Having published its results earlier this week, trading resumed in Plaza Centers N.V. (LON:PLAZ) today and the shares immediately took a dive.
The Netherlands-based developer of shopping and entertainment centres lost just over a quarter of its market value after it revealed total revenues more than halved in 2016 from the year before.
Also taking a fall today was financial services provider 1PM PLC (LON:OPM) after it announced a share issue to finance the acquisition of Tracx Finance and give it the ammo for another potential acquisition next month.
The shares fell 9.4% to 49.23p as the company said it would issue shares at 45p a pop.
12.45: Stampede for Brave Bison shares on merger hopes
Merger news seems to be in vogue today, with Brave Bison Group PLC (LON:BBSN) the latest to benefit from some bid talk.
READ Brave Bison confirms merger talks with Zinc Media
News had already leaked to the press that Brave Bison and Zinc Media were in talks, and confirmation from Brave Bison this morning sent the shares 23% higher, while Zinc Media rose 12%, which means this merger – if it takes place – might be the semi-mythical win/win scenario.
It is hard to get excited over the setting up of a £500,000 unsecured convertible note but Challenger Acquisitions Limited’s (LON:CHAL) seem to have managed it.
The shares were up 14%, possibly because chief executive Mark Gustafson was first in the queue to buy some.
"This investment demonstrates my commitment to the future of the company,” said Mark Gustafson, chief executive of the giant observation wheel developer.
The wheel of fortune was less kind to Proxama PLC (LON:PROX), which has received a battering for the second day in succession.
Yesterday the shares of the proximity marketing specialist tanked as it revealed it would not, after all, be offloading the Digital Payments Division after all.
Today, it said it would, however, be offloading DPD boss Mike Woods with immediate effect as part of a restructure of the division.
The shares shed 11.5% at 0.23p, having started the week at 0.35p.
11.15pm: Google association works its magic on Lightwave RF
Among the small caps, Lightwave RF PLC (LON:LWRF) soared over 35% higher in late morning trade to 21p as the smart home solutions announced the launch of its full product range on the Google Assistant voice control for the new Google Home device.
Andrew Pearson, Lightwave’s CEO said: "It is a testament to the quality of our technology that LightwaveRF is amongst the launch group of smart home partners for Google Home."
IndigoVision Group plc (LON:IND) was another strong AIM riser, adding 13.6% to 205p following a bullish AGM statement.
The video security systems provider said that in the four months to April 2017, its software licence and camera volumes have again shown strong year on year growth, of 28% and 10% respectively.
The group added: “May started well. In the first 19 weeks of 2017, overall revenues were ahead of the corresponding period last year. The immediate outlook is more positive than it has been for some time, and the medium term prospects are promising.”
And broadband and telecoms provider TalkTalk PLC (LON:TALK) was a strong FTSE 250 gainer in late morning trade, up 2.7% to 179.3p after Canadian broker RBC Capital upgraded its rating for the group to ‘outperform’ from ‘sector perform’.
In a note to clients, the broker’s analysts said it believe the combination of a recent share price fall by TalkTalk following a glum trading update and the outlook for subscriber growth “leaves a clear opportunity for investors willing to take a 12-18m view.”
They added: “Backing out B2B valuation of £1.1bn puts the consumer business on a market implied EV of just c.£300/sub - very attractive in our view for a mobile operator wanting instant scale in broadband.”
10.25am: Safestyle UK shares drop on first-half profit warning
Safestyle UK PLC (LON:SFE) saw its shares shed almost 9% to 296p in mid-morning trading after the UK-focused retailer and manufacturer of PVCu replacement windows and doors issued a first-half profit warning.
In a statement ahead of today’s annual general meeting, the AIM-listed group said: "2017 started positively with robust order intake in the first quarter, however recent trading has been weaker than expected reflecting the latest FENSA statistics which have shown a significant contraction in the overall market in the first quarter of 2017.”
The group said it expects to grow revenues in the first half, but anticipates that profits in the period will be lower than the comparative period last year, although it expects an improved performance in the second half.
A cautious AGM statement also impacted software tools and cloud services provider Stilo International Plc, which saw its shares shed 8.7% to 5.25p.
At the meeting Stilo’s chairman David Ashman will say: "Following the launch of AuthorBridge v2.0 in February 2017, we have been receiving very encouraging feedback from trial users.
“However, there are still some important aspects of development that need to be undertaken over the coming months and this continues to be a high priority activity for the Company.
“As a consequence, AuthorBridge is not expected to contribute significantly to sales revenues in 2017.”
And North Midland Construction PLC lost 6.6% at 282.5p as its AGM statement revealed that its construction business has “experienced a slow start to the year, due to delays in secured projects getting underway.”
9.20am: Berendsen shares jump after £2bn bid from French firm Elis
Shareholders in Berendsen PLC (LON:BRSN) were cleaning up in early morning trading, with the laundry and workwear firm seeing its stock rise over 23% to 1,069p after French group Elis made a £2.05n bid for its UK-based rival.
Elis’s offer, which is its third attempt to acquire Berendsen following the rejection of earlier proposals, comprises 440p in cash and 0.426 new Elis shares for each FTSE 250-listed share, valuing each at 1,173p, a 35% premium to Wednesday's closing price.
The French group said in making the offer it was approaching Berendsen's shareholders directly, after Berendsen's board rejected earlier proposals made privately in April and earlier this week.
In a statement, Berendsen said “believes Elis is making an opportunistic attempt to acquire Berendsen whilst it is implementing its capital investment programme, without reflecting the value upside inherent in this strategy.”
It added that the board had “unanimously concluded that the Revised Proposal very significantly undervalues Berendsen and its prospects. Berendsen does not see the basis for any further discussions with Elis.”
Among other early gainers, Stratex International plc(LON:STI) gained 6.5% at 1,63p after its new management signalled a change of focus with a reverse takeover of Aussie-listed but Brazil-focused gold miner Crusader Resources Ltd (ASX:CAS).
READ: Stratex International to merge with Aussie peer Crusader Resources
Crusader has two advanced gold projects in Brazil, Borborema and Juruena, with combined JORC-compliant resources of 2.7Moz Au, as well as the Posse iron ore mine.
The share based-deal values Crusader at £31.1mln (A$54.2mln) and will see its shareholders end up with an 81% stake in the enlarged company.
And AIM-listed engineer Hayward Tyler Group PLC (LON:HAYT) gained 8.7% at 50p after it revealed two new contract wins with ‘key customers’ worth £2.1mln.
READ: Hayward Tyler Group lands new contracts worth £2.1mln
The company also noted progress in terms of its research and development activities. It said that its strategic alliance with FSubsea has moved to full-scale prototype development for what is aiming to be the world's most autonomous boosting system.