Intertek reports 7% third-quarter revenue growth as EQT takeover nears completion. Published 07:26 Intertek, the FTSE 100 testing and quality assurance group, has reported 7.0% third-quarter revenue growth at constant currency. Revenue for the quarter rose to £941.8 million, with like-for-like growth, which strips out acquisitions and disposals, of 6.4%. For the nine months to September, revenue was £2.7 billion, up 6.4%, with like-for-like growth of 5.4%. The group said its takeover by EQT, the Swedish private equity firm, was on track to complete in the fourth quarter of 2026 or the first quarter of 2027. Shareholders have approved the deal, which still needs some regulatory approvals. Intertek kept its 2026 outlook of mid-single digit like-for-like revenue growth, continued margin improvement, strong earnings growth and strong free cash flow. Because of the bid, the guidance is formally a profit forecast under the Takeover Code, and the board confirmed it remains valid. Consumer Products was the fastest-growing division, with like-for-like revenue up 9.8% to £277.8 million in the quarter. Industry and Infrastructure grew 9.2%, helped by a double-digit rise in its minerals business, which benefited from new contracts and the recent purchase of Base Met Labs. Health and Safety rose 7.5%, with double-digit growth in food testing. Corporate Assurance grew 4.3%. World of Energy, the division focused on oil, gas and fuels, was the exception, with like-for-like revenue down 0.6%. Intertek blamed difficult operating conditions in the Middle East and falling research spending by carmakers, with a double-digit decline in its transportation technologies unit. Outlook by division The company lowered its full-year expectations for two divisions. Health and Safety is now expected to deliver mid-single digit growth, and World of Energy is expected to be stable. Net finance costs are forecast at £69 million to £70 million for 2026, with year-end net debt of £800 million to £850 million. André Lacroix, chief executive, said the company had delivered "a strong Q3 trading performance with broad based revenue growth".

Intertek Q3 revenue rises 7% as company maintains 2026 forecast. Intertek Group PLC (LON:ITRK) has announced its latest trading statement. Robust trading in Q3 with 7% revenue growth[1] - On track to deliver strong performance in 2026 - YTD revenue of £2.7bn, growth of 6.4%[1], with LFL revenue growth of 5.4%[1] and 1.0% growth from M&A - 7.0%[1] revenue growth and 6.4%[1] LFL revenue growth in Q3: 9.8% LFL in Consumer Products, 4.3% LFL in Corporate Assurance, 7.5% LFL in Health and Safety, 9.2% LFL in Industry and Infrastructure, and (0.6%) LFL in World of Energy - Robust performance of recently made acquisitions in high-growth and high-margin segments - Strong margin progression driven by divisional mix, pricing, operating leverage, cost controls and productivity improvements - Daily cash management discipline delivering strong free cash flow - Excellent returns driving good year-on-year increase in ROIC - Strong financial performance expected in 2026, with mid-single digit LFL revenue growth at constant currency, continuous margin progression, strong earnings growth and a strong free cash flow - Acquisition by EQT progressing - expected to complete Q4 2026 - Q1 2027 André Lacroix: Chief Executive Officer statement "DirectorsTalk Interviews delivered a strong Q3 trading performance with broad based revenue growth of 7.0%[1], and a robust year to date revenue growth of 6.4%[1], with strong margin progression driven by its divisional mix, pricing, operating leverage linked to growth, disciplined cost control and productivity improvements. Its free cash flow was strong and its ROIC was excellent. Its strong year to September performance underpins its confidence in delivering a strong performance in 2026, with mid-single digit LFL revenue growth at constant currency, continuous margin progression, strong earnings growth and a strong free cash flow. DirectorsTalk Interviews has a mission-critical role for society, providing a unique suite of industry-leading and differentiated ATIC solutions to over 400,000 clients across every industry and region in each of its five divisions to make the world safer. Its clients continue to increase their investments in Risk-based Quality Assurance to operate with ever-higher quality, safety and sustainability standards in each part of their value chain, triggering greater demand for its ATIC solutions. At this time of increased trade and supply chain complexity, clients need its consulting, training and systemic ATIC solutions more than