3.45pm: EasyJet declines on 'sell' rating
EasyJet PLC (LON:EZJ) fell 1.7% to 1,413p as Berenberg initiated coverage on the short-hop budget airline with a sell rating.
The European investment bank said the FTSE 100 airline continues to take profitable market share from high-cost flag carriers, but that headwinds into 2019 could cause the erosion of EasyJet’s favourable position. Berenberg's rating was part of an initiation of its coverage of EasyJet and five other airline stocks.
But FTSE 250-listed BBA Aviation PLC (LON:BBA) shares rose 1.3% to 295p as the company said it is acquiring Firstmark, an aerospace-focused aftermarket service provider, for US$97mln.
BBA said the business will become part of its aftermarket services arm, Ontic, and is expected to contribute revenue of around US$27mln in its first full year of ownership.
In AIM action, Kibo Energy PLC (LON:KIBO) pulled back 13% to 374p even as the company said a recent announcement by the Tanzania Electricity Supply Company may bode well for its ambitions in the east African country.
Kibo is currently in “advanced” negotiations with TANESCO over a proposed power purchase agreement at the Mbeya Coal to Power project. TANESCO announced Tuesday the initiation of a tender process for superior coal technology and integrated gasification combined cycle power plants.
2:30pm: Hydrogen Group jumps after swing to profit
Hydrogen Group PLC (LON:HYDG) shares climbed 16% to 74p after the specialist recruiter swung to a first-half profit and said it expects full-year results to beat expectations.
The AIM-listed firm reported a pre-tax profit of £1.1mln for the six months to 30 June, after losing £611,000 a year earlier. Revenue jumped 21% to £68.6mln. Hydrogen said it’s confident that underlying profit and earnings per share for the full year will be substantially ahead of market expectations.
But AIM-listed Cenkos Securities PLC (LON:CNKS) declined 8.6% to 90p, with the stockbroker reducing its interim dividend after a drop in first-half profit and revenue.
Pre-tax profit fell to £0.5mln for the six months to 30 June, from a £4.6mln profit a year earlier, as revenue fell to £18.1mln from £29.2mln. Cenkos will pay an interim dividend of 2.0p per share, less than half the 4.5p paid a year earlier.
At the same time, Mosman Oil And Gas Ltd (LON:MSMN) shares dropped 8.3% to 0.55p as the company said it was “cautiously upbeat” that further well work-overs will be required at the Arkoma project in Oklahoma.
Senior management recently met with project operator Inland and fellow partner Blackstone Oil and Gas Inc, at which point it was recommended that the work-over of the well could increase production levels.
1:00pm: Centrica gets a Goldman ratings lift
Centrica PLC (LON:CNA) shares advanced 2.3% to 148p in early afternoon trading, with the parent company of British Gas bolstered by a double-upgrade of its rating at Goldman Sachs.
The US bank raised the rating to ‘buy’ from ‘sell’ as it believes recent underperformance of Centrica's shares is overdone and that investors are overlooking the impact of year-to-date rallies for gas and power prices.
Also seeing a ratings upgrade boost was Fresnillo PLC (LON: FRES), shares in which rose 2.6% to 806p after RBC Capital assumed coverage of the precious metals miner with a ‘top pick’ rating.
In a note, RBC's analysts said: “In the current precious metal price environment, we believe FRES represents lower-risk, higher-quality exposure than EMEA peers."
Other FTSE 100 mining stocks rallied having been under pressure on Monday in anticipation of the next round of US tariffs on Chinese goods, with the outcome much as expected. Glencore PLC (LON:GLEN) moved up 2.5% to 308p, Antofagasta PLC (LON:ANTO) tacked on 1.4% to 788p and Rio Tinto PLC (LON:RIO) rose 1.3% to 3,651p.
But lower on the benchmark was British American Tobacco plc (LON:BATS), with its shares falling 1.3% to 3,622p after Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on the stock with an ‘equal-weight’ rating.
The US investment bank said BAT is a “long term structural winner” but its analysts said three new issues are casting “a lingering shadow” over BAT’s performance - new regulation, self-disruption, and new market entrants.
