1:45pm - Providence Resources PLC shares down as investors continue to wait for Drombeg
Irish oil explorer Providence Resources PLC (LON:PVR) was down 15% on Friday afternoon as investors continue to wait for news from a well in the Atlantic.
They want to know the outcome of the second, deeper target in an exploration well off Ireland’s west coast where Providence is partnered with Cairn Energy.
Druid, the well’s first target, was not successful back in early August, and whilst investors have been holding out hope that the other target, Druid, can save the project there’s been a great deal of conjecture across social media and stock market bulletin boards.
On Friday afternoon, speculators had the Providence price down 1.75p or 18% trading at 7.75p.
Elsewhere, on AIM, India focussed e-commerce group issued a stock market statement saying that it “knows of no specific reason” for its share price decline (it was down around 13% on Friday), but, also clarified that £8.9mln of ‘convertible funds’ announced in July have now been received and talks are underway regarding a further £7.5mln are still ongoing.
Rathbone Brothers Plc (LON:RAT), down 6.9% at 2,467p, said it was “alert to the possibility of market abuse” as it issued a denial against what it described as “allegation made in an online discussion forum”.
12:30pm - AstraZeneca shares lower as takeover rumour mill kicks into gear
AstraZeneca PLC (LON:AZN) shares were down about 1%, trading at 4,726p, by Friday lunchtime as the City rumour mill claimed the drug maker was getting in the market for acquisitions.
The story, according to press reports, is that Astra is preparing a move for Nasdaq-quoted Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc (LON:NASDAQ) , which was worth over US$4.4bn in the market ahead of Friday’s open.
It followed a strong day's trading after positive drug trial news on Thursday.
10:30am - Rockhopper Exploration shares advance as stockbroker upgrades
Rockhopper Exploration PLC (LON:RKH) shares rose almost 8% on the same morning that stockbroker Peel Hunt upgraded the Falklands oiler to ‘buy’ and set a new price target of 40p.
This follows Rockhopper’s financial results statement earlier this week and as the investment community has begun crediting the explorer with a greater chance of securing necessary funding to take forward its oil discoveries in the South Atlantic towards development.
Elsewhere, oil companies expert Malcolm Graham Wood, in his daily blog, said the ‘real message’ in Rockhopper’s results is that Sea Lion is coming off the ‘back-burner’ and is now ‘back in the picture’.
“In various announcements from both companies recently and including the speech made by Sam Moody on Tuesday as reported here on Wednesday, the mood appears more buoyant than hitherto,” he said.
“The financing of Sea Lion, which is to be developed in at least two phases, is now looking less opaque and with costs coming down and the up-front cheque getting smaller there is starting to be some optimism around the partners.”
9:20am - Greene King and Safestyle fall in Friday’s early deals
Pub group Greene King PLC (LON:GNK) was a high profile early mover, with the share down 78 points or 12% at 577p, after reporting like-for-like sales fall 1.2% in the first 18 weeks of the year against a market that declined 0.7%, driven by a drop in food sales.
Double glazing sales group Safestyle UK PLC (LON:SFE) shares were down 29% to 165.41p on a new profit warning, amid an 18% fall in installations during June and July.
In the small cap market, there was welcome déjà vu for Empyrean Energy PLC (LON:EME) investors as the explorer again advanced in early deals, up 2.83p or 18.8% to 17.83 – marking a 128% rise for the past month.
The latest update reveals yet more gas shows from the Dempsey well, in California, though significantly, drilling has now reached the main target.
Tethyan Resources PLC (LON:TETH) shares lost more than a third of their value, down 1.33p or 34.6% at 2.5p, after the metals explorer announced plans to exit AIM following a new listing on the Toronto Venture Exchange.
Other Proactive news headlines:
The Horse Hill oil project has been approved for an extended flow test by the Environment Agency. Stakeholders UK Oil & Gas Investments PLC (LON:UKOG) and Solo Oil PLC (LON:SOLO) confirmed that the approval will allow the programme to test the HH-1 well, as well as drill a side-track to HH-1 and the new HH-2 well. The Horse Hill partners, separately, await planning permission for the project – an application was submitted in October 2016 and it is anticipated that a decision will be made by the Surrey County Council planning committee on October 18 2017.
Seeing Machines Limited (LON:SEE) is moving its relationship with Progress Rail into the commercial phase after it extended its partnership agreement with the world’s largest builder of diesel-electric locomotives. Today’s agreement gives Progress the exclusive worldwide licence rights to offer Seeing’s technology as part of its train driver-monitoring package.
The recent uplift in base metals prices has prompted Anglesey Mining PLC (LON:AYM) to shift up a gear in developing its Parys Mountain project - aiming to complete a definitive feasibility study in the first half of next year. Assuming financing talks are well advanced by the middle of next year, construction at the North Wales site could start before the end of 2018 and initial output in the first half of 2020, the firm said.
Lead and zinc explorer Ferrum Crescent PLC (LON:FCR) has raised just shy of £200,00 to fund further exploration at its Toral and Lago projects in Spain. Shares were issued at 0.09p by new house broker Peterhouse
Bacanora Minerals Ltd (LON:BCN, CVE:BCN) said Cadence Minerals PLC (LON:KDNC) has sold part of its stake in the group to an existing institutional investor and directors at Bacanora. Cadence sold 8.9 mln shares in the group - or 6.75% of the capital, but still holds a 9.3% interest in Bacanora.
RM Secured Direct Lending PLC (LON:RMDL) has told investors intends to raise further funds to take advantage of an “attractive pipeline of opportunities” it has identified.
Caledonia Mining Corporation PLC (LON:CMCL) said it ascertained on August 25, 2017 that VP Bank AG holds an interest in 938,773 common shares of the company - which represents approximately 8.9% of the issued share capital - as an intermediary on behalf of Sales Promotion Services S.A. Caledonia said it has no evidence to suggest that any significant proportion of this interest was accumulated recently.
Kibo Mining PLC (LON:KIBO) was awarded the Innovative Project Development Deal of the Year 2017 at the General Electric awards held in New York, on 7 September 2017.