ever, enabling them to achieve global market access without compromising on the right quality assurance, safety and sustainability standards. Everyone at Intertek is focused on executing its AAA differentiated strategy for growth and consistently delivering on its medium-term corporate targets: mid-single digit LFL revenue growth, margin progression targeting 18.5%+ over time, strong cash generation, and disciplined investments in both organic and inorganic growth to deliver a superior ROIC. DirectorsTalk Interviews is confident that the acceleration in performance delivered over the last four years is sustainable, driven by increasing demand for its industry-leading ATIC solutions and attractive secular growth drivers. The proposed acquisition of Intertek by EQT has been approved by shareholders and is on track to complete in either Q4 2026 or Q1 2027, subject to certain outstanding regulatory approvals." 1. Constant currency * Written by: Amilia Stone

Midnight Sun's Dumbwa copper corridor widens to 2,400 meters in Northern Block. About 5,000 drill samples are stuck in a laboratory queue that now runs from Zambia to Perth. The 76 holes that did clear it show copper spread more than 2,400 meters across at the northern end of a corridor already traced for 12 kilometers. The release reporting that width contains no resource estimate for the deposit. Midnight Sun reports 2,400-meter-wide copper zone at Dumbwa. Midnight Sun Mining Corp. (TSXV: MMA) (OTCQX: MDNGF) said on October 27 that drilling in the Northern Block of its Dumbwa copper deposit in Zambia has intersected near-surface copper mineralization across an east-west extent exceeding 2,400 meters. The company put that at more than double the average width of the Dumbwa Mineralized Corridor drilled so far. Flat-lying to shallowly dipping. At or very near surface. Those are the company's descriptions of the geometry, and they continued to hold as drilling moved north. What changed was the width. Chief operating officer Dr. Kevin Bonel told investors the rigs appear to have passed through another structural disruption and are now hitting copper sulfide mineralization across much greater east-west widths, with locally thicker zones. Dumbwa is the flagship of the Solwezi Copper Project on the Zambia-Congo Copperbelt. Phase One, complete in the field though some assays remain pending, totaled 372 diamond drill holes and more than 87,000 meters. That program traced copper sulfide mineralization along more than 12 kilometers of strike, meaning the length of the system along its long axis, which makes up the southern portion of a 20-kilometer target first outlined by geophysics and soil sampling. President and CEO Al Fabbro noted the team established that length in 14 months. Dumbwa drill results include 31.1 meters of 0.47% copper. Hole DBW-26-283, in the Northern Block, returned 0.47% copper over 31.1 meters from 59 meters downhole, including 0.81% copper over 16.0 meters. It is the longest interval in the company's highlight table. Grade peaked elsewhere. DBW-26-355, in the central part of the corridor, cut 1.05% copper over 7.0 meters, and DBW-26-261 returned 0.67% copper over 11.0 meters starting 13 meters downhole. Most of the table reads differently. Thirteen of the 16 primary intervals in that highlight table grade below 0.5% copper, including DBW-26-230 at 0.12% over 23.0 meters and DBW-26-257 at 0.20% over 29.0 meters. True width is the actual thickness of a mineralized zone, as opposed to the length of core a drill hole happens to cut through it. Midnight Sun estimates its drilled thicknesses at 85% to 100% of true width. Not every hole in the batch is new. Some had previously failed the company's quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) checks and were held back; Midnight Sun says it requests re-analysis of failed samples until they meet its standards. Lab delays leave 70 Midnight Sun drill holes awaiting assays. Approximately 5,000 samples, representing 70 drill holes, are still waiting on assays, the laboratory tests that measure metal content. Midnight Sun attributed the backlog to power interruptions and equipment failures at Intertek's preparation facility in Kitwe, Zambia, on top of heavy regional sample volumes. Intertek has rerouted part of the queue. Some 1,824 samples have reached its laboratory in Perth, Australia, for priority analysis; another 1,859 are split between preparation in Johannesburg and processing at Kitwe, with both batches expected to move on to Perth. The delays are not new. The company described them as continuing and disclosed that the outside laboratories it uses have