In the second tier, satellite firm Inmarsat Plc (LON:ISAT) was one of this afternoon’s big movers as it rocketed on rumours of a possible takeover bid.
The chatter in the City was that Japanese tech investor and SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son could be mulling a possible bid for Inmarsat after his £11bn deal to acquire Intelsat fell through today.
Reports suggest that SoftBank – which bought ARM last year for £24bn – has already been in talks with other satellite companies about merging with its OneWeb business.
Investors were betting that Inmarsat could be one of those companies the eccentric Son might now turn to, with shares jumping 6% to 846p.
Elsewhere, Kibo Mining PLC (LON:KIBO) was boosted after it received written reconfirmation from Tanzania’s Ministry of Mines that it wants the Mbeya coal to power station project to advance as fast as possible.
Tanzania’s mines ministry has been in turmoil recently over a dispute about how much gold in concentrate is being exported from the country.
Louis Coetzee, Kibo’s chief executive, said he was very pleased to have the reconfirmation in light of the changes at the Ministry and also at state power company TANESCO.
“The process of negotiating and agreeing a final power purchase agreement should now progress at a considerably faster pace than over preceding months, as this remains the key to completing development of the MCPP,” he said.
Shares gained almost 5% on the news to trade at 5.3p.
1.45pm...HaiKe Chemical goes radioactive as profits soar
HaiKe Chemical Group Limited (LON:HAIK) shares have gone radioactive today after the China-based chemicals firm saw profits jump in 2016.
For the year to 31 December 2016, profits soared to £1.9mln from just £0.4mln in the prior year on increased revenues of £81mln (2015: £76.3mln).
HaiKe said cost controls and a shift in focus towards higher margin specialty chemical products were behind the improved performance.
The positive momentum has continued into 2017, the company said, with revenues and net profits both rising year-on-year.
At the other end of the market, Sovereign Mines of Africa PLC (LON:SML) was the biggest faller in London after it lost 41% of its value to trade at 0.22p.
The gold explorer farmed out its Guinean gold assets back in January, meaning it is an AIM Rule 15 cash shell and must complete a reverse takeover by 21 July otherwise its shares will be suspended.
If that suspension isn’t lifted within the following six months, then its shares will be cancelled from trading altogether.
Sovereign said today it is looking at making an acquisition in the “Indian consumer goods sector” but said there was no guarantee that a deal will complete.
To make things even more difficult, chief executive Rupert Street has stepped down from his position, with the company now looking for a new CEO based in India.
9.45am...InnovaDerma shines as revenues hit record high in May
InnovaDerma PLC (LON:IDP) is enjoying a day in the sun so far this morning after telling investors that it recorded its highest ever monthly revenues in May.
The Skinny Tan maker said the business had continued its “positive momentum” as trading remains “very strong”.
On top of that, InnovaDerma has also inked a distribution deal with health and beauty retailer Boots which will take its Skinny Tan self-tanning lotion into the Irish market for the first time.
The agreement will see the product hit the shelves of at least 35 Boots stores across the Republic of Ireland.
“The opportunities that exist within the business combined with our ability to expand into new markets are very exciting and the Board looks to the future with increasing confidence,” said executive chairman Haris Chaudhry.
Elsewhere, transport operator FirstGroup PLC (LON:FGP) saw its shares drop back sharply this morning as a cautious trading outlook countered strong growth in full-year profits and revenue driven by its US school bus business, with the lack of a dividend reinstatement also disappointing investors.
For the year to end March, FirstGroup – which was recently re-awarded the South Western rail franchise – reported adjusted pre-tax profit of £207mln, up 23% from the £168.3mln seen a year earlier, as revenue rose by 8.3% to £5.653mln.
But the FTSE 250-listed firm said it faces a "mixed trading environment" with opportunities for steady progress in the North American divisions countered by continued economic uncertainty in the UK.
Shares lost 6% in early deals to trade at 141p.
