A strong third-quarter production update has sent shares in Kazakhstan-focused KAZ Minerals PLC (LON:KAZ) jumping.
The miner’s copper production in the third quarter increased to 2.5% to 77,200 tonnes, up from 75,300 tonnes a year earlier. The output was also up from 72,300 tonnes in the second quarter.
The jump in production was largely down to the Aktogay mine, where copper output rose 12% to 34,900 tonnes as a result of higher grades. Gold production rose to 45,200 ounces, although silver fell slightly to 941,000 ounces.
“Following a strong third quarter across KAZ Minerals' assets, we are well placed to achieve our full-year copper production target and the top end of our gold and silver guidance,” said chief executive Andrew Southam.
Hastings warns of competitive insurance market
Hastings Group Holdings PLC (LON:HSTG) shares have plunged after the firm warned that a more competitive insurance market would hit its performance this year.
The number of people taking out policies actually rose to 2.7mln in the past 12 months, but the amount they are paying for premiums is not rising as much as the value of claims being made.
Hastings said it had tried to counteract this with a “disciplined pricing strategy”, but it now expects its loss ratio, a measure of claims paid as a proportion of income, to be at the lower end of its target range of 75-79% this year.
Shares are down 11.4% to 195.3p.
Just Group jumps on delays to introduction new equity release rules
Shares in retirement products firm Just Group (LON:JUST) surged on Thursday after the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) delayed the implementation of a new set of rules governing equity release mortgages by a year.
The regulatory changes are designed to usher in more stringent capital requirements around the calculation of the future value of homes in equity release mortgages.
The PRA said the implementation date for its equity release mortgage proposals would be delayed by at least a year. The consultation period for the initiatives closed on 30 September.
"Based on feedback to the consultation, the PRA has decided that the implementation date will not be before 31 December 2019,” the PRA said. Shares are up 13.3% to 84.3p.
Polypipe expands residential offering with £52mln acquisition of Manthorpe Building Products
Pipe maker Polypipe Group PLC’s (LON:PLP) £52mln acquisition of Manthorpe Building Products has gone down well with investors.
Polypipe said the acquisition was a good strategic fit, boosting its residential offering in the UK, while there is also the potential for various cost and revenue synergies.
The new business is expected to be earnings accretive in the first full year of ownership.
“The acquisition of Manthorpe Building Products is a perfect fit for us, expanding our product platform and market reach in the UK and Irish residential and RMI markets, which, like other parts of our business, are being positively impacted by legislative change,” said Polypie boss Martin Payne.
Shares are up 8.5% to 333.8p.
Zinc Media wins US$6mln worth of new TV commissions
Zinc Media Group PLC’s (LON:ZIN) various film and television production businesses have won US$6mln worth of new international TV commissions.
Most of those revenues are expected to fall within the current financial year.
Among the new commissions is a six-part series for National Geographic and an international feature documentary for HBO.
“These commissions serve not only to highlight and reinforce our strategy of securing long-running series but also to demonstrate our continued move into delivering premium content to the International market,” said chief executive David Galan.
Shares were up 7% early doors to 0.5p, although they have since fallen back to 0.46p.
Lloyds profits better than expected
Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LON:LLOY) said chief financial officer George Culmer is stepping down as it reported a 7% drop in pre-tax profit for the third quarter.
The high street lender reported statutory pre-tax profit of £1.82bn for the three months to September 30, down from £1.95bn a year ago but ahead of the £1.7bn analysts had expected.
The lower profits reflected a remediation charge of £109mln along with increased investment, higher operating expenses and a rise in restructuring costs.
Excluding items, underlying profit was still broadly flat at £2.07bn. In the year to date, pre-tax profit increased 10% to £4.94bn from £4.49bn last year as costs dropped 3%.
"Despite a slip in profits for the period, in the year to date pre-tax profit is above consensus, having risen 10%, and the post-tax number is up 18%,” said interactive investor’s head of markets, Richard Hunter.
On top of that, Lloyds did not set aside any further provision for the payment protection insurance mis-selling scandal like it did in the previous quarter. Shares are up 2.1% to 57.9p.
Distil toasts booming demand for gin as sales and profits soar
Spirits maker Distil PLC (LON:DIS) posted a sharp rise in half-year sales and profits as the global demand for gin shows no sign of slowing.
Revenue jumped 42% to £1.16bn in the six months ended September 30 (H1 17: £0.82bn), while gross profit soared 55% to £710,000 (H1 17: £459,000).
