Late-afternoon...
It’s shares are off ONLY 24% at 1.3p, but it looks like it’s ‘Goodnight Vienna’ for Xcite Energy PLC (LON:XEL), where the bondholders want to appoint a liquidator. They aren’t confident the mooted debt-for-equity swap will be “implemented in a manner acceptable to them”.
Laird (LON:LRD), down 6% at 158p, saw the tail-end of the earnings downgrades come through almost a week after the electronics firm issued a profits warning.
The big upward mover of the day was MP Evans (LON:MPE), the owner of Indonesian palm plantations, which has received a 640p a share takeover offer. The deal hasn’t yet been formally ratified, which probably explains why the shares were changing hands for just 611p (up 43%).
There was a revival of sorts for the for the electronics firm Cobham (LON:COB) after the profits warning on Monday. The shares rose 3% to 144.25p after a number of City brokers loaned their support. A “continuation of past issues” is how UBS described Cobham’s problems.
Mid-afternoon...
Among the smaller caps, miner Galileo Resources (LON:GLR) stood out with an 8% rise to 1.53p.
Sampling at its Ferber gold project in Nevada returned gold values exceeding 0.2 grams per tonne, while seven contained grades higher than a gram per tonne.
Mithras Investment Trust PLC (LON:MTH) also rose 8% to 182p as it reported NAV of 206.3p at end September.
Polyhalite mine developer Sirius Minerals PLC (LON:SXX) added 4% to 35.42p on the back of a US$300mln deal with the company controlled by Gina Rinehart, one of the world’s richest women .
Whitbread (LON:WTB) was down 3.6% to 3,704p as like-for-like sales growth at Costa Coffee and at Premier Inns underwhelms.
Early morning movers..
Shoe Zone PLC (LON:SHOE) was a top riser as it reported trading had gone well n the second half of the year.
Revenues for the year to end September would be £160mln (£169mln) reflecting fewer shops trading, while profits would be in line with expectations. Shares rose 15% to 164.2p.
Pantheon Resources Plc (LON:PANR) was also in demand as its latest well in east Texas unearthed a potentially significant reservoir. Shares rose 18% to 112.3p.
Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd (LON:BXP) rose 3.5% to 47.1p as it received US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for Sotalol Hydrochloride, a generic version of the cardiovascular drug Betapace.
Alba Mineral Resoruces PLC (LON:ALBA) fell 3% to 0.311p as it completed completed a detailed gravity survey and soil sampling programme on its prospecting licence (PL3824) in County Limerick.