Ilika zooms higher on news of government grant
Ilika PLC (LON:IKA) powered almost 50% higher on Tuesday afternoon after the battery technology group told investors it has received an offer of “significant funding” from the UK government.
Business secretary Greg Clark revealed today that the government would be allocating £22mln towards 12 innovation projects though the Faraday Battery Challenge programme.
One of those projects earmarked for a chunk of the funds is the PowerDrive Line project which is looking to develop the next generation of high-power, ultra-fast charging electric car batteries.
Ilika is still waiting on confirmation of how much it will receive, but investors weren’t waiting on details, with the stock up 43% to 29.3p.
Profit-taking hits Motorpoint stock
Motorpoint Group PLC (LON:MOTR) saw its share price backfire on Tuesday as investors used a decent set of results to cash in and take advantage of the recent share price rally.
In its final results for the year, the car dealer reported revenue growth of 20.6% to £991.2mln, a higher growth rate than the 18% it forecast in a trading update in April, while pre-tax profits climbed 70.9% to £20mln.
It also upped its final dividend to 4.6p per share from 2.9p last year, increasing the full-year dividend 57.1% to 6.6p.
Motorpoint shares have almost doubled over the past year or so and given that these results had already been pretty well flagged, investors decided to crystallise some of their profits, sending the stock down almost 5% to 250p.
Clear Leisure to begin talks to recover money from wound-up Italian business
Clear Leisure PLC (LON:CLP) shares jumped in early afternoon trading after the tech investor made some more headway with its legal proceedings in Italy.
The AIM-quoted firm had a large stake in an Italian firm called Mediapolis, which was wound up earlier this year, owing millions to various creditors including Clear Leisure.
Clear Leisure said today it has been informed that it has first refusal on a large block of land owned by Mediapolis, on which it was going to build a theme park. That should help Clear recover one debt of €2.68mln.
The agent carving up Mediapolis’ assets and paying off its creditors also confirmed that Clear Leisure has an unsecured creditor position of €8.21mln.
“The company will shortly commence negotiations with the receiver to establish the most appropriate strategy to ensure a satisfactory conclusion is reached for Clear Leisure and the other creditors.” Shares are up 8.4% to 1.1p.
Trial halt hits IXICO
Heading the other way is IXICO Plc (LON:IXI), down 10.5%, after one of its pharma clients stopped halted a late-stage Alzheimer’s trial during which IXICO’s specialist imaging services were being used.
The earlier than expected end to the study had nothing to do with IXICO’s performance and the firm said that although the decision was “disappointing”, it wouldn’t “materially impact” full-year performance.
The total contract value was US$7.7mln, of which US$2.0mln has been recognised so far.
Domino's Pizza melts after 'shock' departure of CFO
The departure of Domino Pizza Group PLC’s (LON:DOM) chief financial officer has sent the stock 6% lower in early deals to 361.9p.
The pizza delivery group said Rachel Osborne stood down from her post yesterday, leaving the FTSE 250 firm looking for its fourth CFO since 2015.
City broker Liberum described Osborne’s exit as a “shock”, adding: “We question whether there is an internal cultural issue, whether she cannot see a path to maximising her remuneration scheme or other issues? Whatever the answer is, it does not look good and begs corporate governance questions.”
Centrica upgraded by Jefferies
Centrica PLC (LON:CNA) was the top riser on the FTSE 100 on Tuesday Morning after the British Gas owner was upgraded to ‘buy’ by Jefferies.
One of the major talking points around energy stocks at the moment is the upcoming changes to how much British Gas, E.ON et al will be able to charge customers on a standard variable tariff.
Investors had feared how hard regulator Ofgem would hit energy suppliers, but Jefferies’ Ahmed Farman doesn’t think the cap will be “highly punitive”.
“Although the primary focus of the cap is the protection of SVT customers, [Ofgem’s recent consultation paper] also references detailed consideration of financeability needs and costs of energy suppliers,” the analyst wrote in a note.
“This suggests a more balanced approach, with low likelihood of a highly punitive outcome.”
Alongside his ‘buy’ recommendation (from ‘hold’), Farman also increased his price target to 165p (from 140p). Centrica shares were up almost 2% early on Tuesday to 147.3p.
PrettyLittleThing the star for Boohoo
Another storming performance by its PrettyLittleThing arm sent revenues soaring at online fashion group Boohoo.com PLC (LON:BOO).
Group revenue rose 53% to £183.6mln in the half year to May, but shares slipped in early deals as investors fretted over the performance of the core Boohoo brand.
Almost all of the growth came from PLT, where sales jumped 158% to £79.2mln and margins also climbed, but the original boohoo operation was less spectacular, with sales rising ‘just’ 12% to £97.2mln and margins slipping.
Shares fell 4.4% in morning trading to 211p.
Proactive news headlines:
Metal Tiger PLC (LON:MTR) and joint venture partner MOD Resources have intersected copper mineralisation in the first drillhole at the A4 Dome target, the first of seven ‘buried domes’ that will be drilled within the T3 Dome Complex in Botswana. The A4 Dome target is around five kilometres long and is located six kilometres west of the now well-established T3 Project.
Trinidad-based oil firm Touchstone Exploration Inc (LON:TXP) told investors that it produced 1,728 barrels of oil per day in the month of May. Presently, it said the current production rate is estimated at around 1,821 bopd.
IXICO PLC (LON:IXI) said an unnamed pharmaceutical client has stopped screening a Phase II/III Alzheimer's Disease trial in which its specialist imaging services were being used. Last September the US$7.7mln contract was extended to 2024. A total of US$2mln in payments have been recognised in the last two years.
Stratex International PLC (LON:STI) has signed an option agreement on two gold exploration projects in Cameroon. The projects were formerly worked on by Reservoir Minerals before it was sold to Nevsun in 2016, and thus are well-known to new Stratex chief Tim Livesy, who used to be chief operating officer at Reservoir. Stratex is also proposing to raise £1mln in new money to support work on the projects, via a placing at 0.5p per share.
Papua Mining PLC (LON:PML) has completed its first phase of reverse circulation drilling at the Double Event prospect, part of the Lighthouse gold project in Queensland, Australia. All drill holes intersected narrow quartz veins of between one and two metres in width, and some drill holes hit several such veins.
What’s more, all holes intersected at least one vein with varying amounts of visible, fresh sulphides including pyrite, arsenopyrite, galena and chalcopyrite.
Echo Energy PLC (LON:ECHO) has told investors that drilling has now begun for the EMS-1001 well in Argentina. It is the third of four planned wells in the current programme.
Columbus Energy Resources PLC (LON:CERP) told investors it is in a strong position for exceptional growth. Today, the Trinidad-focussed oil and gas firm released its financial results statement for the 12-months ended December 31 2017, which was a significant period of change.
Keywords Studios PLC (LON:KWS), the international technical services provider to the global video games industry, said it has issued 513,189 new ordinary shares to the vendors of Mindwalk in respect of the non-contingent deferred share consideration due on the second anniversary of Mindwalk being acquired. The group said there is one further payment due to the vendors of Mindwalk of US$0.5mln which is deferred until the third anniversary post-acquisition.
BB Healthcare Trust PLC (LON:BBH) announced late on Monday that it is satisfied that all inside information which the directors and the company may have to the date of this announcement has previously been notified to a regulatory information service. The company said it is therefore not prohibited from repurchasing its own securities, or issuing new securities, during the closed period which ends on the date it reports results for the six months to 31 May 2018.