- FTSE 100 has returned 22.8% year-to-date including dividends
- Seventh best year for the UK index since records began*
- Highest return since the bounce back from the global financial crisis
- Fresnillo, Airtel Africa and Endeavour Mining are the top performers
- WPP, Bunzl and Diageo are the worst performers
Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, comments:
“The FTSE 100 is on track for its seventh best year ever, with its highest return since the aftermath of the global financial crisis*.
“So much for the UK being the home for old economy companies – the FTSE 100 has had precisely the ingredients desired by investors in a year full of political, trade and market uncertainty.
“The FTSE 100 has returned 22.8% year-to-date**, more than twice what it achieved last year and ahead of the 17.2% from the S&P 500 index in the US. You would have to go back to 2009 to see a better annual performance for the FTSE 100, and that year was merely a bounce back from a terrible showing the previous year when the credit crunch gripped the world.
“There may therefore be a lot of people kicking themselves that they’d taken money out of the UK market. The year has been full of stories about sustained net outflows from UK funds, which is a surprise given the headline performance of the FTSE 100.
“This year’s success for the blue-chip index is not a flash in the pan. The FTSE 100 has delivered positive returns in eight of the past 10 years, averaging 9.1% annually over that period including dividends. This kind of performance reinforces the attraction of investing over the long term. There may be years when performance disappoints, but history suggests it’s worth pursuing.”
The standout names
“Three quarters of the FTSE 100 delivered a positive total return in 2025**. Fifteen names returned more than 50% including retailer Next, miniature fantasy figures maker Games Workshop and copper miner Antofagasta. Nine out of the top 20 best performing stocks in the FTSE 100 were in the broader financials sector, covering banks, insurers and asset managers.
“The number of true howlers was small, led by media group WPP, distribution business Bunzl and drinks group Diageo. It was also a bad year for packaging group Mondi and car portal Auto Trader, among others.”
- Fresnillo
“It’s been a golden year for both UK stocks and precious metals. As the biggest gold and silver producer on the UK market, it’s no wonder Fresnillo has been the go-to choice for investors seeking to play the precious metal rally via mining shares.
“Most people may not have a clue about Fresnillo’s mine plans or the quality of its projects. They just know the company is big, and the more the metal prices go up the more profit it could make.”
- Rolls-Royce
“It’s three years in a row for Rolls-Royce as a top 10 best performer among FTSE 100 stocks.
“Grabbing the top spot in 2023 was essentially the market rewarding its turnaround efforts. Since then, the narrative has moved from ‘fix’ to ‘grow’. It has improved profitability and cash flow, and the share price has continued to rise.
“Admittedly, the shares have been helped this year by positive market sentiment towards anything linked to the defence sector. Rolls-Royce’s strong position in small nuclear reactors has also been beneficial as the product type becomes more popular in the UK and the US.”
- Lloyds
“Since when did banks deliver the kind of annual returns you might expect from a US tech stock? Well, NatWest did it in 2024 with a 91% total return, and 2025 has been Lloyds’ year to shine.
“Admittedly, most of the UK-listed banks had a spectacular year on the stock market, but it was Lloyds who led the pack in 2025. The share price rally is down to solid business progress, interest rates staying higher for longer, and profit progression.
“There is a price to pay for that success. Lloyds’ shares are now their most expensive since early 2021 on a price to earnings basis. On price to book, they’re at a 10-year high. Perhaps we won’t be seeing it in 2026’s list of top performers, unless it does something very special indeed.”
- WPP
“The media group made its name coming up with bright ideas for clients but in 2025 it couldn’t find the inspiration to put itself back on track. WPP has served up a multitude of profit warnings as clients pull back on spending and it lost major media accounts.
“A new CEO has been drafted in, but the scale of the turnaround challenge is huge. The company is already battered and bruised, and the expected loss of FTSE 100 status in the latest index reshuffle, effective 22 December, rounds off an annus horribilis for the advertising agency.”
- Diageo
“Tariffs, margin pressures, changing consumer tastes and leadership issues have dogged Diageo’s share price this year, extending a three-year decline for the stock.
“Despite hiring ex-Tesco legend Dave Lewis, the market is still not convinced that Diageo can shake off its hangover. Lewis will be given a few months’ grace when he joins in January to understand what needs to be done, but the market is impatient and will want evidence by mid-2026 that the business is being nursed back to health.”
- London Stock Exchange Group
“In a fantastic year for UK shares, it’s somewhat ironic that the country’s leading stock exchange operator is one of the worst FTSE 100 performers.
“Despite changes to the listing rules, the volume of companies listing in the UK in 2025 was sparse. London Stock Exchange continues to bang the drum that it is now a data-driven business, yet the market remains sceptical. Add in concerns about skinny IPO numbers and potential competition from AI for financial data, and it’s easy to see why investors are losing interest in the stock.
“That’s evident from the de-rating in the company’s shares. At its peak in 2020, London Stock Exchange traded on nearly 40 times forecast earnings. It started 2025 on 30 times earnings, and that rating has now fallen to just under 19 times – the lowest rating since 2017.”
*Source: LSEG. Data available since 31 December 1985.
**Source: ShareScope. Figures up to 1 December 2025 market close.
