logo-loader

Carnival sinks as it lowers full-year guidance

Last updated: 15:34 26 Mar 2019 GMT, First published: 09:55 26 Mar 2019 GMT

Cruise ship

Cruise ship company Carnival PLC (LON:CCL) was sitting low in the water after it lowered full-year guidance in its first quarter results.

For 2019, the company forecast adjusted earnings per share to be in the range of US$4.35 to US$4.55, compared to guidance issued in December of US$4.50 to US$4.80.

The shares were down 8.3% at 3,806p.

1.45pm: Quartix on the right track

 A trading update announcing a “very encouraging” start to 2019 gave life to shares in vehicle tracking systems firm Quartix Holdings plc (LON:QTX).

The shares 16p, or 6.5%, to 261p, as it reiterated its full-year guidance at its annual general meeting.

“We are delighted with the progress made in our fleet business in the first quarter. Growth in new customer acquisition and new vehicle installations has accelerated and we have launched our telematics service in two new markets,” Andy Walters, the chief executive of Quartix, told shareholders.

12.30pm: LiDCO enjoys a rush of blood

Lidco Group PLC (LON:LID) has been trading in March at half its May 2018 level but it had a good run in the run-up to today’s results.

The shares started the month at 3.65p and had risen to 4.05p last night following the signing a couple of weeks back of a master distribution agreement for Latin America; the release of full-year results today prompted another 0.45p to be added to the share price at 4.5p.

The blood flow monitoring products maker said it continued to make progress with the transition to the high usage programme (HUP) model, with 48 HUP monitor agreements signed since the year-end.

11.15am: Private equity group said to be sniffing around Convatec

Convatec PLC (LON:CTEC) was a big FTSE 250 gainer, up 7% at 143.20p after Scandinavian newspaper Dagens Industri reported that Swedish private equity group EQT may consider a bid for the medical equipment company.

The report came a day after ConvaTec revealed that it had poached the boss of animal genetics group Genus to help lead the struggling group’s turnaround.

Karim Bitar will leave Genus on September 16 after eight years at the helm to join ConvaTec as its chief executive.

10.30am: Senior executives sell down their stakes to increase free float at PPHE

PPHE Hotel Group Limited (LON:PPH) shares slipped 110p to 1,670p as a major stakeholder planned to place 9.3mln shares at not less than 1,600p a pop.

The company has been notified that the placing, by Euro Plaza, Walford Investment and Aroundtown Real Estate, is being undertaken in order to satisfy market demand, to broaden the institutional investor base of the company and to achieve the free float – the proportion of shares not held by committed long-term holders - required for the company to qualify for inclusion in the FTSE UK series of indices.

Euro Plaza is essentially owned by PPHE’s chairman, Eli Papouchado. Walford is wholly-owned by Clermont Corporate Services , as trustee of certain trusts established for the benefit of Boris Ivesha, the president and chief executive officer of the company, and his family.

9.30am: Boku back in investors' good books but Coral Products crushed by profit warning

Mobile phone network carrier billing company Boku Inc (LON:BOKU) was back in investors’ good books after releasing its full-year results on Tuesday.

The shares, which halved in the space of four weeks at the end of 2018 after the company lobbed out 26.7mln shares and US$1mln in cash to buy identity authorisation specialist Danal, were up 14% at 93.5p in early deals – still a long way shy of the 182p they were trading at in early October.

The company moved into profit – after the usual bewildering adjustments – in 2018 with adjusted earnings before interest, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of U$6.3mln versus a loss the year before of US$2.3mln.

The somewhat easier to understand loss before tax figure was US$2.99mln and a massive improvement on the previous year’s loss of US$28.54mln.

The company said it expects adjusted EBITDA to grow by 45-50% year-on-year in 2019, driven by underlying performance and the implementation of new accounting procedures.

“Our forecast is for a record year: record revenues, record EBITDA, investment in new products and continued cash generation,” the company said.

If Boku was typically American in its bullishness, a bit of traditional northern fatalism in the trading update from Coral Products PLC (LON:CRU), which is based in Haydock on Merseyside.

“In the six months to 31 October 2018, the company reported a profit before tax of £582K; this was followed by a loss in the four months to 28 February 2019 and, as a result, the board therefore now expects the group's results for the year ending 30 April 2019 to be materially below both management and market expectations,” the company said.

The designer and manufacturer of plastic products said it had seen a downturn in business generated from the automotive industry and significant delays in delivery of totes ordered from a major on-line retailer.

Coral’s shares were down 47% at 6.5p.

Proactive news headlines:

ValiRx Plc’s (LON:VAL) joint venture ValiSeek has agreed letters of intent with one European and one US partner to take lung cancer treatment VAL401 into a phase III trial.  ValiSeek is also seeking external financing towards the next trial and will handle the commercial negotiations with ValiRx having no further financial commitment to the next stages of VAL401’s development.

Erris Resources PLC (LON:ERIS) has delivered positive results from 527 closely spaced soil samples taken from the Abbeytown zinc project in County Sligo, Ireland. Three new targets have been identified up to 1.25 kilometres southwest of the old Abbeytown mine.

