Peter Allen is to step down as chairman of Future PLC (LON:FUTR) at the next annual general meeting of the company.
He is set to leave on a high note, with the media company announcing today that results for the year just ended would be ahead of expectations.
The shares surged by a sixth of the news.
Allen has overseen the company's move away from “dead tree” magazine publications model to something more aligned to the digital age, and at times the company's continued existence was in doubt.
"I have been chairman of Future for over six years. During that time the company has had to confront a hugely challenging market place and has now come through as a significantly changed business, well positioned to offer value growth to shareholders,” Allen said.
Another company that has undergone a transition is software company Vianet Group PLC (LON:VNET), which used to be known as Brulines.
As the old name might indicate, the company used to serve the pubs industry, monitoring the flow of beer – from the pumps, not into customers' gullets – but it has extended beyond that niche, and it was at it again today with the acquisition of Vendman Systems for up to £4.25mln.
Vendman is a UK market leader and provides management services for over 200,000 machines in the UK and European unattended retail markets and has a track record of growth, Vianet said.
The shares rose 12% on the acquisition.
Utilities stocks saw it coming but could not do anything about it
Utilities stocks were feeling the hit after Theresa May took a leaf out of former Labour leader Ed Miliband's book of populist measures.
May, in her speech to the Conservative Party conference, confirmed plans for a price cap.
Ladbrokes: 3/1 Theresa May is replaced as PM this year.https://t.co/RDTa3nK5do pic.twitter.com/QwirwQKBeB
— Ladbrokes Politics (@LadPolitics) October 4, 2017
Neil Wilson, senior market analyst at ETX Capital, described it as “a body blow to energy of stocks”.
Centrica PLC (LON:CNA) was hit hardest, down 6.7%, but SSE plc (LON:SSE) was not far behind, down 4%.
“The shares were heading south today before the announcement as the market decided a price cap would be part of the speech, but there was an extra leg lower when the statement came,” Wilson observed.
“As noted when the policy was mooted back in May ahead of the snap election, any move to cap prices would be a massive hit to the industry. It might cost Centrica something like £200mln and make it much tougher for the firm to reintroduce the progressive dividend policy. Like other providers it relies heavily on these standard variable rate tariffs – about three-quarters of customers are on these lucrative contracts.
“What we don’t know is the extent of the cap – will it exceed Ofgem’s plans to cap prices for vulnerable customers. A wider cap is not something that will go down well with many of the many true free market Conservatives – her defence of free market capitalism does not extend to energy providers - but there is a real urgency for May to be seen to be doing more for struggling households. Year-to-date CNA is 24% lower, with SSE down 12%. The political winds are blowing against energy firms,” Wilson concluded.
Power provider Drax Group PLC (LON:DRX) was also dragged lower, shedding 3.3% at 299.80p.
11.30am: Redhall blasted after profit warning
The full-year trading update from Redhall Group PLC (LON:RHL), the engineer focused on the nuclear industry, contained news of some project delays.
The unforeseen delays were on certain nuclear and infrastructure projects, where work had been expected to start in the financial year-end just ended; as evidenced by the 17% share price fall to 7.75p, work has yet to start on these projects.
“The late timing of the delays, to this and other projects, are disappointing and will mean that the group's results for the year ended 30 September 2017 will be materially below expectations,” the company said.
Shares in Earthport plc (LON:EPO) tumbled 3.25p to 22p after it placed shares at 20p a pop.
The cross-border payment services provider raised £25mln from the placing.
According to the splendidly named Hank Uberoi, the chief executive officer of Earthport, the dosh will enable Earthport to “capture the growing opportunities that are visible in our pipeline in Asia, in the e-commerce vertical and with existing clients”.
Landore's BAM update packs a punch while Petro Matad's update is seismic
Landore Resources Limited's (LON:LND) update on its BAM East gold project packed a punch.
The shares rose 12% to 2.125p said the final assay results from its summer drill programme confirmed that the company continued to hit wide zones of gold mineralisation at the gold deposit at the Junior Lake property in Ontario.
Elsewhere in the resources sector, Mongolian oil explorer Petro Matad Limited (LON:MATD) was boosted by news it is about to start a campaign to acquire seismic data.
The shares hardened 0.75p to 6.125p, as the company said the comprehensive 3D seismic programme in the Tugrug Basin of Block V would include additional 2D seismic focused on adjacent leads of the Tugrug Basin and a new basin in Block IV, with the expectation of adding further drillable prospects to the company's exploration portfolio.