Favourable exchange rates coupled with strong second half trading helped Haynes Publishing Group PLC (LON:HYNS) to a solid year in the 12 months just gone.
The instruction manuals publisher expects profit before tax for the year to 31 May to be 40% ahead of the prior 12 months, while revenues should come in 15% higher.
Much of that growth has come from currency tailwinds, with revenues from Haynes’ overseas operations getting a boost when translated back into sterling.
“Whilst we have benefited from positive exchange rate movements, all of our staff deserve to be congratulated for contributing to a significant turnaround of the business that has seen good underlying revenue and profit growth during a period of transition,” said chairman Eddie Bell.
Shares jumped 13% to 184p on the back of the update.
Proactive news headilines…
Lekoil Limited (LON:LEK) has received its first payment for oil lifted from the Otakikpo Marginal Field on the OML 11 licence area in Nigeria. The company received a small premium to the price of Brent Crude over the period before marketing and related costs due to the high quality of the Otakikpo crude blend.
Ian Ritchie, chairman of cloud-computing company Iomart PLC, is the new non-executive chairman of investment company Tern PLC (LON:TERN). Ritchie, who is also chairman of Computer Application Services Ltd and Krotos Ltd, will take on his new role at Tern with effect from today.
ImmuPharma PLC (LON:IMM) said its lead drug development programme remained on track to deliver top line results in the first quarter of next year. Lupuzor, for the autoimmune disease lupus, is undergoing phase III clinical trials.
Bacanora Minerals Ltd (LON:BCN) has reaffirmed the feasibility study for the Sonora lithium project in Mexico should be completed by late Summer. Lithium carbonate prices have doubled to close to US$12,000/t from an average of around US$6,000/t in 2015 and Bacanora said it will issue long term assumptions ahead of publishing the study.
Chaarat Gold Holdings Ltd (LON:CGH) is confident of first production from its gold mine in the Kygyrz Republic in the first half of 2019. Dekel Golan, chief executive, said that the Bankable Feasibility Study for the first stageTulkubash open pit and heap leach is substantially complete subject to the results of this summer's drilling while the local permitting process was also well advanced with most documents submitted.
Silence Therapeutics PLC (LON:SLN) has appointed Torsten Hoffman, formerly chief scientific officer of biotech Proteros Biostructures, as its chief operating officer. Hoffmann will report directly to chief executive officer Ali Mortazavi.
Shares in Rose Petroleum PLC (LON:ROSE) nudged higher after it trousered US$100,000 for an extension of an option agreement over its Mexican milling operations. The natural resources business said Magellan Gold Corporation had paid it the money to secure another 60 days to mull over whether to buy Rose’s mineral processing mill operation in San Dieguito de Arriba (SDA), in the state of Nayarit, Mexico.
Nigeria-focused Eland Oil & Gas PLC (LON:ELA) said it is now producing from two wells and at a gross rate of 11,500 barrels of oil a day following the restart of Opuama-1. The company in the same announcement said the process of exporting crude via shipping has concluded having transported 520,000 barrels by sea.
Aim-listed gold producer Goldplat PLC (LON:GDP) has made a couple of appointments to its board.
Sango Ntsaluba, chairman of Goldplat Recovery (Pty) Ltd and executive chairman & co-founder of investment group NMT Capital, will join as a non-executive director. Werner Klingenberg, previously Goldplat’s group financial manager, will take over from Ian Visagie as finance director.
Kibo Mining PLC (LON:KIBO) has received written reconfirmation from Tanzania’s Ministry of Mines that it wants the Mbeya coal to power station project to advance as fast as possible. Tanzania’s mines ministry has been in turmoil recently over a dispute about how much gold in concentrate is being exported from the country.
SDX Energy Inc. (LON:SDX, CVE:SDX) said it had expanded its Morocco footprint with the award of an eight-year permit for the 1,362-square kilometre Gharb Centre exploration area. In return, the company has agreed to shoot 200-square kilometres of 3D seismic and drill two exploration wells within four years.