A legal victory for Stobart Group Ltd (LON:STOBA) against its ousted former chief executive, Andrew Tinkler, lifted shares in the Southend Airport owner.
Tinkler (pictured), who still holds a 5.9% stake in the company he used to run, had sued Stobart after he was dismissed last summer but a UK high court ruled that the aviation, energy and civil engineering group’s decision to remove him as both an employee and a director was a “lawful and valid act”.
READ Court rules Stobart’s decision to dismiss ex-CEO Tinkler was “lawful and valid”
The shares were up 5.1% at 153.4p in lunchtime trading.
Court rules in favour of Stobart’s decision to sack former CEO Andrew Tinkler https://t.co/AYa3r9KSEQ
— Truck & Plant Online (@TruckPlantSales) February 15, 2019
12.15pm: Spencer lifts stake but Cluff Natural Resources slides
IPGL Limited, a company controlled by the founder of NEX Group PLC (LON:NEX), Michael Spencer, has increased its holding in Cluff Natural Resources PLC (LON:CLNR).
IPGL now owns 11.84% of Cluff, which last week farmed out some of its interest in its Southern North Sea licences to oil & gas behemoth, Royal Dutch Shell PLC (LON:RDSB).
READ Cluff Natural Resources teams up with Shell in southern North Sea
Shares in Cluff were down 5.7% at 2.9p on Friday, having hit 3.9p in the wake of the Shell announcement.
11.00am: Italian legislation dents oil explorers
Dual-listed oil explorer Global Petroleum Limited (LON:GBP) hit the skids on Friday after the Italian parliament voted in favour of suspending hydrocarbon exploration activities.
The ban lasts for 18 months and includes permit applications, which is set to put a crimp in Global Petroleum’s plans.
The company’s chief executive officer, Peter Hill, was putting a brave face on things, welcoming the publication by the Italian Government of a clear hydrocarbon plan, although he acknowledged the coming 18 months would likely be an uncertain period for the industry.
“We are, to an extent, insulated from much of it pending the appeals process on our applications and our objective will be to bring this court process to a satisfactory conclusion before the end of the moratorium on exploration activities. We still believe that the permits we have applied for contain good prospectivity and we remain of the view that in time our Italian assets could provide material upside for our shareholders,” Hill said.
Shares in Global were down 10.9%.
Coro Energy PLC (LON:CORO) was another stock hit by the Italian government's legislation, although it also played down the effect. The company said that with the exception of the increase in surface fees that the government has introduced, these changes are not material to Coro Energy's Italian portfolio, which consists of five exploitation (production) concessions. The increase in surface fees is expected to increase the group's annual operating costs by around €100,000,
Coro said its portfolio of exploration licences remains under review.
Shares in Coro were down 6.4%.
9.30am: Georgia Healthcare had strong finish to 208; GAN hails strong start to online gambling in New Jersey in 2019
The fourth quarter of 2018 saw a sharp increase in revenue and earnings at Georgia Healthcare Group PLC (LON:GHG).
Shares in the eastern European operator rose 7.2% to 253p after it reported 15.1% increase in revenue and a 19.5% increase in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.
Profit before tax rose 26.0% in the fourth quarter.
New Jersey Sets Sports Betting Record In January: The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement released January’s revenue numbers Wednesday revealing a record-setting month for Garden State gambling. The state’s sportsbooks set a record for a total handle ...
— Poker y Apuestas... (@tiopokerbog) February 14, 2019
From Georgia – the republic, not the US state – to Jersey – the “new” one that is a US state, not the Channel island – and an update from GAN PLC (LON:GAN).
The developer and supplier of enterprise-level B2B Internet gaming software saw its shares harden 4.9% after it flagged up the publication on Wednesday of internet gaming and internet sports numbers for New Jersey in January.
It was a record-breaking month for the state, with total internet sports wagering clocked in at around US$305.0mln, up from US$241.0 in the preceding month.
Proactive news headlines:
Argo Blockchain PLC (LON:ARB) said it plans significant cost cuts and will mine cryptocurrencies for itself to weather “continuing difficult trading conditions”. The company, which has around £15mln in the bank, believes the strategic ‘pivot’ will see the business break even at the EBITDA level in the second-half.
Clean energy technology firm PowerHouse Energy Group PLC (LON:PHE) is eyeing signing its first revenue-generating contract next quarter.
Metal Tiger PLC (LON:MTR) announced that, on 14 February 2019, its chief investment officer, Mark Potter made on market purchases of 300,000 ordinary shares in the company at an average price of 1.27p each. Following the purchase, the group added, Potter is interested in 6,300,000 ordinary shares, representing approximately 0.47% of the company’s issued share capital.
88 Energy Ltd (LON:88E) this morning issued a statement telling investors it is on schedule to spud the Winx-1 exploration well later today. The explorer, in a statement, said that the drill rig arrived on site as planned last week, rig-up operations have gone smoothly, and, final preparations are underway before the spud.
Polarean Imaging Plc (LON:POLX), the medical‑imaging technology company, said the University of British Columbia (UBC) is acquiring one of the company’s polarizer systems. No financial details were mentioned, but the Polarean release said UBC has received support from the Canada Foundation for Innovation.
Baker Steel Resources Trust Ltd (LON:BRST), in a statement after Thursday’s close, revealed an agreement to invest US$3mln into Azarga Metals Corp, a company listed on the Toronto Ventures Exchange. It is investing via a 4 year term 8% secured convertible loan.
APQ Global Limited (LON:APQ), the emerging markets growth company, announced that as at the close of business on 31 January 2019, its unaudited book value per ordinary share was 96.32 US cents, equivalent to 73.22p.