The Restaurant Group PLC (LON:RTN), the owner of Frankie & Benny's and Garfunkel’s restaurants, was in demand as its profits decline was not as bad as feared.
Adjusted pre-tax profit fell to £77.1mln in the 53 weeks to 1 January 2017 from £86.8mln in the 52 weeks to 27 December, slightly ahead of the consensus forecast of £75mln. Shares rose 11.7% to 365.5p in relief.
Graphene NanoChem plc (LON:GRPH) meanwhile, fell 6% to 6.9p as it issued £150,000 worth of shares under an convertible loan scheme. The company specialises in fluids used by oil companies to get oil flowing.
Satellite operator Inmarsat Plc (LON:ISAT) climbed as aviation and government divisions helped revenues rise 4.3% to £1.33bn.
The firm’s agreement with Ligado Networks also went well and the general upbeat tone sent the shares 8.7% higher to 743.9p.
13.30pm...Bushveld Minerals powers higher as vanadium deal moves closer
Bushveld Minerals PLC (LON:BMN) was an a strong gainer in the afternoon as it moved to closer to acquiring the vanadium assets of Vametco that sit next door to its Brits operation in South Africa.
Bushveld has arranged funding for the US$14.8mln outstanding to vendor Evraz and also secured support for the balance of the acquisition through debt and mezzanine debt instruments. Shares rose 25% to 3.18p.
Lock specialist Tyman PLC (LON:TYMN) saw profits surge last year. The supplier of engineered components to the door and window industry saw underlying profit before tax improve 38% to £62.1mln from £45.1mln, helping its share price 10% to 308p.
Funeral director Dignity PLC (LON:DTY) was out of favour as a loss of market share offset growth in 2016 profits. Shares in the FTSE 250-listed firm slumped 15% to 2,356p even though profits rose 3%.
A rise in the number of deaths boosted the numbers, but a nod to growing competition upset investors.
10.00am: Europa Oil in clover as it ties up Irish farm-out
Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) Plc (LON:EOG) climbed 18% to 5.6p asit tied-up a farm-out agreement with Cairn Energy PLC (LON:CNE) on an exploration licence offshore Ireland.
Together Cairn and Europa will shoot 3D seismic in an under-explored area in the Atlantic margin off the west coast.
Cairn is covering costs of the US$6mln exploration programme and in return it will earn 70% of the project (Licensing Option 16/19).
Providence Resources PLC (LON:PVR) rose 9% to 16.6p, as it also agreed a tie-up with Cairn, this time for the Druid prospect offshore Ireland.
Cairn has agreed to pay 45% of the costs of the upcoming Druid exploration well and in return it will earn a 30% stake in the project (on licence FEL 2/14). It is also paying US$2.82mln in cash, covering recent past costs for the project.
It was not such a good day for two other oilers, Aminex plc and Solo Oil PLC, which tumbled on the latest news from Ntorya in Tanzania.
During drilling there was a significant influx of gas into the well, and as a result the company had to adapt which resulted in constricted gas flow during testing.
Nonetheless, Aminex said the limited flow of gas amounted to a rate of 17mln cubic feet per day, which would be 2,833 barrels oil equivalent per day.
Aminex fell 14% to 5.77p and 18% to 0.65p.
Suit maker Bagir Group PLC (LON:BAGR) shot higher as it returned to profit in 2016.
The shares shot up 31% to 5.08p in early deals as the Israel-based company, which claims to have been in turnaround mode since 2014, moved out of the red and into the black with underlying earnings (EBITDA) of US$1.6mln in 2016, reversing a loss of US$4.3mln in 2015.
Proactive news headlines
Steel fuel cells developer Ceres Power Holdings PLC (LON:CWR) saw its first-half revenues more than triple and is aiming for them to at least double for its full-year.
ValiRx Plc (LON:VAL) is to set up a third centre for the dosing trial of lung cancer treatment VAl401 and will seek permission to release mid-trial data. A second clinic in Tbilisi, Georgia, has just started recruiting patients, but ValiRx now wants to utilise the City’s Research Institute of Clinical Medicine as a third site. Shares rose 3% to 2.05p.
Bezant Resources PLC’s (LON:BZT) alluvial platinum mine in Colombia can produce at well below the current market price, a new scoping study has indicated. Estimated 5-year average production costs were approximately US$700 per ounce for both platinum and gold produced.
Northern Petroleum Plc (LON:NOP) provided a small taster of the opportunities on offer in Canada with a modest acquisition at very little cost. It is taking control of six shut-in production wells near its Rainbow assets in Alberta.
Construction materials group Breedon Group PLC (LON:BREE) saw its trading performance transformed in 2016 by the acquisition of Hope Construction Materials. Profit before tax shot up 50% on the back of a 43% increase in revenue.
BATM Advanced Communications Limited (LON:BVC), gave an upbeat assessment of prospects as alongside its annual results.
Sound Energy PLC (LON:SOU) has begun drilling the hotly-anticipated Badile well in Italy. To date the company has scored significant success at Tendrara, in Morocco.
Fast-growing remote meetings enabler LoopUp Group PLC (LON:LOOP) saw underlying earnings (EBITDA) double last year, prompting a 9.4% rise in the share price.