BP PLC (LON:BP.) ticked 0.1% higher at 469.7p after its shareholders approved the reduced £9mln 2016 pay package for chief executive Bob Dudley after it was cut by the oil major in response to investor pressure.
With the vast majority of votes counted, 97.09% of BP shareholders at today’s annual general meeting voted to adopt the firm’s 2016 pay levels, according to Reuters, the highest in at least 10 years.
BP shareholders also approved a new remuneration policy that will lower performance incentives by a majority of 97.32%.
Last year, around 60% of shareholders opposed BP's pay policy after the oil major reported a record loss amid a sharp slump in oil prices.
Dudley's 2016 pay was some 40% lower than the previous year and was a result of "downward discretion" to the four components of his total pay.
BP's new pay policy changes, which will apply for the coming three years, include lowering Dudley's maximum long-term payout to five times salary, from seven times, and cutting bonus payments by a quarter.
2.45pm: Cash shell Spinnaker Opportunities holds steady at 5p float price
Cash shell Spinnaker Opportunities Plc (LON:SOP) floated on the full list of the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday following a £1.2mln fundraising, with its shares holding steady at the 5p a share offer price in mid-afternoon trading.
The LSE listing saw 24mln shares issued at the offer price together with warrants exercisable at 7.5p.
Spinnaker, which has an experienced board including ex-Shell, BP and BG Group executives, is seeking to target a single business opportunity worth £5mln-30mln in the energy and industrial sectors.
The group admitted it does not have any specific acquisition under consideration at the current time, but rather a has "an inventory of opportunities".
But a trio of small cap oilers, Ophir Energy Plc (LON:OPHR), Soco International PLC (LON:SIA), and Premier Oil PLC (LON:PMO) were all lower mid-afternoon as Jefferies International downgrading ratings for all three in a note in which the US broker lowered its Brent Crude Oil price forecasts.
The broker cut its Brent projection by 11% for 2018 to US$63.8 a barrel and for 2019 by 21% to US$67 per barrel.
Jefferies downgraded its rating for Ophir to 'underperform' from ‘hold', and cut both Soco and Premier to ‘hold’ from 'buy'.
Ophir shares shed 3% at 85.5p, Soco lost 1.6% at 135.75p, and Premier was down 0.8% at 60.0p.
Blue chip miner Rio Tinto PLC (LON:RIO) was also lower, off 0.6% to 3,081p, as a recent commodity price rally ran out steam, even though Canadian broker RBC Capital Markets upgraded its rating for the stock to 'top pick' from 'outperform'.
But precious metals miner Fresnillo PLC (LON:FRES) was the top FTSE 100 gainer, adding 2.6% at 1,604p as gold prices rallied on safe-haven demand amid worries about US president Donald Trump’s administration
12.45pm: Wincanton up as dividend hike sweetens profit, revenue fall
Logistics group Wincanton PLC (LON:WIN) drove higher in early afternoon trading, adding over 6% to 292p after it hiked its dividend despite reporting a fall in full-year profit and revenue.
For its year ended March 31, Wincanton reported a pretax profit of £45.4mln, down from £65.8mln a year earlier although 2016 included an exceptional gain of £32.5mln.
But, despite its revenue falling by 2.6% to £1.12bn, the group’s underlying operating profit rose to £52.1mln, up from £50.9mln last year.
Wincanton also said it will pay a final dividend of 6.1p per share, bringing its total payout for the year to 9.1p, compared to 5.5p for the prior year.
Meanwhile, industrial threads manufacturer Coats Group PLC (LON:COAT) saw its shares jump 8.5% higher to 67.25p after it said it expects to deliver 2017 results ahead of expectations, following a strong start to the year.
Coats said its total sales for the four months ended April 30 increased by 5% year-on-year, helped by a stronger-than-anticipated performance from its industrials division which sales growth of 7%.
The group’s Craft division, however, saw sales decline by 5% as a result of disruption caused to the business by a tornado hitting its main distribution centre in Albany, Georgia in January.
And exploration data provider Getech Group PLC (LON:GTC) took on nearly 6% at 36p after it revealed it has sold a suite of geology, gravity and magnetic data and products for £900,000 to an undisclosed global resource company.
11.45am: Mitchells & Butlers' shares carved back by profits fall
All Bar One and Toby Carvery owner Mitchells & Butlers PLC (LON:MAB) was the biggest FTSE 250 faller in late morning trading, dropping over 6% lower to 257.6p after its first half profits were dented by an increase in the minimum wage and a weaker post-Brexit pound.
The pub and restaurant owner reported pre-tax profit in the 28 weeks ended 8 April of £75mln, down from £83mln the same period a year earlier.
READ: Mitchells & Butlers’ first half profits drop on rising inflation
The slump in the pound since the UK voted to leave the EU last June has pushed up import costs for the company and prompted many consumers to reign in their spending, while the introduction of the national living wage has also hiked wage inflation.
Elsewhere, Auto Trader Group PLC (LON:AUTO) was also a FTSE 250 faller, shedding 4% at 401.1p as Berenberg started coverage on the digital automotive marketplace with a ‘sell’ rating.
In a note to clients, the German bank’s analysts said: "While the company has a clear market-leading position and is likely to report solid top-line growth over the coming years, we think there are good reasons to believe that this growth may be slower and less profitable than consensus expects.”