11:30am: Kellan Group considers delisting shares
Kellan Group plc (LON:KLN) slid 49% to 0.34p in late morning trading after the recruitment services company said it’s considering a possible delisting of its shares.
The company said it’s weighing whether continuing its AIM listing is in the best interests of Kellan Group and its shareholders. Directors have conducted a review of the benefits and drawbacks of AIM trading. The process for a cancellation of the listing, if proposed, would require approval of not less than 75% shareholders voting at a general meeting. Kellan said it will engage in discussions with shareholders.
Elsewhere in AIM trading, Flowtech Fluidpower PLC (LON:FLO) dropped 28% to 47p as the company said long-time Chief Executive Sean Fannon is stepping down, and said directorate changes are taking place in an effort to further strengthen its market position.
The specialist fluid technical fluid power products supplier said Fannon, who has served as CEO for nine years, will leave with immediate effect. Fannon will remain in an advisory role until 31 December. Flowtech also said it has appointed Russell Cash as chief financial offer and Bill Wilson as a non-executive director.
Meanwhile, i3 Energy PLC (LON:I3E) fell 21% to 23p, with the oil and gas explorer saying exclusive farm-in talks with a potential partner were supposed to have finished next week, but that it’s still waiting on a couple of the conditions to be met.
i3 said it remains confident it will receive development and production consent from UK regulators for its Liberator and Liberator West blocks in the UK North Sea next year. i3 thinks the approval process will be unaffected by the delay in concluding negotiations with a potential farm-in partner.
9.20am: RM2 jumps on Walmart supplier pallet deal
RM2 International SA (LON:RM2) surged 54% to 0.85p in early morning trading as the company said it reached an agreement to sell its standard RM2 BLOCKPal pallets to a supplier of retailing giant Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT).
The contract is expected to generate gross revenues of more than US$1.5mln on an annual basis subject to certain velocity thresholds being met. Under the contract, the RM2 BLOCKPal pallets will be delivered to Walmart's Sam's Club stores.
Among other UK advancers, CyanConnode Holdings PLC (LON:CYAN) climbed 42% to 285p said it received a US$11.6mln purchase order related to a smart metering deployment by an Indian state-owned utility.
CyanConnode is also negotiating a five-year support and maintenance contract. The company expects revenue of around £700,000 from the order in the financial year to 31 December, which should help the company meet its full-year expectations.
Over on the FTSE 250, Jardine Lloyd Thompson PLC (LON:JLT) jumped 32% to 1,884p after the insurance and reinsurance broker agreed to be acquired by Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc (NYSE:MMC) in an all-cash deal valuing Jardine at about £4.3bn (US$5.7bn).
Jardine's shareholders will receive 1,915p per share, a premium of about 33.7% to JLT’s closing price on Monday of 1,432p. US financial services giant Marsh & McLennan said the transaction will be funded by a combination of cash on hand and proceeds from debt financing.
Proactive news headlines:
Poland is one of the last large high growth takeaway markets left in Europe, according to Peter Shaw, chief executive of DP Poland Plc (LON:DPP), which operates the Domino’s Pizza master Franchise in the country. His comment was borne out by first-half results, which mark some significant progress in the six months ended June 30 – both operationally and financially.
Renowned Hollywood sound designer, Scott Gershin and his Sound Lab team, have joined Keywords Studios PLC (LON:KWS), the technical services provider, from Technicolor. The acquisition announcements accompanied the group’s half-year results that largely rubber-stamped last month’s first-half trading update.
Online payments specialist Bango plc (LON:BGO) saw another surge in payments through its platform over the past six months. Giants in the space Amazon, Microsoft, Google and Samsung use the Bango platform to collect payments and through these and other customers end user spend climbed to £220mln.
VR Education Holdings Plc (LON:VRE) said its "1943: Berlin Blitz" experience, made in collaboration with the BBC, was nominated for best Linear Virtual Reality experience at the Venice Film Festival in September, while also reporting a 30% increase in revenue in its first set of half year results since listing on AIM in March.
Digital marketing services company Be Heard Group PLC (LON:BHRD) has posted a sharp rise in half-year revenues, boosted by new contract wins with some of the UK’s biggest businesses.