repeatedly failed its reporting checks, which it gives as the reason it publishes only results that pass internal QA/QC. Its own forward-looking cautions state that it depends on assay providers over which it has limited or no control. Darin Labrenz, P.Geo., a consulting geologist for the company, reviewed and approved the technical data as qualified person under NI 43-101, the Canadian standard governing how mining companies disclose technical results. Midnight Sun's C$30.5 million raise and 100% Dumbwa ownership. Midnight Sun's last disclosed financing closed a year ago today. On October 28, 2025, the company closed a C$30,475,575 bought deal, a financing in which underwriters commit to purchase the entire issue, selling 22,574,500 units at C$1.35. Each unit included one share and half a warrant, and each whole warrant is exercisable at C$2.00 until October 28, 2027. No current cash balance or cash runway figure was identified in the sources reviewed. Ownership is simpler than it once was. Midnight Sun's management's discussion and analysis (MD&A) for the period ended September 30, 2025 states that KoBold Metals' earn-in agreement on Dumbwa was terminated in February 2025, before KoBold carried out any field work, leaving the company with 100% ownership of the Dumbwa target. Midnight Sun Dumbwa dates: October 30 assays, December 1 lab upgrade. Midnight Sun has targeted results on the 1,824 samples in Perth by October 30, 2026, subject to analytical completion and QA/QC. Intertek's replacement pulverizing mills and an additional crusher at Kitwe are targeted for commissioning by December 1, 2026. Phase Two drilling is focused on the Northern Block, with soil sampling continuing north and south of Dumbwa. The October 27 release gives no date for a Dumbwa resource estimate. The C$2.00 warrants from the October 2025 financing expire October 28, 2027. Sources. Editorial disclosure. This article is based entirely on publicly available information: Midnight Sun Mining Corp.'s October 27, 2026 GlobeNewswire release, its October 28, 2025 Newsfile release, and its MD&A for the period ended September 30, 2025, as filed. The security discussed is Midnight Sun Mining Corp. (TSXV: MMA) (OTCQX: MDNGF). KoBold Metals, referenced in the article, is a private company with no listed security. aktiego.com has not received any compensation from Midnight Sun Mining, its management, investor relations representatives, or any third party. No staff member or principal of aktiego.com holds a position in this security at the time of publication. Dumbwa is an exploration-stage project. The October 27, 2026 release reports no NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate for Dumbwa, and the drill intercepts, widths, and strike lengths cited here are not a mineral resource. Drilled thicknesses are the company's own estimate of 85% to 100% of true width. Approximately 5,000 samples from 70 drill holes remain unreported, and some holes included in the October 27 release had previously failed the company's QA/QC checks. Assay timing depends on third-party laboratories; the October 30, 2026 results target and the December 1, 2026 equipment commissioning target are company-stated goals, not guarantees. The qualified person who approved the technical data, Darin Labrenz, P.Geo., is described in the release as a consulting geologist for the company, not as independent. No current cash balance or cash runway figure was identified in the sources reviewed. The company's last disclosed financing, the C$30,475,575 bought deal closed October 28, 2025, issued 22,574,500 units at C$1.35, each with half a warrant exercisable at C$2.00 until October 28, 2027. Exercise of those warrants, or any future equity financing, would dilute existing shareholders. Descriptions of the system's expansion and geological architecture are the company's own interpretation. Midnight Sun itself states there is no guarantee that mineralization continues along strike to the north or south. The project is in Zambia, and the company's forward-looking cautions list political and geopolitical risk among the factors that could affect results. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the company's news releases, per the company's own standard disclosure. This is a speculative investment carrying significant risk including potential total loss of capital. Coverage on aktiego.com is provided for informational and educational purposes only. aktiego.com is not a registered investment advisor. Nothing in this article constitutes financial, investment, or professional advice. 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