A record quarter for Cartrack, and a trust that beat its benchmark

Companies that put the everyday investor first

Every company in this email has chosen to talk directly to everyday investors, not just the big funds. Here is what they have been up to this week.

Deep dive 01: Karooooo (NASDAQ: KARO)

Karooooo posts a record quarter for new subscribers and operating profit

On Monday 19 October, Karooooo, the parent of the Cartrack vehicle-tracking business, reported results for the quarter to 31 August. Revenue rose 22% to ZAR1,640m, or 25% in constant currency. Cartrack added 94,516 net subscribers, a record for a second quarter, taking the total to 2,899,210 (up 18%). Operating profit hit a record ZAR422m, up 19%, and earnings per share rose 18% to ZAR9.28. Cartrack subscription revenue grew 23% in constant currency, in the upper half of the company’s FY2027 outlook of 18% to 24%.

For a shareholder, the appeal is the growth of the subscription model: each new vehicle added keeps paying month after month, so growing subscribers and profit together is the pattern investors look for. The balance: the business earns money in several currencies, so reported growth (22%) trails the constant-currency figure (25%), and exchange rates can keep moving the numbers either way (see the explainer below).

2.90m Cartrack subscribers (+18%) · ZAR422m record operating profit (+19%) · 22% revenue growth (25% in constant currency)

Explore Karooooo

Deep dive 02: Aberdeen Asia Focus (LSE: AAS)

Aberdeen Asia Focus more than doubles its benchmark and narrows its discount

On Thursday 22 October, Aberdeen Asia Focus published its annual report for the year to 31 July 2026. The trust delivered a net asset value total return of 22.3% and a share price total return of 23.9%, against 9.5% for its benchmark, the MSCI AC Asia ex Japan Small Cap index. Total dividends for the year were 6.44p (6.43p the year before). The discount to net asset value narrowed to 9.1% from 10.1%, helped by buying back 9.4m shares, or 6.4% of its share capital. The board has also renewed its performance-linked tender mechanism to July 2031.

For shareholders, the trust is a way into smaller Asian companies that are hard to buy directly, and this year the manager beat its benchmark by a wide margin. Buying back shares at a discount also adds to the value of each remaining share. The balance: one strong year is no guarantee of the next and the Asian smaller companies sector can be volatile.

22.3% NAV total return vs 9.5% benchmark · 9.1% discount to NAV (from 10.1%) · 6.4% of share capital bought back

Explore Aberdeen Asia Focus

Also this week

SigmaRoc: Margins up despite a weak building market

On 21 October SigmaRoc’s Q3 update showed nine-month revenue of £795m (up 2.5%) and underlying EBITDA of £207.3m (up 7.5%), with the margin up 120 basis points to 26.1%. The full-year outlook is unchanged, and the €110m purchase of Lithuanian dolomite business AB Dolomitas, announced in September, is expected to complete later this year. The company notes that residential construction across Europe remains very subdued. More.

Secure Trust Bank: On track, and the £10m buyback is done

On 22 October Secure Trust Bank said it is on track to deliver consensus full-year profit expectations, with the continuing loan book at £3.5bn (up 1.4% in the quarter and 9.5% on the year). 2026 guidance is unchanged, though softer asset-based lending markets hit fee income in Business Finance. A day earlier it confirmed its £10m buyback was complete, with 654,540 shares bought at an average of 1,527.79p. More.

Rathbones: Funds under management up 7%, plus board changes

On 22 October Rathbones’ Q3 update showed funds under management and administration of £121.1bn (up 7.2% on the year) and Q3 operating income of £243.6m (up 3.0%). Wealth Management took in £24m of net inflows, its second quarter of inflows in a row, but Asset Management saw £425m of outflows, leaving the group with net outflows of £401m. It still expects to hit its 28.7% underlying margin target in Q4. Separately, Brian Stevenson joins the board as a non-executive director on 1 December, subject to regulatory approval. More.

Tharisa: Wind power starts flowing to the mine

On 20 October Tharisa said it had received its first wheeled renewable power from Etana Energy in September. The initial wind supply should meet about 10% of the mine’s current monthly electricity demand, Etana is expected eventually to supply about 70% of current open-pit demand, and solar is due from Q1 2027. More.

IP Group: UK spinout investment hits £1.56bn

On 22 October IP Group highlighted a report from its Parkwalk business and Beauhurst showing £1.56bn was invested in UK university spinouts in H1 2026, the second-highest half-year in a decade and up 38.2% on H2 2025. Parkwalk and IP Group were the most active investors, with 42 deals over the year to H1 2026. The balance: first-time equity investment fell 68.3% to £47.0m. More.

Ecofin Global Utilities & Infrastructure Trust: Fourth dividend declared

On 20 October the trust declared a fourth interim dividend of 2.25p per share for the year to 30 September 2026. The shares go ex-dividend on Thursday 29 October, the record date is Friday 30 October, and payment is on Monday 30 November. More.

Eden BioSolutions: At the world’s biocontrol industry meeting

On 19 October Eden BioSolutions (formerly Eden Research) said its CEO, CFO and commercial team would attend the Annual Biocontrol Industry Meeting in Basel (20 to 22 October), which draws more than 2,000 delegates from 65 countries, to discuss partnerships. Approval for its bird-repellent seed treatment Ecovelex is still expected in 2026. More.

Explainer: What does “constant currency” mean?