Haydale Graphene Industries PLC (LON:HAYD) has been chosen to help develop high performance kit for British athletes training for the 2020 Olympic Games. The English Institute of Sport will use Haydale and its long-term partner the Welsh Centre for Printing and Coating at Swansea University to incorporate graphene coatings into a range of clothing for elite performers.
Mark Scanlon is to step down as the chief executive officer of Personal Group Holdings plc (LON:PGH), the employee benefits and insurance specialist, after nearly seven years in the role.
G3 Exploration Ltd (LON:G3E) highlighted a period of “continued operational progress” as it released its interim results statement, for the six months ended June 30. Operationally, the G3 Exploration company highlighted that it completed its exploration programme for the Guizhou Block and said that the next phase is currently being discussed with PetroChina.
United Oil & Gas Plc (LON:UOG) has raised £3mln of new capital to fund the pursuit of new projects. The funds were raised through an oversubscribed share placing, selling 54.5mln new shares priced at 5.5p (plus share warrants which are exercisable at 8p).
Union Jack Oil PLC (LON:UOG) chairman David Bramhill highlighted a period of portfolio expansion as the UK onshore oiler released its half yearly results statement. Two transactions topped up UJO’s interests in the Wressle and Biscathorpe projects, meanwhile, a new partnership agreement with Humber Oil & Gas was reached, to support growth through new opportunities.
Eland Oil & Gas PLC’s (LON:ELA) latest well update brings positive news from the Opuama and Ubima fields, where new wells are being tested. The Opuama-10 well, based on most recent test results, is now expected to achieve a stabilised production rate above 5,500 barrels of oil per day, which would take overall field output beyond 29,000 bopd.
Anglo Asian Mining Plc (LON:AAZ) has boosted reserves and resources at the Gedabek open pit in Western Azerbaijan. The total gold and copper resource amounts to 985,697 ounces of gold, 63,375 tonnes of copper and 8,171,626 ounces of silver.
W Resources PLC (LON:WRES) has hit high-grade and wide intersections from recent reverse circulation drilling at its Régua mine development in northern Portugal. The reverse circulation assays are significantly higher than expected, including 29 metres 0.75% WO3 from 48 metres on the north-western flank.
The highlights of the first half of the fiscal year for NQ Minerals PLC (AQSE:NQMI) (OTCQB:NQMLF) undoubtedly centre around the Hellyer mine in Tasmania. During the period to June 30 the company continued the refurbishment of the Hellyer floatation plant on time and on budget in anticipation of the restart of production.
i3 Energy PLC (LON:I3E) remains confident that it will receive development and production consent from UK regulators for its Liberator and Liberator West blocks in the UK North Sea next year. The explorer thinks the approval process will be unaffected by a delay in concluding negotiations with a potential farm-in partner.
Kibo Energy PLC (LON:KIBO) thinks a recent announcement by the Tanzania Electricity Supply Company (TANESCO) could bode well for its ambitions in the east African country. The AIM-quoted company owns a thermal coal deposit near Mbeya in southern Tanzania, where it is also developing a 250-350 megawatt mouth-of-mine thermal power station called the Mbeya Coal to Power project (MCPP).
Tharisa plc (LON:THS) has restructured its proposed acquisition of the Salene chrome project in Zimbabwe. Rather than buying 90% of the project outright as initially intended, Tharisa will instead take an option to acquire 90% depending on the outcomes of a US$3.2mln exploration programme, which it will fund.
Flying Brands Limited (LON:FBDU), the medical services and software company, said it is convening an Extraordinary General Meeting to consider a resolution to change the name of the company to IQ-AI Limited. Trevor Brown CEO, commented "The new name, IQ-AI is the acronym for Imaging Quantification- Artificial Intelligence, which powerfully acknowledges the strategic focus of our group businesses in coming years. "
Metminco Limited (LON:MNC) (ASX:MNC) advised that it is still not yet in position to make an announcement regarding a proposed capital raising and acquisition. It added that the voluntary suspension will end on the earlier of the commencement of trading on the ASX on Wednesday 19 September 2018, or when the anticipated announcement referred to above is released to the market. The company’s shares on AIM remain temporarily suspended.