Hill & Smith Holdings PLC (LON:HILS) shares fell just over 20%, losing 298p to 1,171p, after its financial results included commentary around short-term project delays in the UK and the company issued a profit warning.
Two Shields Investments PLC (LON:TSI) was down 4.4%, at 0.2p, as it sold its 49% stake in Cobalt Blue Holdings Inc to African Battery Metals PLC (LON:ABM) in return for an 11.26% shareholding in its AIM peer.
It comes concurrent to a separate transaction which saw TSI pay US$200,000 to acquire 25% of Cobalt Blue Holdings Inc, to own the 49% stake it sold to ABM.
InnovaDerma PLC (LON:IDP) saw its shares shoot 22% higher to 136.13p on news it is to sell its fast-growing Roots haircare range through Tesco stores from November. The supermarket will stock the product in 432 of its largest stores in the initial launch.
BigDish PLC (LON:DISH) shares jumped 15%, to 5.07p, after revealing it will rebrand its recent acquisition Tablepouncer as it starts a roll-out across the UK. The UK restaurant market is ripe for disruption, says Joost Boer, BigDish’s chief executive and Tablepouncer has given it an immediate foothold.
9:20am: Sirius Minerals shares lower amid ‘bear attack’
Sirius Minerals PLC (LON:SXX) shares were down 3.5% in Wednesday’s early deals, adding to yesterday’s decline, as a ‘bear attack’ continued in the wake of negative commentary in the FT’s Alphaville column.
The UK mine developer ticked lower despite detailed analysis, in response to the criticism, by City broker Liberum (which is house broker to Sirius).
“The two key hurdles for Sirius are still lifting offtake agreements from 5.7mt to c.6.5mt and completion of Stage 2 financing, both of which are pre-requisites to realising our 60p target price and our £1.08 NPV,” said Liberum analyst Richard Knights.
“How one thinks about these two risks ultimately drives valuation and suffice to say, we're more optimistic than the articles author.”
Liberum has a ‘buy’ recommendation for Sirius, which comes with a 60p price target, suggesting some 70% upside to the current price of 35.5p.
Bookmaker Paddy Power Betfair PLC (LON:PPB) saw its shares drop 2.65%, to 7,905p, as financial results revealed first-half profit rose marginally due to favourable sporting results and the football World Cup.
Nonetheless, it also cut full-year earnings forecasts due to expected headwinds during the remainder of 2018.
The company now expects its 2018 underlying earnings, pre-US sports betting, to be between £460mln-£480mln, down from its previous forecast of £470mln - £490mln, reflecting recent trading momentum, the introduction of additional taxes in Australia and the inclusion of losses from the FanDuel business.
Elsewhere, AIM debutant Jadestone Energy Inc (LON:JSE, CVE:JSE) started out positively with its shares trading at a premium to the 35p placing price in its US$110mln fundraise.
Proactive news headlines:
Restaurant booking app BigDish PLC (LON:DISH) will rebrand its recent acquisition Tablepouncer as it starts a roll-out across the UK. The UK restaurant market is ripe for disruption, says Joost Boer, BigDish’s chief executive and Tablepouncer has given it an immediate foothold here.
InnovaDerma PLC (LON:IDP) is to sell its fast-growing Roots haircare range through Tesco stores from November. The supermarket will stock the product in 432 of its largest stores in the initial launch.
Galantas Gold Corp (LON:GAL) told investors that the Omagh mine’s gold processing plant has now started operations, from the underground development of the Kearney gold vein. The plant was recently upgraded, so it’s expected to operate part-time until late 2018 or early 2019 when stoping (bulk mining) begins.
Genedrive PLC (LON:GDR) has partnered with the Foundation for Innovation of New Diagnostics (FIND) in a study agreement to evaluate its hepatitis C virus (HCV) identification kit.
Abzena PLC (LON:ABZA) has successfully manufactured a potential new cancer drug that incorporates the company’s Composite Human Antibody platform. The ‘Abzena Inside’ technology was deployed to enhance Clevegen, a pre-clinical treatment being developed by Faron Pharmaceuticals (LON:FARN).
Motif Bio PLC (LON:MTFB, NASDAQ:MTFB) said the grant of two US patents pushes its exclusivity over antibiotic iclaprim out to 2037. It follows what’s called a notice of allowance for patents governing the drug’s use to treat bacterial infections, including acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections, hospital-acquired bacterial pneumonia and Staphylococcus aureus lung infections in patients with cystic fibrosis.
BATM Advanced Communications Limited (LON:BVC) said it had entered a memorandum of understanding with Cellcom Israel Ltd to acquire its stake in the Israel Electric Corporation (IBC) for US$3.2mln. The telecoms and medical systems firm said the sale of its 7.5% interest in IBC would be subject to regulatory approval but was expected to occur in the first half of 2019.
Plexus Holdings PLC (LON:POS) has received a second order for its POS-SET connector for well abandonment operations in the North Sea.
African Battery Metals PLC (LON:ABM) has agreed two acquisitions, picking up Cobalt Blue Holdings (CBH) and Regent Resources Interests Corp (RRIC), which own highly prospective cobalt-nickel exploration assets in Cameroon and Cote d'Ivoire. The company said that it will diversify the geo-political and commodity exposure.
Franchise Brands PLC (LON:FRAN) has announced that from today until 31 December 2018, it will commence a discretionary programme to purchase ordinary shares in the company, up to a value of £200,000.