Shares in hygiene products maker Byotrol PLC (LON:BYOT) were going down the toilet after an alarming trading update.
The company said it expects to make an underlying loss of around £450,0000 in the financial year just ended, with the board saying the loss was heavier than anticipated because of the delayed regulatory approval – subsequently received - for its flagship sanitiser product plus higher marketing and research costs in the US.
The directors said they are very pleased with progress over the last year and since the financial year-end (31 March).
The market was less pleased; the shares shed 8.4% at 2.18p.
2.45pm: BT dives despite divi defence
BT Group PLC's (LON:BT.A) decision to maintain the dividend was supposed to shore up the share price; it has not worked out that way.
With a new chief executive (CEO) on board, some had suspected the new man would take the opportunity to cut the dividend on the basis that the shares are offering an already generous yield of around 7.3% and the company's debt burden and pension obligations are placing an enormous strain on the balance sheet.
In the end, it looks like new CEO lost a power struggle with chairman Jan du Plessis, who only last year pledged the dividend was safe.
On the other hand, with the group increasing its commitment to lay more ultrafast fibre cables to head off the competition, it is unlikely the divi will be increased much – if at all – in the near future.
The shares were down 3.4%.
Our Chief Executive, Philip Jansen, announces our full year results $BT
Get the full details here ????
— BT Group (@BTGroup) May 9, 2019
1.45pm: TT revs up after optimistic AGM statement
TT Electronics PLC (LON:TTG) revved higher after an upbeat trading statement at the engineered electronics specialists annual general meeting.
The group said it had made a strong start to 2019 with revenue up 27% year-on-year on a constant currency basis, reflecting “targeted business development actions” and the integration of recent acquisitions, Stadium and Precision.
The group's order book remains ahead of the prior year, driven primarily by the Global Manufacturing Solutions division; this more than mitigated softer order intake in Sensors and Specialist Components.
The shares were up 3.8% at 248p.
12.45pm: Reality bites for EVR
EVR Holdings PLC (LON:EVR), the creator of virtual reality music (VR) content, hit a bum note with its full-year results announcement.
Despite the group logging its first revenues – of £1.18mln – during the year, losses ballooned to £11.39mln from a loss of £6.23mln in 2017.
The group tapped the market for £20mln last year, which explains why its cash reserves at the end of the year had risen to £19.3mln from £12.4mln a year earlier.
The shares lost almost a quarter of their value.
11.55am: Frontier Smart Technologies plunges on a profit warning
Increased competition has had a negative impact on profitability of the digital radio division of Frontier Smart Technologies Group Ltd (LON:FST).
The share price of the “smart radio” specialist plummeted 43% to 12p following a downbeat trading update in which the group also flagged up weak sales of its legacy smart audio hardware products.
The board issued new full-year guidance for 2019, saying it expects sales of around US$36.6mln and an underlying adjusted loss of no more than US$900,000.
11.00am: Elecosoft on track after raising the bar back in January
Having raised the bar back in January, there was a danger Elecosoft PLC's (LON:ECSO) first quarter update would be a case of “after the Lord Mayor's show”.
Happily for Elecosoft investors, the construction software developer, said it had traded in line with raised expectations this year.
“We have been encouraged by the trading performance of our recent acquisitions in the UK and Germany and the opportunities for realising synergies which we anticipated when acquiring these businesses,” said executive chairman, John Ketteley (not a weatherman).
The shares were up 7.5% at 86.5p.
Interesting update form Elecosoft #ELCO - growth up 20% but if you annualise the figures from their pair of 2018 acquisitions and assume that's the driver of these figures - then either they're deteriorating or the core business is.. flat
— ʜᴀʀᴇɴɢ ʀᴏᴜɢᴇ (@hareng_rouge) May 9, 2019
10.15am: Rambler ambles higher after improved performance
Rambler Metals and Mining PLC (LON:RMM) has continued its run of record throughput at its Nugget Pond facility in Newfoundland.
