Filtronic PLC (LON:FTC) was a big faller in late afternoon trading, shedding 12.3% to 11.63p after the designer and manufacturer of microwave electronics products for the wireless telecoms infrastructure market noted that 2017 “may be slightly more challenging” previously expected.”
The small cap firm’s comments came as it reported a swing to a full-year pretax profit of £2.2mln, after a loss of £7mln a year earlier, as revenue more than doubled to £35.4mln.
But Reg Gott, Filtronic’s chairman, said: "Following several years of growth in mobile infrastructure investment, we note recent market announcements by Nokia and Ericsson that 2017 may be slightly more challenging than they previously expected.”
Meanwhile, roadside recovery services company AA plc (LON:AA.) saw its shares drop 14% to 209.8p after it announced that it has fired its executive chairman, Bob Mackenzie with immediate effect for “gross misconduct”.
Former Uber Europe boss and Expedia founder Simon Breakwell, a non-executive director, has been appointed as the AA’s acting chief executive. Fellow non-executive director John Leach has been appointed as chairman.
The news came alongside a first half trading statement, which revealed that AA’s business customers continued to "decline marginally" to 9.9mln in 2017, down from 10.1mln a year earlier, and the group said it now expects its “full year performance to be broadly in line with that of the last financial year.”
1.15pm: Trio of mid cap engineers in demand after results led by BBA Aviation
Aside from a post-results surge by blue chip Rolls-Royce PLC (LON:RR.) today, a number of second line engineers got a lift after figures in early afternoon trading
BBA Aviation PLC (LON:BBA) took on 2% at 305.8p as it swung back to a profit after booking fewer exceptional items compared to the year before.
The FTSE 250-listed firm posted a pretax profit of US$84.7mln in the six months to June 30, a turnaround from a loss of US$269.0mln a year earlier, as revenue rose by 12% to US$1.14bn.
The company said it was pleased with performance in the first half and its confidence in good growth in the full year "remains unchanged".
Elsewhere, mid cap engineer Meggitt plc (LON:MGGT) gained 0.8% to 507p as it reported good growth in half-year profit said it is "well-positioned" for the full year.
The firm saw its first half pretax profit jump to £185.5mln, up from £39.0mln a year earlier as it benefited from a£52.1mln gain on the disposal of three non-core assets and a £35.5mln non-cash gain on the mark-to-market of financial instruments.
And Senior PLC was the strongest performer, jumping 7% higher to 266p following its well-received interim results yesterday helped by some positive broker comment, with Barclays Capital hiking its target price to 265p after the numbers beat its expectations.
11.30am: SDL sees share drop on first-half profit fall, margin warning
Content management and language translation software provider SDL Plc (LON:SDL) was a big small cap faller in late morning trading, dropping by over 21% to 503p after first-half results showed a fall in profits excluding exceptionals and it warned its margin will be lower in the second half of the year.
SDL said first-half sales growth was ahead of the operational efficiencies, and that it doesn't expect the impact of the higher costs to be recoverable in the second half.
Meanwhile, Escher Group Holdings PLC (LON:ESCH) was also a loser, shedding over 9% to 212.5p fell after the company said it expects half year revenue to be down 24% on the year before, although it maintained its expectations for the full-year.
Escher, which provides software for the postal industry, said revenue for the six months to June 30 is expected to be US$9.4mln, down from US$12.3mln a year before.
But cake decoration and food ingredients company Real Good Food PLC was the market’s biggest faller, dropping almost 39% to 21.38p after it warned that its full-year profit will miss expectations, while earnings in the current year are also expected to come in much lower than first forecast.
The firm said profit for the year to the end of March 2017 will not meet previously forecast figures because an audit process revealed two substantial anticipated claims regarding its sugar purchase arrangements have not yet materialised.