Amphion's stake in Motif soars in value after phase III clincial trial success
The two big risers early doors were Amphion Innovations Plc (LON:AMP) and Motif Bio Plc (LON:MTFB) – both thanks to good news from the latter.
Amphion currently holds a 14.1% stake in Motif and ironically its shares rose more in percentage terms than Motif's after the latter hailed the results of a phase III trial; Amphion was up by a third and Motif by a quarter.
READ Motif Bio shares soar after phase III clinical trial success
The REVIVE-2 phase III trial pitted Motif’s iclaprim treatment against vancomycin in patients with acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections.
The intent was to show that iclaprim was just as good as the gold standard medication, and so it proved.
Proactive News Headlines:
Shares in Motif Bio Plc soared 31% in opening deals after its lead drug, a next generation antibiotic, successfully negotiated a crucial final-stage clinical study. The REVIVE-2 phase III trial pitted Motif’s iclaprim treatment against vancomycin in patients with acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSI).
AdEPT Telecom plc (LON:ADT) is to hike its interim dividend by 13.3% to 3.75p, signifying confidence in current trading and the future of the information technology group.
Landore Resources Limited (LON:LND) has received its final assay results from its summer drill programme and they confirm that the company continued to hit wide zones of gold mineralisation. The mineralisation was encountered within the inferred resource area of the BAM East gold deposit, at the Junior Lake Property, in Ontario.
Learning Technologies Group (LON:LTG) says results this year will come in better than expected due to changes in the financial terms of a major contract.
Fuel cell developer Ceres Power PLC (LON:CWR) hailed its most successful year to date as revenues more than doubled. Phil Caldwell, chief executive, said the group was ahead of expectations financially, which has enabled it accelerate the technical development of its SteelCell technology.
OptiBiotix Health plc (LON:OPTI) has launched its SlimBiome and LP products in the US at Supply Side West trade show. Both products recently received FDA registration and the presentation at Supply Side West was the first in a number of steps to attract food, beverage, consumer healthcare and pharmaceutical partners for distribution and sale into the US market.
Avacta Group Plc (LON:AVCT), a pioneer of Affimer technology, said the past year had been one of significant progress – both for the development of a potential drug based on its platform and its use by other customers in research and diagnostics. Affimers are small, engineered proteins.
Lupus drug developer Immupharma PLC (LON:IMM) has raised £600,000 more than expected from its equity sharing agreement Lanstead Capital, banking £5mln instead of the £4.4mln originally estimated.
IXICO Plc(LON: IXI), the pioneer of digital technologies used in neuroscience, has landed a two-year contract worth £500,000 with a top-15 pharma company to deploy its wrist-worn sensors in a phase II clinical trial. It is the company’s first commercial agreement using the devices. They will be used along with artificial intelligence data analytics algorithms to monitor sleep disturbance in around 300 people.
Vast Resources PLC (LON:VAST) said results of the first phase of drilling at the Carlibaba prospect have confirmed its suitability as a second open pit mine within the Manaila Polymetallic project in Romania The AIM-listed mining company said preliminary results from first 1,000m of the 2,200m drilling programme support the development of a second open pit operation together with the construction of a metallurgical processing facility on site, which would reduce Manaila opex costs by up to 25%.
Base Resources Ltd (LON:BSE,ASX:BSE) has announced an updated resource estimate for its Kwale South Dune deposit in Kenya, with a 29% increase in mineral resource tonnes and a 13% increase in contained in situ heavy minerals.
Rainbow Rare Earths Ltd (LON:RBW) expects run of mine ore production at its Gasagwe asset will be in the range of 3,000 to 4,000 tonnes.
Green Dragon Gas Ltd (LON:GDG) has detailed three new supplementary agreements between its subsidiary Greka Energy and China United Coalbed Methane Corporation (CUCBM) which confirm that exploration activities can begin for three blocks in China.
Sound Energy PLC (LON:SOU) has detailed a new three-well drill programme planned in Eastern Morocco, where it intends to follow up recent successes at the Tendrara project.
Echo Energy Plc (LON:ECHO) highlighted what it described as a very active period for company development. Fiona MacAulay, chief executive, in Echo’s quarterly update, said: "This quarter has been one of continued progress for Echo in South America, we have continued to assess multiple opportunities in the region and I look forward to updating shareholders in due course.”