The biggest market faller, however, was AIM-listed Proxama PLC (LON:PROX) which tumbled 18.5% lower to 0.28p after the mobile commerce company said it has decided not to sell its Digital Payments division.
Proxama said that despite indications of interest, following a strategic review it has concluded it remains the best owner for the business, which it plans to restructure to reduce costs.
10.30am: Broker comment blights Hikma Pharma but buoys Kingfisher
Generic drug maker Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC (LON:HIK) was a big FTSE 100 faller in mid-morning trading, shedding 2.5% at 1,722p, impacted by a double-downgrade by US investment bank Jefferies International.
Jefferies moved its recommendation for Hikma to ‘underperform’ from ‘buy’, chopped its price target by a third and lopped a quarter from his 2017/18 earnings forecast.
The bank said the catalyst for the change is the likely delay to the introduction of a low-cost, copycat version of GlaxoSmithKline’s (LON:GSK) inhaled asthma drug, Advair, being developed by the generics company.
But on the upside, positive broker comment helped blue chip DIY retailer Kingfisher PLC (LON:KGF) gain 1.7% at 364.3p buoyed by an upgrade in rating from HSBC.
The bank has raised its stance for the B&Q chain owner to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ with an increased price target of 440p, up from 380p previously.
They said Kingfisher is now “a preferred play amongst UK large cap non-food retailers.”
However HSBC was less positive on other non-food retailers in a separate sector review published on Wednesday, downgrading a trio of players – Halfords PLC (LON:HFDS), Dunelm Group PLC (LON:DNLM), and N Brown Group PLC (LON:BWNG) - all to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’.
All three featured among the biggest FTSE 250 fallers, with homewares stores firm Dunelm down 4.2% to 590p, bikes to car parts chain Halfords losing 2% at 352.9p, and plus-sized clothing retailer N Brown off 2% as well at 258.75p.
9.30am: ImmuPharma up with first results from phase III trial of lupus drug due early next year
ImmuPharma PLC (LON:IMM) was a strong early riser, up over 10% to 61p after the AIM-listed firm said it is on schedule to publish the first results from its phase III trial of lupus drug Lupuzor early next year with all 200 patients now having had at least three months’ worth of treatment.
The trial runs for twelve months and 28 patients have now received the full dosage, Immupharma said, while 166 are passed six months.
Tim McCarthy, Immupharma’s chairman, said: “We are now in important new territory with over 80% of patients having had exposure to Lupuzor for over six months, compared to our Phase IIb three month study, whilst still maintaining an excellent safety profile.”
READ: ImmuPharma says Lupuzor trial in 'new territory' and on schedule
Landore Resources Limited (LON:LND) was another good AIM gainer, adding 8.2% at 3.3p after it revealed it has found ‘widespread mineralisation’ through its latest drilling campaign at BAM East at its Junior Lake deposit in Ontario.
Exploration on the inferred section contained multiple instances of visible gold in the drill-core, the explorer said.
And another junior miner, W Resources PLC (LON:WRES) rose 4.7% higher to 0.33p after it said it is closing in on US$24mln in debt finance to fund the next stage of construction at its La Parrilla tungsten mine in Spain.
Commissioning is expected by the second quarter of 2018, with the expansion to take production up to 2mln tonnes per annum (tpa) for 2,500 tpa of tungsten concentrate and 500 tpa of tin concentrate.
Proactive news headlines:
Redx Pharma Plc (LON:REDX) had £5.1mln in cash at the end of March, it revealed in its interim results, leaving it "optimally positioned" to capitalise on its discovery engine.
Respiratory drug discovery and development company Synairgen plc (LON:SNG) remains on track to advance a Pharmaxis compound into Phase I trials this year, while it is looking into continuing development of its inhaled interferon beta candidate, AZD9412, after drugs giant Astra returned the rights to it last month.
The US web hosting firm that signed up for Corero Network Security PLC’s (LON:CNS) Smartwall Threat Defense System last year has placed a new order, in the process becoming the second million dollars-plus a year customer for Corero's flagship product.
Shares in online merchandising specialist ATTRAQT Group plc (LON:ATQT) rose as it held out the prospect of bumper cost savings after its takeover of Fredhopper. The company said the acquisition, which was completed in March, “has been transformational both in terms of the scale and scope of the enlarged group”.
88 Energy Plc (LON:88E) has confirmed that the drilling phase of the pivotal Icewine-2 programme is now complete, with the well reaching target depth of 11,450 feet. The vertical well was drilled on schedule and without incident, the Alaska focussed explorer told investors.
Landore Resources Limited (LON:LND) has found ‘widespread mineralisation’ through its latest drilling campaign at BAM East at its Junior Lake deposit in Ontario. Exploration on the inferred section contained multiple instances of visible gold in the drill-core, the explorer said.
Acquisitive Keywords Studios PLC (LON:KWS) has today unveiled another new deal, picking up GameSim Inc which becomes the group’s first unit in the outsourced engineering business. The company has thus far been specialising in outsourced video game localisation, art and sound, as well as providing live support services for gamers.
Ariana Resources plc (LON:AAU) has received more indications that the gold resource at Kiziltepe is larger than thought with assay results from a site to the west of the mine. Kiziltepe started production in March and the new site, Kiziltepe West, is 4km away by road.