Burberry Group PLC (LON:BRBY) tumbled 7.6% to 1,737p as Morgan Stanley cut the European luxury goods sector to an “underweight” rating from “neutral,” with the broker saying demand for high-priced goods from Chinese consumers appears to have peaked.
“We believe the recent outperformance of value vs growth has further to go,” said Morgan Stanley about the downgrade of the FTSE 100 component.
Over on the AIM market, Tricorn Group PLC (LON:TCN) shares fell 11% to 29p following a six-month trading update by the tube manipulation specialist.
First-half revenue is expected to be in line the year-ago period, and about 6% ahead of the six months ended 31 March 2018. Tricorn said during the first-half, growth in the transportation division offset a reduction in the energy sector. Demand from the power generation rental sector was lower than the corresponding period, meeting Tricorn expectations.
But moving higher were shares of Alba Mineral Resources PLC (LON:ALBA), up 6% to 0.42p as Chief Executive George Frangeskides described new production test results from the Horse Hill project as “highly encouraging”.
Among the findings, Alba said the first Kimmeridge test saw oil flow continuously and naturally from the KL3 zone to surface over the past 50 hours.
READ: Alba Mineral Resources says latest Horse Hill results are “highly encouraging”
TechFinancials Inc. (LON:TECH) soared 33% to 7p, with the AIM-quoted company saying a shareholder has sold his stake.
The company, which provides technology to financial trading brokers, said in a regulatory statement that Shen Chaohuli sold his entire holding of 15,528,225 ordinary shares to Ou Qiao on Monday. The shares represent an 18.27% stake in TechFinancials.
Also on AIM, Iofina PLC (LON:IOF) leapt 11% to 14.20p after marking a record of iodine production.
Iofina said it produced a record 172.3 tonnes of iodine in the third quarter of 2018, leaving it on track to reach its full-year target of between 575-605 tonnes.
READ: Iofina reiterates full-year guidance
Urals Energy (LON:UEN) slid 40% to 44.90p after the Russian O&G explorer warned that it’s investigating an unauthorised loan made with its funds.
AIM-quoted Urals said it recently became aware of a US$1.5mln loan to a third party that it believes was given by Sergey Kononov, a holder of 44% of Ural shares. “As a consequence, the Group's working capital position will be significantly constrained until the Loan is repaid, and the intended dividend referred to in the announcement dated 28 September 2018 will not be payable until the Loan is repaid,” said Urals in a statement.
But on the upside, Advanced Oncotherapy PLC (LON:AVO) shares zoomed higher by 28% to 73.25p as the firm outlined several developments related to its LIGHT proton beam cancer treatment system.
The firm, listed on AIM, said it had successfully integrated the four sections of its LIGHT proton accelerator, the proton source, the Radiofrequency Quadrupole (RFQ), four Side Coupled Drift Tube Linacs (SCDTLs), and two high-energy accelerating structures, the Coupled Cavity Linacs (CCLs), at its testing facility at CERN in Geneva.
READ: Advanced Oncotherapy rockets as it improves performance of LIGHT system
Fellow AIM-quoted company Sosandar PLC (LON:SOS) saw its shares climb 5% to 40.91p, with the online women’s fashion retailer issuing an update on sales view and said it raised £3mln from share placement.
The company foresees a 407% jump in half-year revenue to £1.84mln. It also said the £3mln raised will go towards expanding its business.
Hydrogen Group PLC (LON:HYDG) shares surged 7% to 5p as the specialist recruitment firm outlined its expansion in the US.
The AIM-quoted company also said US net fee Income in the third quarter was roughly 40% greater than the total earned throughout the first half of 2018. Hydrogen opened two new offices in Austin, Texas, and San Diego, California, markets that could drive growth in the company’s STEM markets. Hydrogen also relocated its operations in Houston to larger premises.
Eden Research PLC (LON:EDEN) gained 2.3% to 23.31p after its TerpeneTech subsidiary was cleared by regulators to start selling its head-lice treatment in Europe.
The product, which “performed very well” in clinical trials, is expected to be launched in the UK, where TerpeneTech already has a distribution partner in place, at the beginning of 2019.
But decliners included Telford Homes PLC (LON:TEF) as shares dropped 14% to 340p after the London-focused residential property developer said half-year profits will be up year-on-year but down on the preceding six months.
Telford is targeting £50mln of profit before tax for the year to 31 March 2019 and sees no reason at this point of lowering that target, although if the market worsens as Brexit approaches, it may be obliged to do so, it cautioned.
Proactive news headlines
Advanced Oncotherapy PLC (LON:AVO) has updated on several developments regarding the development of its LIGHT proton beam cancer treatment system.
Avacta Group PLC (LON:AVCT) has signed a licensing deal with New England Biolabs (NEB), an enzyme discovery and production company, to commercialise its Affimer technology for use in life science research and diagnostic assays.
accesso Technology Group PLC (LON:ACSO) has signed an agreement that will enable its clients to purchase accesso-supported inventory directly through Google.
Another big contribution from its new IO#7 plant helped Iofina PLC (LON:IOF) to a record quarter of iodine production over the past three months.
Arix Bioscience PLC’s (LON:ARIX) stake in LogicBio Therapeutics is set to be worth at least three times more once the gene editing specialist floats in New York.
Silence Therapeutics PLC’s (LON:SLN) patent battle with US biotech Alnylam, which is focused on the technology at the heart of the latter’s first commercial drug, took a new turn Wednesday.
Horizonte Minerals PLC (LON:HZM) has started work on ore from Vermelho in Brazil to test its suitability either for batteries or as a potential satellite to its flagship Araguaia project.
MaxCyte PLC (LON:MXCT) said the first patient had been dosed with its experimental targeted treatment for cancer.
Columbus Energy Resources PLC (LON:CERP) told investors that it is on track to deliver on its production target for 2018, with output due to exceed 1,000 barrels of oil per day by the end of the year.