The average price of unleaded petrol has risen by 5p a litre in the space of a week, according to the RAC, which warned there was “no sign of any relief” for drivers.

The motoring organisation said a litre of unleaded now costs 167.17p – the biggest weekly increase since April – while diesel has also risen by 5p to 188.63p.

Fuel prices have soared since the US-Israel war with Iran began at the end of February, with the fighting severely disrupting supplies of crude oil – a key ingredient in petrol and diesel – across the Middle East.

The price of Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil, has returned to $100 a barrel for the first time since July, as hostilities escalated again.

On Tuesday, US forces struck five Iranian tankers after Tehran targeted one of its warships, while Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi movement also attacked oil facilities in Saudi Arabia.

The price of Brent is some way off the $120 it hit in April, but remains well above the $70 it was trading at before the conflict started.

PC Jeweller shares rebounded on Wednesday after the company said it had cleared outstanding debt with another bank, paving the way for it to become debt-free by the end of this month. The jeweller has now repaid dues to 10 of the 14 consortium banks.

PC Jeweller shares surged 4% to Rs 14.08 apiece in Wednesday’s morning trade. The gains came a day after profit booking on Tuesday snapped a three-day winning streak.

The stock has gained 38% over the past week.

PC Jeweller shares have gained more than 40% in one month and 50% in 2026 so far. In the longer term, the multibagger stock has delivered strong returns of nearly 400% over three years and 430% over five years.

Also read | PC Jeweller shares fall 5% after sharp 3-day rally

PC Jeweller to become debt-free this month?

The sharp rally in PC Jeweller’s share price began last week after the company said it is on track to become debt free by this month. In the latest exchange filing released on Tuesday, the company said it has now repaid all outstanding debt to 10 out of 14 consortium banks, with every repayment completed ahead of the scheduled due dates.
PC Jeweller added that it has discharged more than 96% of the outstanding debt owed to the remaining four banks, and remains on track to clear the balance of less than 4% owed to these banks to achieve “debt-free” status by the end of this month. The company said this will materially strengthen its balance sheet and financial position.The settlement agreement, which was signed in September, 2024, was a one-time settlement between PC Jeweller and a 14-bank consortium led by State Bank of India (SBI), which aimed to resolve a stressed loan book that stood at nearly Rs 4,100 crore as of March 2024. The other consortium members included Union Bank, Punjab National Bank (PNB), Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, Bank of India, IDBI Bank, Karur Vysya Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Canara Bank, Indian Bank, Bank of Baroda and IDFC First Bank.

Also read | Why is the stock market down today? Sensex plunges 600 points, Nifty below 23,500. 6 key triggers behind D-Street selloff

PC Jeweller Q1 results

PC Jeweller in August reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 222 crore in Q1 FY27, marking 37% year-on-year (YoY) increase from the Rs 153 crore reported in the year-ago period. Revenue from operations, meanwhile, rose 21% YoY to Rs 877 crore in the April-June quarter of the ongoing financial year, from Rs 725 crore in the year-ago period.

PC Jeweller’s consolidated operating PAT, excluding other income, surged to Rs 213 crore in Q1 FY27 from Rs 79 crore in the year-ago quarter. This translates into an impressive 168% YoY growth, highlighting a substantial improvement in the company’s core business performance.

Disclosure: “This article has been written by Debaroti Adhikary, who is not a SEBI-registered Research Analyst or an Investment Adviser. Debaroti Adhikary and her ‘relative(s)’ (as defined under Section 2(77) of the Companies Act, 2013) do not hold any financial interest in the companies mentioned in this article as of the date of publication. The views/recommendations mentioned in this article, wherever applicable, are those of the respective SEBI-registered Research Analyst/brokerage and have been reproduced/reported with due attribution. They should not be construed as the views or recommendations of The EconomicTimes Digital or the journalist. Readers are advised to consider the original research report and make their investment decisions based on their own assessment.”

Shares of IFCI Ltd fell more than 4% on Wednesday after reports suggested that the National Stock Exchange could price its initial public offering below earlier indications and reduce the stake offered in the issue.

At 9:27 am, IFCI shares were trading 4.01% lower at Rs 88.90 on the NSE, compared with their previous close of Rs 92.61. The stock opened at Rs 92.50, touched a high of Rs 93.56 and slipped to an intraday low of Rs 88.31.

The stock underperformed the broader market, with the Nifty 50 trading about 0.5% lower during the same period.

NSE is likely to price its IPO between Rs 1,700 and Rs 1,785 per share, below the Rs 2,000-Rs 2,100 range previously marketed, according to reports.

At the upper end of the proposed band, the exchange would be valued at around Rs 4.4 lakh crore, or $46.4 billion, Bloomberg reported.

The exchange may also reduce the stake offered to about 5.5% of its equity capital from the previously planned 6%. NSE’s draft offer document had proposed an offer for sale of up to 14.89 crore shares.
The lower-than-expected price range and potential reduction in the offer size weighed on IFCI because of its indirect exposure to NSE. IFCI owns more than 50% of Stock Holding Corporation of India, which, in turn, holds over 4% of the exchange.As a result, developments affecting NSE’s valuation have a bearing on the value investors assign to IFCI’s indirect holding. NSE did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the reported price band.