The plant processed 98,411 tonnes of ore from the Ming mine in the three months to March, leading to a 47% increase in saleable copper produced in concentrate and a 70% increase in saleable gold compared to a year ago.
Throughput rose by 20% on average to 1,157 dry tonnes per day (965) with 12 March hitting a new peak of 1,492 dry tonnes in a day.
The shares were the top performers in London, up 44%.
9.30am: TheWorks gets the works while Mirriad had myriad problems
Another day, another profit warning from a retailer; this time it is multi-channel operator, TheWorks.co.uk PLC (LON:WRKS).
The company said it achieved year-on-year like-for-like (LFL) sales growth of 3.0% in the 52 weeks to the end of April. At the halfway point of the financial year, LFL sales had been 3.8% ahead, so the second half obviously saw a slowdown.
The company said it delivered its eighth, consecutive, record Christmas performance but like-for-like sales growth had softened since the turn of the year. Consequently, the company now expects its adjusted profit before taxation to be around the lower end of current market expectations.
The shares were down 18.5%.
Video technology company Mirriad Advertising Plc (LON:MIRI) was also getting the works early doors after it revealed revenue slumped to £415,886 in 2018 from £874,191 the year before.
The loss before tax widened to £14.37mln from £11.27mln.
Trading in 2019 to date is in line with the company's budget and first quarter revenue was higher than the revenue raked in during the whole of the first half of 2018.
Mirriad's shares were 13.8% lower at 6.25p.
Proactive news headlines:
Korean gold explorer Bluebird Merchant Ventures Ltd (LON:BMV) is to start drilling at its Kochang mine in July after receiving confirmation of a grant from local mining group KORES.
Tungsten miner W Resources PLC (LON:WRES) has secured a €3mln loan facility with Caja Rural de Extremadura to tide it over until it gets the €5.3mln grant from the Junta de Extremadura Government, expected later this year.
Aggregated Micro Power Holdings PLC (LON:AMPH) has secured additional funding for its projects after its off balance sheet vehicle, Aggregated Micro Power Infrastructure 2 PLC (AMPIL), raised £15.1mln in the form of 8% loan notes.
Ashley House PLC (LON:ASH), the health and community care property partner, has signed contracts to start work on a further two community care schemes.
StatPro Group PLC (LON:SOG) is considering an appeal to the French Supreme Court after the Court of Appeal in Paris found in favour of shareholders in SiSoft as part on an ongoing legal dispute regarding an acquisition of a minority interest in the company.
PowerHouse Energy Group Plc (LON:PHE) has told investors that its venture with Waste2Tricity Limited (W2T) has reached an agreement for the sale of power generated from the processing of waste plastics.
Rambler Metals and Mining PLC (LON:RMM) has continued its run of record throughput at its Nugget Pond facility in Newfoundland.
Jubilee Metals Group PLC (LON:JLP) said the first quarter of 2019 was “an exceptional period” for the company, with quarterly operational earnings rising above £3mln.
Victoria Oil & Gas PLC (LON:VOG) highlighted a 127% rise in output for the first quarter of 2019, thanks to the restart of supply into a gas-fired power plant.
Baker Steel Resources Trust PLC (LON:BSRT) has a launched a tender offer to buy back around 8% of its share capital.
Crop protection specialist Eden Research PLC (LON:EDEN) said its commercial partner had made the first sales in Italy of Cedroz, which targets soil-dwelling pests called nematodes.
Chariot Oil & Gas Limited (LON:CHAR) has unveiled a new independent report that somewhat quickly underlines the significant opportunity presented by its recently acquired Anchois project, offshore Morocco.
Taptica (LON:TAP) has bought back 50,000 ordinary shares at a price of 132.96p each, worth £66,480.
Highlands Natural Resources PLC (LON:HNR) shares saw positive territory as it highlighted a quick move to revenue in its new cannabidiol (CBD) business in the United States.