think alike. You might have a green light in London, but find yourself stuck in a yellow-light purgatory in Berlin or Rome. This is where the human element of scaling comes in. You need local boots on the ground who actually understand the “vibe” of the local regulator. Are they sticklers for specific documentation? Do they prefer a certain reporting cadence?

The ground moves fast. For instance, consider how different regions handle consumer protection. Take the issue of gambling on credit; the Swedish government is currently closing all remaining loopholes to address consumer debt, effectively tightening the screws on how operators function. If your system isn’t flexible enough to pivot for a specific Swedish rule in a matter of weeks, your expansion is going to hit a wall. This kind of sudden legislative shift is becoming the norm, not the exception, across Europe and beyond.

Infrastructure as a Safety Net

Ultimately, the winners in this decade aren’t the ones with the loudest marketing, but the ones with the most resilient “plumbing.” This means moving away from monolithic systems toward microservices. It means hiring compliance officers who actually enjoy the puzzle of international law. It’s tough, and honestly, it’s often quite expensive at the start. But the alternative? A single fine that wipes out your year’s profits.

How is your business handling the balance between speed and safety? Do you think the UK is doing enough to help small firms navigate these international rules? Drop a comment below and share your experience.