Shares in S & U PLC (LON:SUS) opened sharply higher after the company revealed another year of record profits for its car purchase finance arm. The loans specialist cheered the market with a 12.3% increase in the full-year dividend to 118p in respect of fiscal 2019 from 105p in fiscal 2018.

Personal Group Holdings PLC (LON:PGH) has reported improved profits in its latest full year, saying that it saw “potential opportunity” in a less predictable business environment caused by the ongoing Brexit shenanigans. Big Pic needed.

Alliance Pharma PLC (LON:APH) posted strong growth, boosted by acquisitions, as overseas sales surpassed domestic revenues for the first time ever. The company’s star international brands performed well, led by Kelo-cote, a skin treatment.

Motif Bio PLC (LON:MTFB) (NASDAQ:MTFB) received a monetary boost – and by extension a vote of confidence in its prospects – as it raised £2.7mln via a share placing. The cash will fund the business through the coming months as it meets with officials at the US Food & Drug Administration to discuss the future of its antibiotic, iclaprim.

Faron Pharmaceuticals Oy (LON:FARN) plans to raise around €3mln (£2.5mln) via a share placing and subscription to institutional investors to advance its development programmes and provide working capital into the third-quarter of 2019. The AIM-listed clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company said the placing will be conducted by way of an accelerated bookbuild process.

Galantas Gold Corporation (LON:GAL) (CVE:GAL) is expanding its gold milling capacity at the Omagh mine in Northern Ireland. The company’s mill is already producing a gold and silver concentrate using a non-toxic, froth-flotation process.

Pizza chain operator DP Poland PLC (LON:DPP) is trying out a partnership with Poland's largest takeaway delivery aggregator and the early signs are promising. The company, which operates the Domino's Pizza franchise in Poland, has already warned the market that it faced increased competition in the second half of 2018 from the two main delivery aggregators and it has evidently decided that if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

Albert Technologies Ltd’s (LON:ALB)  revenues jumped sharply in 2018 as use of its automated advertising technology gathered momentum. Sales rose 170% to US$4.6mln from US$1.7mln though heavy spending on developing the Albert platform meant another hefty loss.

The open pit reserve at the T3 copper project in Botswana has been increased to 34.4mln tonnes grading 1% copper and 13.2 grams per tonne silver, after a significant work programme undertaken by owner MOD Resources (LON:MOD). London-based investment company Metal Tiger PLC (LON:MTR) holds around 10.5% of MOD.

Kore Potash PLC (LON:KP2) has received an engineering, procurement and construction proposal from a French consortium of engineering companies, comprising Technip France, Vinci Construction, Egis International and Louis Dreyfus. The proposal was a month late.

88 Energy Ltd’s (LON:88E, ASX:88E) exploration partner Red Emperor Resources (LON:RMP) (ASX:RMP) has issued a statement reaffirming its intention to continue pursuit of oil in the Nanushuk play. It comes as 88 Energy has plugged and abandoned the Winx-1 well which unearthed more than one potential oil zone, but, none were found to be sufficiently promising to conduct further testing.

ADES International Holding PLC (LON:ADES) told investors that it has now completed its transaction with Weatherford International, to acquire a package of rigs currently in Algeria and Iraq. For a total of US$32mln, the company has picked up two onshore rigs currently in Algeria and two that are in southern Iraq but are due for relocation to Saudi Arabia.

FairFX, the e-banking and international payments group said it has raised around £2mln before expenses after the exercise of warrants over 7,500,000 new ordinary shares which were issued to Crystal Amber Fund in conjunction with the company's equity placing announced in March 2016. The group said the funds raised will support its growth plans in 2019 and beyond.

Be Heard Group PLC (LON:BHRD), the digital marketing group, said it was notified that on 25 March 2019, its chief executive officer, Simon Pyper purchased 397,768 ordinary shares in the company at 1.255p each. The group said Pyper's total holding in the company is now 4,138,456 ordinary shares, representing 0.40% of the total issued share capital.

Highlands Natural Resources PLC (LON:HNR) said, further to its recent subscription and PrimaryBid fundraising, its executive chairman, Robert Price's holding in the company now represents 8.79% of the group’s total voting rights, although the number of ordinary shares held by Price has not changed.

Solo Oil PLC (LON:SOLO) announced that an updated copy of the company's presentation is available on its website.

Franchise Brands PLC (LON:FRAN), an international multi-brand franchisor, announced that it will be exhibiting at the UK Investor Show 2019 taking place at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, Westminster this Saturday 30 March 2019, and can be found at Stand 52.

Oriole Resources outlines 2023 achievements and future exploration plans

Oriole Resources PLC (AIM:ORR) CEO Tim Livesey and chief financial officer Bob Smeeton join Proactive's Stephen Gunnion with details of the company's 2023 financial and operational performance. Livesey highlighted successful exploration programs in Cameroon, at the Bibemi and Mbe projects,...

1 hour, 44 minutes ago