Companies that sell in several countries earn money in several currencies, and when those currencies move against the currency the company reports in, the headline numbers move too, even if nothing changed in the business. “Constant currency” strips that out by recalculating this year’s sales at last year’s exchange rates, so you can see how fast the business itself is growing. Karooooo is a good example this week: its revenue grew 22% as reported, but 25% in constant currency, so exchange rates took about three percentage points off the headline. The catch: constant-currency growth is not what lands in the accounts, so it is worth looking at both figures side by side.

See Karooooo on CurationAI.

Happening this week (Mon 26 – Fri 30 October)

Tuesday 27 Oct: HSBC third-quarter results. US consumer confidence for October, 14:00 UK time. The US Federal Reserve starts its two-day meeting. Israel holds a general election. Aduro Clean Technologies attends the RCC Retail Sustainability Conference in Toronto (27 to 28 October).

Wednesday 28 Oct: Ecora Royalties Q3 trading update, 07:00. Unilever and Standard Chartered report third-quarter numbers. UK Autumn Budget, the first from Chancellor John Healey, expected after Prime Minister’s Questions (around 12:30), with the OBR’s new forecasts the same day. Bank of Canada rate decision, 13:45 UK time. US Federal Reserve rate decision, 18:00 UK time, with the press conference at 18:30. Microsoft reports after the US close.

Thursday 29 Oct: Shell third-quarter results and dividend, 07:00. Bank of England money and credit data, including mortgage approvals. US GDP (Q3 first estimate) and September income and spending, which includes the PCE inflation gauge, both 12:30 UK time. European Central Bank rate decision, 13:15 UK time, press conference 13:45. Ecofin Global Utilities & Infrastructure Trust goes ex-dividend (2.25p). Amazon reports after the US close.

Friday 30 Oct: Bank of Japan rate decision (early UK morning). BP and AstraZeneca third-quarter results. Eurozone Q3 GDP flash estimate. US Employment Cost Index, 12:30 UK time.

From the Collective

If AI spending cools, who gets the power and the builders back?

This week’s Collective discussion described a market pulled in several directions at once: shares are holding up despite higher bond yields, dearer oil and renewed inflation pressure, while earnings strength is patchy and starting to come from places beyond AI, such as aerospace, automation and parts of financial services. One idea stood out. The AI build-out is not only a technology story: it competes with the rest of the economy for money, electricity and construction capacity. The view was that a gradual, orderly slowdown in AI spending could free up those resources for other industries, while a sudden reversal would do more harm than good, and that earnings growth spreading more widely would be the healthiest outcome, even if it is not the most likely one. The cost of borrowing for debt-funded AI developers was flagged as the signal to watch.

Balfour Beatty, a Curation Connect client, is one of the UK’s largest infrastructure builders and has a UK power transmission and distribution business, the kind of capacity that is in demand from data centres and the wider economy alike. It is also returning cash: by 16 October it had bought back 19,597,742 shares at an average price of 823.59p under its current programme. The balance: how much construction and grid capacity is freed up, or stays stretched, depends on how AI spending unfolds, and nobody knows that yet.

Balfour Beatty on CurationAI.

Best Content Shared This Week

📚 Is the AI Bubble Hiding in Credit Markets?

Why Read? Fidelity’s Jurrien Timmer explores whether the biggest risk to the AI boom sits not in equity valuations, but in the debt financing the infrastructure build-out. Drawing parallels with the telecom bubble of the late 1990s, he examines widening spreads in data-centre credit, rising oil prices and tightening financial conditions, even as corporate earnings remain strong. The key question is whether the recent AI sell-off represents a healthy reset or an early warning that the investment cycle is becoming increasingly vulnerable. Read here.

🎧 Why Investors Could Be Misreading India’s Boom

Why Listen? India remains one of the world’s most compelling long-term growth stories, but does that automatically make it a good investment? This episode challenges the gap between economic growth and shareholder returns, exploring why strong demographics, rising consumption and structural reform do not necessarily translate into attractive valuations. A useful reminder that a great growth story and a great investment are not always the same thing. Listen here.

New Showcases

Murray International Trust (LSE: MYI)

• Murray International Trust is a UK-listed investment trust managed by Aberdeen, investing in a diversified portfolio of global equities and fixed-income securities with a focus on delivering long-term capital growth and a growing income stream. Its internationally diversified approach provides exposure to established businesses across developed and emerging markets, offering investors a combination of dividend income, geographic diversification and long-term growth opportunities. Read more.

Aberdeen Asia Focus (LSE: AAS)

• Aberdeen Asia Focus is a UK-listed investment trust focused on smaller companies across Asia, excluding Japan, targeting businesses with strong management teams, competitive advantages and long-term growth potential. Managed by Aberdeen’s specialist Asian equities team, the trust provides exposure to under-researched companies benefiting from structural themes including rising domestic consumption, digitalisation and industrial development, offering investors access to opportunities often overlooked by larger institutional funds. Read more.

Nomad Foods (NYSE: NOMD)

• Nomad Foods is one of Europe’s leading frozen food companies, owning household brands including Birds Eye, Findus and iglo across major European markets. Its portfolio of established brands, extensive distribution network and strong cash generation provide exposure to the resilient frozen food category, while operational efficiencies, pricing discipline and shareholder returns underpin the investment case. With frozen food offering consumers an affordable, convenient alternative to fresh products, Nomad is positioned to benefit from long-term demand for value and convenience across European grocery markets. Read more.