9.45am: Wealth manager tops market gainers after bullish full-year results
Tavistock Investments PLC (LON:TAVI) was the London market’s top gainer in early trading, soaring 30% higher to 4.2p as the wealth manager is at an “inflection point”, according to its chairman Oliver Cooke, with the company now generating cash alongside operating profits.
Full-year results today showed Tavistock’s turnover for the year ended March 31 was up 22% at £36.4mln giving EBITDA of £537,000, up 421%. Cash generation was £497,000 in the second half.
The company saw its net assets more than double to £18.2mln in the period, while funds under management were ahead 332% at £769mln.
Also on the up was TechFinancials Inc (LON:TECH) shares jumped 19% higher to 6.25p after the firm said it is to receive a dividend of US$1.02mln from its subsidiary DragonFinancials.
The trading software developer owns 51% of the Asia Pacific-based DragonFinancials, which declared a total interim dividend of US$2mln.
And Amur Minerals Corporation (LON:AMC), added 5.7% at 6.44p after it said ongoing resource expansion drilling at the Kun-Manie nickel sulphide project owned by the firm now totals over 13,000 metres, with 6,006 metres completed at the Ikenskoe/Sobolevsky deposit and a further 7,136 meters completed at Kubuk.
Approximately 65% of the planned 2017 drilling programme has been completed. Most significantly, the easternmost hole has hit the largest and continuous thickness of mineralisation ever drilled at Kun-Manie, of 76.4 metres averaging 0.93% nickel and 0.20% copper.
Other proactive news headlines:
Real Good Food (LON:RGD) has warned profits will miss forecasts made only four weeks ago when it raised £15mln to fund an expansion drive. The cake decoration and bakery products group said results for the year to March 2017 had been affected by two substantial sugar purchase claims discovered by the auditors.
Premier African Minerals Limited (LON:PREM) has received an independent report confirming the prospectivity and size potential of the Zulu Lithium and Tantalum Project in Zimbabwe. Hains Engineering, an independent geological consulting group with significant experience in industrial minerals and lithium, conducted the review.
BT Sport is joining BBC Three in jumping on the eSports bandwagon by broadcasting the Elite Series being run by Gfinity Plc (LON:GFIN). BP in April 2017.
The new board of blur Group PLC (LON:BLUR) is performing a strategic review and will use recently raised funds to implement a new growth plan. The company released full-year results the day after trading resumed in the shares, showing losses narrowed dramatically in 2016.
Sound Energy PLC (LON:SOU) has revealed progress towards the commercialisation of its gas discoveries in eastern Morocco, where proposed pipeline route has been cleared by the local authority. In a statement, the company told investors that the Wilaya of the L'Oriental Region has approved the proposed pipeline route that will be needed to transport gas from Sound’s projects in the region into the existing Gazoduc Maghreb Europe (GME) pipeline
Rose Petroleum PLC (LON:ROSE) has given Magellan Gold Corporation just over two weeks to complete the proposed acquisition of its San Dieguito de Arriba gold mill operation in Mexico. The non-core asset sale was announced in March, with Magellan paying a US$100,000 deposit, but the buyer was supposed to have deposited a further US$900,000 of cash into escrow and previously, in June, Rose granted a 60-day extension to the option period.
Empyrean Energy PLC (LON:EME) told investors that drilling is expected to start in California later today. The programme, for the Dempsey 1-15 well in the Sacramento basin, is expected to have between 30 to 40 days of drilling.
Galantas Gold Corporation (LON:GAL) has hit grades of up to 11 grams per tonne gold in a stringer vein at its Omagh gold mine in Northern Ireland during tunnelling work. Development at Omagh continues, as the company works its way down towards the main Kearney veins.
Thor Mining PLC (LON:THR) chairman Mick Billing spoke of a “a busy and productive period for the company” as he updated on quarterly activities. Of particular interest was the Pilot Mountain tungsten project. “The continued positive results at Pilot Mountain demonstrate the significant and increasing value of this project and we are very keen to commence the next drilling program in the next 2 to 3 weeks,” said Billing.