Onshore oil driller UK Oil & Gas Investments PLC (LON:UKOG) shares were up 14% on Tuesday afternoon as investors continue to find excitement in the ongoing programmes in the Kimmeridge oil play in southern England.
It comes as small-cap deal-maker (and Kimmeridge proponent) David Lenigas posted a photo on Twitter which appeared to show progress at the UKOG’s Broadford Bridge project.
Looks like the drill rig is now down at Broadford Bridge. No rig in right hand picture. Courtesy of Swampies. pic.twitter.com/CBfZbOXzGV
— David Lenigas (@DavidLenigas) September 5, 2017
At 15:30. UKOG shares were changing hands at 7.39p, while Angus Energy Plc (LON:ANGS), another explorer testing the Kimmeridge, gained around 11.25% to 26.70p.
Elsewhere, EG Solutions plc (LON:EGS) shares were down 13% to 110p after it was announced that the company had recommended a takeover offer from Verint WS Holdings pitched at 112.5p per share.
Aveva Group is London’s stand-out riser as Schneider deals sends shares higher
British engineering software company Aveva Group (LON:AVV) was up 26% heading towards the close, after it confirmed it is to merge with Schneider Electric’s software business, in a deal worth more than £3bn.
Schneider will pay Aveva £500mln in cash for the deal, which is structured as a reverse takeover. It will take a 60% stake in the enlarged Aveva Group, which will remain listed in London. Aveva shareholders will own the rest of the combined group.
Aveva shareholders will receive a total of 1,014p per ordinary share at or around completion of the deal, including 858p from Schneider and 156p in surplus cash from Aveva.
AJ Bell investment director, Russ Mould, said: "The reverse takeover will be transformational to AVEVA and create a leader in industrial software, which will be able to better compete on a global scale."
Redrow shares rise early as results dispel Brexit fear
UK housebuilder Redrow plc (LON:RDW) was among the morning's early tock market winners, up 3.3% in opening trades, changing hands at 655.86p after hiking its dividend by 70% and telling investors that it was confident of another strong performance in the next financial year despite the challenges facing the housing market.
Russ Mould, AJ Bell investment director, in a note, said: “Analysts and economists continue to fret about Brexit but strong full-year results from builder Redrow make it clear that people still need homes to live in, whatever the political situation.”
Halfords Group plc (LON:HFD), meanwhile, rose 1.67% on a trading update for the 20 week period to August 18, showing a 4.8% rise in revenue (2.7% like-for-like) and guiding that full year group profit will be in line with expectations.
It was boosted by a “staycation summer”, with more Britons opting to holiday at home due to the weaker pound.
Liberum Capital upgraded the retailer to ‘hold’ from ‘sell’ after the update, with analyst Adam Tomlinson, in a note, said: “although we do not expect a material change to consensus forecasts, today's update should be well received by the market.”
“Since we turned negative in late 2015, the shares have fallen -20% and currently trade on a CY17 PER of 10.4x for a three year forecast EPS CAGR of +1.4%.”
British engineering software company Aveva Group Plc (LON:AVV) has confirmed it is to merge with Schneider Electric’s software business, in a deal worth more than £3bn – sending its shares 27% higher to 2,440p.
Games Workshop Group Plc (LON:GAW) shares jumped around 10% as it declared a dividend of 35p on the back of strong trading in the first quarter.
Proactive news headlines:
EG Solutions plc (LON:EGS) is set to be taken over by US data analytics giant Verint Systems Inc (NASDAQ: VRNT) after the back-office workforce optimisation specialist’s board accepted a £26.3mln offer. That works out at 112.5p a share; a 53% premium to the average price of 73.5p over the past six months but 11% below yesterday’s close of 126.5p.
Life sciences group OptiBiotix Health plc (LON:OPTI) has signed a manufacturing agreement with India-listed food ingredients giant Tata Chemicals. It is an expansion of a deal the two inked last December and gives Tata, part of the Tata Group, the exclusive rights to produce a sugar from OptiBiotix’s LP-LDL probiotic strain.
Richland Resources Ltd (LON:RLD) told investors that it has raised £450,000 of new capital by issuing 64.28mln of new shares, priced at 0.7p each. Chairman Edward Nealon, in a stock market statement, highlighted that the share subscription was oversubscribed.
Galileo Resources PLC (LON:GLR) told investors that its joint venture partner has agreed to complete the acquisition of Star Zinc in a deal worth US$1mln. Enviro Processing Zambia Limited, a subsidiary of Galileo’s partner BMR Group, agreed to pay Bushbuck Resources a total of US$1mln in cash to acquire Star Zinc.
C4X Holdings PLC (LON:C4XD) has told investors it is continuing to make progress towards its aim of becoming “the world’s most productive drug discovery and development company”. In a brief business update this morning, the AIM-quoted firm said it has advanced its key drug discovery programmes in addiction and inflammation.
Gold miner Shanta Gold Limited (LON:SHG) has launched a US$5mln cost cutting programme to offset increases in royalties and tax in Tanzania. The government in the African country has passed new mining laws and a finance act recently that has increased royalty payments on gold exports to 6% from 4% and imposed a 1% clearing tax.
Ariana Resources plc (LON:AAU) has completed an initial exploration programme across the Hot Gold Corridor within its wholly-owned Salinbas gold project in Turkey. The Hot Gold Corridor is named after the 4 mln ounce Hot Maden deposit located approximately four kilometres south of the project licences.
IXICO Plc (LON:IXI) announced today that it has signed an extension and expansion to its largest existing contract for a Phase II/III clinical trial contract in Alzheimer's Disease. In a statement, the AIM-listed neuroscience digital technology firm said that consequently the total value of the contract - which was awarded in August 2015 - has increased from US$6.8mln to US$7.7mln, of which US$1.0mln has been recognised to date.
Ormonde Mining (LON:ORM) is pressing ahead with development at the Barruecopardo tungsten project, with major items of equipment now in the manufacturing stage and more on order. Work on the ground has already begun.
Strategic Minerals Plc (LON:SML) has set a new record for iron ore sales from its New Mexico tailings business. Its subsidiary, SMG, sold US$999,000 (13,897 tons) worth of magnetite from the Cobre operation in August against US$487,000 (7,206 tons) in July.
IronRidge Resources PLC (LON:IRR) has completed the acquisition of 100% of Tekton Minerals, which owns a number of gold mining licences in Chad. Tekton's technical and logistics team will join IronRidge, while the minority shareholders have also taken their consideration in shares.
Harvest Minerals LTD (LON:HMI) continues to deliver promising results from tests of its fertiliser product on coffee plants. The company is now shifting its focus to securing licensing and sales.
Sound Energy PLC (LON:SOU) told investors it has appointed JJ Traynor as the company’s new chief financial officer. The Morocco-focussed gas firm highlighted that Traynor will he finance, commercial, business development and investor relations functions.