Reach PLC (LON:RCH), the publishing group that was formerly known as Trinity Mirror, advanced 4.4% to 60.1p after a decent set of full-year results.
Adjusted profit before tax in 2018 rose 16% to £141.9mln from £122.5mln the year before on the back of a 16.2% increase in revenue to £723.9mln.
The adjusted profit before tax excluded a non-cash impairment charge of £200.0 million and a charge of £15.8 million relating to the recent guaranteed minimum pension equalisation ruling.
The company warned that the level of economic turmoil expected with a no deal Brexit is likely to have a direct impact on its advertising revenue and potentially circulation revenue if the economy moves into recession.
What irony to note that the Reach PLC (Mirror, Express & Star) has taken an impairment charge of £200m for 2018, mentioning Brexit as one of the reasons. It would be good to see that paragraph quoted in a headline to Express readers.
— Danny Barrs (@DanielBarrs2) February 25, 2019
2.30pm: IOG slides after funding update
A project and funding update from North Sea explorer Independent Oil & Gas PLC (LON:IOG) proved a disappointment to shareholders.
The shares were off 4.4% at 11p as the company said its financing partner, London Oil & Gas (LOG) has drawn down £3.93mln of its £15mln loan facility in 2019 and still has a further £3.93mln undrawn; cash currently stands at £2.9mln.
READ IOG aims to reassure over loan facility
House broker finnCap said: “IOG shares have been whacked on the back of the tangential FCA investigation into London Capital & Finance at a time when it is seeking material development funding for its core gas project. This sell-off looks way overdone, with the shares now trading at just 16% of our 72p risked-NAV.”
“While a delay to the timing of the funding may crimp our valuation slightly, this remains a highly attractive project,” the broker added.
1.30pm: Diurnal perks up after news Israel
Hormonal diseases specialist Diurnal Group PLC (LON:DNL) perked up after it submitted a marketing authorisation application for Alkindi, its treatment for paediatric adrenal insufficiency.
The company also revealed it has been granted a second patent for Alkindi in Israel.
Israel represents a significant patient population with an unmet need and a potential market opportunity for Diurnal, given the estimated higher prevalence of paediatric adrenal insufficiency and congenital adrenal hyperplasia in Israel.
12.10pm: Audioboom raises funds for expansion
Podcast specialist Audioboom Group PLC (LON:BOOM) rose 0.23p to 1.9p after it raised around £1.5mln through issuing shares at 1.3p a pop.
The year is still young but Audioboom crowed that its forward in-read advertising bookings and monthly recurring revenues from programmatic advertising and podcast subscriptions for 2019 already exceed the company's total revenues for the 13 month period ended 31 December 2018.
READ Audioboom surges after banging trading update
The company said the cash raised will mostly be used to meet the upfront payments required to secure new and existing established podcast content and their audiences, with a view to generating materially higher revenues throughout 2019 and beyond.
11.20am: Winning streak continues for RTC
Recruitment, training and conference (the clue’s in the name) specialist RTC Group PLC (LON:RTC) rose by one-sixth after it revealed its 2018 results.
A 22% year-on-year increase in revenue to £87.8mln led to a 58% increase in pre-tax profit at £1.2mln. The full-year dividend has been cranked up by 10% to 3.85p.
“Group revenue has increased for the tenth successive year and since we outlined our long-term growth plan in 2014 we have delivered EBITDA growth of 80%, EPS growth of 72% and dividend growth of over 150% to our shareholders,” boasted Andy Pendlebury, the chief executive officer of RTC.
10.30am: Mixed reaction to results from the Colter well
The market had a mixed reaction to the results from the Colter well, off the Bournemouth coastline, which revealed a ‘bonus’ oil discovery but also that a side-track is now needed to reach the well’s primary target.
Baron Oil PLC (LON:BOIL) - one stakeholder in the well with an 8% interest – saw its shares jump 33%, to trade at 0.3p in Monday’s early deals.
United Oil & Gas PLC (LON:UOG) owns 10% of the well and its share price increased 5% to 4.3p, while Reabold Resources PLC (LON:RBD), which has a shareholding in project operator Corallian, edged 1.6% into positive territory.
Andalas Energy and Power PLC (LON:ADL) has an 8% stake in the well, and its share price was negative – down 1.54%.
9.30am: DeepMatter and Fusion Antibodies the big fallers early doors
DeepMatter Group PLC (LON:DMTR), the company that was formerly known as Cronin Group, has placed shares at a severe discount to finance its acquisition of InfoChem.
The AIM-listed company focused on digitising chemistry saw its shares plummet 24% to 3.15p after it raised roughly £4.0mln through a placing of shares at 2.5p, versus Friday’s closing price of 4.18p.
