Provident Financial Plc (LON:PFG) shares continued their decline, in the wake of the relegation from the FTSE 100, losing around 3% to trade at 865p on Thursday morning.
Along with Royal Mail, the embattled lender didn’t make the cut as the FTSE 100 constituents were reviewed last night.
US investment bank Jefferies downgraded its prior target by some 73% down to 940p and, in a note, said past confidence and targets were “woefully optimistic” - it now rates Provident as ‘hold’ rather than ‘buy’.
David Cheetham, analyst at online trading house XTB, meanwhile, highlighted that the recent ‘pandemonium’ put the share price to two decade lows, but, the price has bounced back somewhat since then – now, after the relegation from the FTSE 100 there’s still a chance of the price dropping again.
“The scale of the sell-off was clearly panic-driven so it is not too much of a surprise that we’ve seen a recovery of sorts, however there is still a good chance the recent rise is nothing more than a dead cat bounce and a move back down to around the 500 level would not come as a shock to many who follow the stock,” he said in a note.
Elsewhere, ETX Capital analyst Neil Wilson said: “investors buying on averages might be helping but the embattled doorstep lender has a slew of troubles, not least the FCA investigation into Vanquis. Meanwhile its core consumer credit division is pretty well worthless unless Chris Gillespie can turn things around there, and fast.”
9:40am: Restaurant Group shares land sunny side up
Frankie and Benny’s owner Restaurant Group Plc (LON:RTN) advanced more than 8% to 337.8p in even though the group’s financial metrics weren’t particularly appetising in themselves - like-for-like sales were down 2.2% and (adjusted) operating profits were off almost 30%.
The Restaurant Group’s repositioning continues and the company told investors it is starting to see early signs of improvement and better volumes.
Relatively new to market Alfa Financial Software Holdings Plc (LON:ALFA) rose almost 6% to 457.5p after releasing results for the first six months of its financial year, with revenue reported at £45mln representing a 57% improvement from the same period of 2016.
SRT Marine Systems PLC (LON:SRT) was boosted by new contract news, signing up a deal with a major international marine electronic company, and its shares gained about 6.5% to 34.4p.
Similarly, a new contract also sent Trakm8 Holdings PLC (LON:TRAK) up 6.6% to 87.45p – it landed a three year master supply agreement to supply devices and data with Intelematics Europe.
Oil services group Petrofac Ltd (LON:PFC) was a notable early loser, down around 3% to 400.36p per share as it released its latest financials.
Proactive news headlines:
Amur Minerals Corporation (LON:AMC) said drilling this summer has confirmed the presence of another massive nickel deposit at its Kun-Manie licence in Far East Russia. A 20,000m drill campaign showed that the Ikenskoe/Sobolevsky and Kubuk targets are in fact a single deposit of more than 4km in length and possibly as much as 5km.
Katoro Gold PLC (LON: KAT) has reported continuing significant progress being made on the Imweru resource development program in Tanzania, which is ahead of schedule and within budget. In a statement, Katoro’s executive chairman Louis Coetzee, also noted that the group has been “one of the first, if not the very first company “ to successfully export geological /metallurgical samples under Tanzania’s new mining legislation.
Atlantis Resources Limited (LON:ARL) said that production from Phase I of its MeyGen project in the Pentland Firth set a new world record for monthly production from a tidal stream power station of over 700 MWh (Megawatts per hour) in August.
Life and pensions consolidator Chesnara Plc’s (LON:CSN) interims revealed the transformational impact of its latest acquisition as it unveiled a leap in profits and cash generation. Powering that momentum was Legal & General Nederland, renamed Sclidon and bought earlier this year for £137.5mln.
Minds + Machines Group Limited’s (LON:MMX) has received a significant boost in China, where its top level domain (TLD) .vip is gaining huge commercial traction. It has received the green light in Beijing to start selling the hugely popular internet signature.
Internet of Things (IoT) specialist Telit Communications Plc (LON:TCM) has received certification for its long term evolution (LTE) wireless communication module for operation on AT&T’s LTE network in the US. The ME910C1-NA module is the first of its LTE Category M1 products to be certified for the US telecommunications company’s LTE nationwide network.
Satellite Solutions Worldwide Group PLC (LON:SAT), which specialises in rural and last-mile super-fast broadband, said it is on target to reach 100,000 customers by the year-end as it revealed the financial boost given by the recent round of acquisitions.
Tlou Energy Limited (LON:TLOU) has confirmed some of the material details of its recently awarded mining licence that will allow it to advance its coal bed methane project in Botswana.
Rose Petroleum PLC (LON:ROSE) told investors that the design for an upcoming seismic survey, in the Paradox basin in Utah, has now been completed and the operations are expected to start within a matter of days.
Base Resources Ltd (LON:BSE) has announced the departure of director Michael Anderson, who has resigned with effect from August 31. It comes as the company works through broader succession planning which is expected to include greater independence and diversity.
Wolf Minerals Limited (LON:WLFE ASX:WLF) has reported a double boost from improvements in both its operating performance and the price of tungsten. The Plymouth-based miner has received a further £5mln in bridging finance from Resource Capital, making £45mln in total it has received from its major shareholder, but added plans to turn round its performance are starting to bear fruit.
Tharisa PLC (LON:THS) has taken over the operation and sales and marketing functions of Lonmin’s (LON:LMI) K3 UG2 chrome plant at the Marikana mine in South Africa. Subsidiary Arxo Metals will run the plant and aims to boost metal recoveries to levels seen at Tharisa’s own operations, where 68% chrome was recovered in the half year to March.
Premier African Minerals Limited (LON:PREM) has confirmed it will exit from timber in Mozambique as it focuses on its tungsten and lithium in Zimbabwe and potash in Ethiopia.
Redx Pharma Plc (LON:REDX) has announced it will present a poster on their planned first-in-human clinical trial for its RXC004 colorectal cancer treatment at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Annual Meeting in Madrid on September 9. The positive news comes with Redx’s shares remaining suspended on AIM as it continues to be administration, although an exit is expected in the future after the firm struck a deal at the end of July to sell its Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor technology and drug development programme for US$40mln.
Kin Group Plc (LON:KIN) today confirmed the appointment of administrators to Kin Wellness, turning the suspended stock into a ‘cash shell’ on AIM as discussions continue with potential investors to raise new equity funds for the group via a placing