Distil’s Blackwoods Gin and RedLeg Spiced Rum brands were the star performers and the company has been developing gift sets for them in time for the lucrative Christmas season.
Shares climbed 9.1% to 2.4p at the opening bell on Thursday.
RPS biggest faller in London
Environmental consultancy RPS Group PLC (LON:RPS) is the biggest faller in London early on, down 28.3% to 148.5p after cutting its guidance for this year and next.
The company is investing an extra £14mln in the business over the next few years, investment, which it said will dent short-term profitability.
RPS now expects full-year pre-tax profits will be below forecasts, and they are expected to remain at a similar level in 2019.
Profitability is already being impacted, with third-quarter profits dropping to £12.8mln from £14.3mln a year earlier.
WPP trims guidance
WPP PLC (LON:WPP) is also lower this morning after the ad giant reported a sharp fall in third-quarter trading and cut its full-year guidance.
New boss Mark Read also unveiled plans for further sell-offs and said the group will hold off from making more acquisitions.
The FTSE 100-listed firm, which saw founder and CEO Martin Sorrell leave under a cloud in April, saw underlying net sales less pass-through costs fall by 1.5% in the third quarter, compared with a 0.7% rise in the previous three months.
It said third-quarter reported revenue was down 0.8% to £3.758bn, impacted by currency headwinds of 2.0%.
WPP also reduced its full-year 2018 guidance to reflect the slowdown in the third quarter and a more cautious outlook for the rest of the year, with like-for-like revenue less pass-through costs now likely to be down 0.5%-1.0%. Shares are down 6.0% to 887.2p.
Proactive news headlines:
Horizonte Minerals PLC (LON:HZM) (TSX:HZM) shares jumped after the nickel development company focused in Brazil, announced that it plans to release the material findings of the Feasibility Study for its Araguaia Ferronickel Project, in Brazil's Pará State, on Monday 29 October 2018 at 7am. The group said it will host an analyst webcast presentation at 10:00am GMT on that day.
Oriole Resources PLC (LON:ORR) has reported encouraging gold intercepts from a drill programme at Dalafin in Senegal. The campaign was carried out by partner IAMGOLD and identified broad zones of anomalous gold mineralisation as well as higher grade samples that could indicate a feeder zone at depth.
After being overshadowed for a spell by the US operations, sales momentum for Eckoh PLC (LON:ECK) in the UK has returned.
SkinBioTherapeutics PLC (LON:SBTX) has made “significant progress” so far this year with the development of its moisturising cream, says the life sciences group's chief executive, Cath O'Neill.
ANGLE PLC (LON:AGL) continues to make “good progress” with the enrolment for the clinical study of its Parsortix cancer detection technology. So far, over 75% of the required 400 patients – 200 with cancer and 200 healthy – have been enrolled.
Following news on Monday of several contract wins, Feedback PLC (LON:FDBK) has conditionally raised £1.38mln through the issue of shares at 1.5p each.
StatPro Group PLC (LON:SOG), the cloud-based portfolio analysis and asset pricing services provider for the global asset management industry, has traded in line in 2018.
Capital Drilling Ltd (LON:CAPD) told investors it has landed an important new contract extension, keeping its rigs active at Centamin’s Sukari gold mine, in Egypt, until at least 2023.
AfriTin Mining Limited (LON:ATM) has completed the foundations for the pilot processing plant at the Uis tin mine in Namibia. Construction of the processing plant has started with the phase 1 pilot operation to handle 500,000 tonnes of ore a year, producing around 60 tonnes of tin concentrate per month.
Range Resources Ltd (LON:RRL), in its quarterly activities report, told investors that daily production averaged 594 barrels of oil per day in the three months ended 30 September. It also confirmed a number of operational milestones such as the completion of more than 20 well workovers, reactivation and swabbing activities.
Eurasia Mining PLC (LON:EUA) expects to upgrade its reserves at the alluvial platinum mine at West Kytlim in Russia following recent drilling and mining. A new calculation for the total contained platinum for the Kluchiki Area, where mining started in August, has now been submitted for approval.
Base Resources Limited (LON:BSE) (ASX:BSE) said the latest company presentation, which was presented today at the Bell Potter Emerging Leaders Conference in Sydney, Australia, is available on the company’s website.
Adamas Finance Asia Limited (LON:ADAM), the London quoted pan-Asian diversified investment vehicle, said it welcomed the publication of a first analyst report by investment research and advisory company Equity Development Limited.