Also read: ESDS Software shares rally 10%, skyrocket 235% from IPO price in 4 days. Should you buy or sell?

The long-awaited IPO could still rank among India’s biggest public issues. NSE, which dominates the country’s equity derivatives market, is reportedly targeting a listing in the week beginning September 21.

Despite Wednesday’s decline, IFCI shares remained up 20.22% over the past month, outperforming the Nifty 500, which fell 2.95% during the same period. The stock was also up around 68% year-to-date.

Disclaimer: This article has been written by Somanjali Das, who is not a SEBI-registered Research Analyst or an Investment Adviser. Somanjali Das and his/her ‘relative(s)’ (as defined under Section 2(77) of the Companies Act, 2013) do not hold any financial interest in the companies mentioned in this article as of the date of publication. The views/recommendations mentioned in this article, wherever applicable, are those of the respective SEBI-registered Research Analyst/brokerage and have been reproduced/reported with due attribution. They should not be construed as the views or recommendations of The Economic Times Digital or the journalist. Readers are advised to consider the original research report and make their investment decisions based on their own assessment. Brokerage disclaimers here

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The property developer is fighting off a takeover attempt by Peel Group

Regeneration specialist Harworth is exiting the residential sector as it attempts to streamline its business.

The developer says it will refocus on strategic land, enabling works and selective development to maximise returns. It comes as Harworth continues to fight off a takeover attempt by Peel Group, which last month offered nearly £583m for the Rotherham-based group.

Harworth says the offer comes at a 19.7% discount to its EPRA NDV of £697.7m as at the end of June this year. Bosses set out in detail why the Peel approach “does not fully capture the additional embedded value within the group”. They pointed to a substantial hyperscale data centre pipeline and its more than 3.8million sqft of “construction-ready” industrial and logistics land, among other points.

It called the offer “highly opportunistic” to take advantage of a “dislocation” between its share price and the value of its underlying assets.

The comments come as Harworth published half year results for the six months to the end of June in which EPRA NDV was £697.7m, compared with £725m in the same period last year. It also saw a £16.9m fall in the value of its residential portfolio over the period, compared with a £14.7m decrease in the first half of last year.

Lynda Shillaw, chief executive of Harworth, said: “Harworth has made good operational and strategic progress during the first half of 2026 and into the second, against a challenging macroeconomic backdrop that has weighed on valuations, particularly in residential. Since 2021 we have successfully repositioned our land and development portfolio, shifting the weighting to 71% industrial & logistics and developing a significant powered land bank, in turn positioning the business to deliver strong returns to shareholders into the medium term.

“Our 34.8m sqft land and development pipeline, which includes 0.8GW of powered land, would be difficult to replicate today given its scale, together with the advanced planning and power supply status, and strategic locations, of many of its sites. Within this pipeline, we are seeing strong occupier demand across our industrial & logistics products, driven by structural growth trends.

“This includes the first pre-let at our 1.1m sqft Chatterley Park site in Staffordshire, to an advanced manufacturing occupier. Our largest-ever substantially construction-ready land bank of 3.8m sqft positions us to further capture this momentum through a combination of pre-lets, land sales and small to mid-box speculative builds.”

Like this story? For more news from the commercial property scene around the regions, visit our dedicated section here for the latest news and analysis within the sector.

HERSHEY, PA. — The Hershey Co. has promoted Dave Hulays to chief financial officer. He succeeds Steve Voskuil, who intends to retire in early 2027.

Hulays has more than 30 years of financial leadership experience, including the past 14 years at Hershey. He most recently was vice president of finance. Since joining Hershey in 2012 as vice president of finance for Canada, he has taken on broader financial leadership responsibilities across the company, including the US and international businesses, global supply chain, M&A and enterprise transformation.

Before joining Hershey, he spent 15 years at Procter & Gamble in commercial, supply chain, strategy, global business development and global business services across the company’s North American and international businesses.

“Dave is a proven, enterprise-minded finance leader who has helped shape nearly every corner of this business, from our commercial and supply chain organizations to our growth agenda,” said Kirk Tanner, president and chief executive officer of Hershey. “He leads with rigor, accountability and courage. I’m confident he’s the right person to lead our finance organization into its next chapter.”

Hulays holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Waterloo and a master’s degree in business administration from York University’s Schulich School of Business in Toronto.

Voskuil, who has led Hershey’s finance organization for the past seven years, will move into the role of senior vice president of strategic projects until his retirement early next year. He will focus on initiatives for the CEO and board while ensuring a smooth transition with Hulays, the company said.

“I also want to thank Steve for his leadership over the past seven years,” Tanner said. “He has been an incredible partner to me and to this company, and his continued partnership will support some of our most important priorities as we move through this transition.”