"We are delighted to be oversubscribed in our placing,” said Mark Warne, the chief executive officer of DeepMatter.
No wonder it was oversubscribed at that sort of discount.
Also taking a clobbering in early deals was Fusion Antibodies PLC (LON:FAB), the pharmaceutical contract research organisation, after it issued a warning about revenues.
Due to the uncertain timing of the closure of a number of potential substantial orders, revenues for the year to the end of March 2019 are now expected to be materially below current market expectations but not less than £2.1 million. Revenue in the previous financial year was £2.7mln.
On the bright side, the company said that revenues picked up from October 2018 onwards, with orders in the second half of the fiscal year clocking in at more than £1.9mln, up from £1.2mln in the preceding six-month period.
Fusion’s shares were down 19% at 30p, way below their 2018 high of 178p.
Proactive news headlines:
United Oil & Gas PLC (LON:UOG) has told investors that the Colter appraisal well, off England’s South Coast, has unearthed a ‘bonus’ discovery, though a side-track will now need to be drilled to reach the well’s primary target. The well was drilled down to a total depth of 1,870 metres. The company reported that the well unexpectedly remained on the southern side of the Colter Prospect bounding fault, meaning the primary target was not encountered.
Using ANGLE PLC’s (LON:AGL) (OTCQX:ANPCY) liquid biopsy has been revealed to result in a 30-fold increase in tumour cells harvested for analysis in cancer patients. Parsortix was deployed by a Düsseldorf team called Disseminated Cancer Cell Network.
Synairgen plc’s (LON:SNG) prelims revealed the company made significant progress in the year just gone. It completed the first part of its SG015 study, assessing the safety of its inhaled interferon beta drug, SNG001.
Tekcapital PLC (LON:TEK) has reported a record level of net assets in its latest full-year results and is eyeing the cannabis sector for its next potential investment.
Oil and gas rig supplier ADES International Holding PLC (LON:ADES) has renewed contracts for six onshore operating rigs in Saudi Arabia that it acquired in December. All six rigs are contracted for a minimum of three years, starting in February, and they will add up to US$228mln to the contract pipeline.
I3 Energy PLC (LON:I3E) has agreed on terms over a £24mln junior loan package to fund a three-well campaign on its Liberator field in the North Sea. One of the conditions is that I3 provides £16mln through either a joint venture partner farm-in or a share issue.
Anglo Asian Mining PLC (LON:AAZ) has published its mineral resources and ore reserve estimate for its Gadir underground mine in Azerbaijan and issued dividend guidance for 2019.
Tlou Energy Ltd (LON:TLOU) told investors that it has now begun production testing operations at the Lesedi coal bed methane project in Botswana. The company, in a statement, said that the Lesedi 3 development pod has been completed with surface production equipment now installed and operational.
Highlands Natural Resources PLC (LON:HNR) told investors that initial production rates from the East Denver project have measured 4,600 barrels oil equivalent per day, and they are expected to rise further. The production pad – to which the Buckskin, Citadel, Grizzly, Hagar, Ouray, Thunder, Wildhorse and Powell wells are attached – is flowing oil at a combined rate of around 4,053 Bopd while combined gas rates were 3.28mln cubic feet per day.
Base Resources Ltd. (LON:BSE) offset lower grades at its Kwale mineral sands operation in Kenya with a 66% boost to output during the six months to December 2018, which meant that production was broadly flat when compared to the corresponding period a year ago.
Erris Resources PLC (LON:ERIS) is continuing with exploration on its Abbeytown zinc project in Ireland. Drilling has now succeeded in connecting the underground mineralisation with that at the surface and also out to the south.
Goldplat plc (LON:GDP) turned in an operating loss for the six months to December 2018 of £653,000 against an operating profit of £1.6mln for the corresponding period a year earlier.
Kavango Resources PLC (LON:KAV) said it has raised £500,000 in a share placing to fund an acceleration of its Kalahari Suture Zone (KSZ) project in southwest Botswana.
Vast Resources PLC (LON:VAST) has sent out a letter to shareholders following what it calls the “non-receipt” of US$5.5mln in financing that it had been expecting from erstwhile backer Mercuria B. The letter outlines details of a general meeting to be held on 11 March, at which Vast will request its shareholders to grant it the authority to issue new equity and to disapply pre-emption rights.
Adamas Finance Asia Limited (LON:ADAM) has unveiled plans to buy back up to US$500,000 of its own shares and also announced it has reached an agreement for the off-market purchase of 730,529 of its ordinary shares for a price of US$0.10 each, an aggregate purchase price of US$73,053.