Alarm bells continue to ring at home safety products maker FireAngel Safety Technology Group PLC (LON:FA.), which is to part company with its chief executive.
Neil Smith will leave the company tomorrow; John Conoley, the company's chairman, will take on executive duties.
The departure overshadowed a decent trading update – decent in the context of a company that has issued two profit warnings in the last 8 months – in which it revealed results in the first half of the year were ahead of budget.
11.30am: Low & Bonar disappoints again
Performance materials firm Low & Bonar PLC (LON:LWB) disappointed the market again on Tuesday just two months after issuing a profit warning.
The shares fell by one-sixth to 8.1p after the company revealed it had slumped into the red at the half-year stage.
The underlying loss before tax was £0.2mln versus a rise of £7.2mln the year before; the reported loss before tax was £41.7mln, versus a loss in the corresponding six-month period the year before of £12.3mln.
10.30am: BP tops the Footsie leader-board
Shares in oil titan BP PLC (LON:BP.) were up 3.5% at 545.3p after a second-quarter update, making them the best performing Footsie constituent.
Underlying replacement cost profit for the second quarter of 2019 was flat year-on-year at US$2.8bn despite a slide in oil prices.
“The group generated almost US$7bn of cash flow in Q2 [the second quarter], far outweighing the US$3.7bn cost of capital expenditure in the quarter. The group is halfway through a five-year plan to raise production and margins to industry-leading levels and Bob Dudley, CEO [chief executive officer] reckons the group is right on target,” reported Steve Clayton, the manager of the Hargreaves Lansdown UK Income Shares fund.
“With sterling currently weak due to fears over the economic impact of Brexit, BP’s dollar earnings look ever more valuable to UK investors,” he added.
Reliable performance & disciplined growth delivering strong earnings - #BP reveals 2Q financial results $BP #BPresults pic.twitter.com/gxc8FVd2x7
— BP (@BP_plc) July 30, 2019
times are changing... @BP_plc wants to charge #electriccars in 5 minutes #emobility https://t.co/zzwKti9mpm
— hitzestau (@hitzestau) July 30, 2019
9.30am: Petra tries to allay cash-call fears; Transense raises expectations
Petra Diamonds Limited (LON:PDL) made a glittering start to the day, rising 15% to 11.79p, after responding to broker comment about an imminent cash call.
“Some third-party commentary in relation to the capex [capital expenditure] guidance published in the FY [fiscal year] 2019 trading update has raised concerns around potential increases in capex spend beyond FY 2020,” the company said in its response to press speculation.
“We have been able to lower our capex budget for FY 2020 by bringing forward some spend to FY 2019 as well as re-prioritising all projects across the group's operations. The reduction in the FY 2020 capex guidance nevertheless provides for the ongoing sustainability of the business,” Petra said.
A trading update from Transense Technologies PLC (LON:TRT), the provider of sensor systems for the industrial, mining and transportation markets, sent the shares 5.8% higher to 64p.
Revenue in the year just ended was ahead of expectations and the board expects the full-year loss will not be as heavy as previously feared.
“We have continued to make good progress with subscription income from iTrack II from both new and existing customers, and consider future prospects to be very positive,” said Graham Storey, the chief executive officer of Transense.
Proactive news headlines:
Coaches operator National Express Group PLC (LON:NEX) is to install Seeing Machines Limited’s (LON:SEE) Guardian driver monitoring technology into vehicles across its UK fleet.
CentralNic Group PLC (LON:CNIC) has promoted its chief operating officer, Alex Siffrin, to the board. The 42-year-old joined the internet domain names specialist last year following the reverse takeover of his company, KeyDrive.
Virtual reality specialist Immotion Group PLC (LON:IMM) has cautioned a shift in business strategy will affect its numbers in the current year. In future, the focus will be on revenue sharing partnerships to roll-out its virtual reality pods into high footfall locations rather than direct sales.
As investors and management await exploration results in Guyana, Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas Ltd (LON:ECO)(TSX:EOG) today released its annual report which highlights a “strong balance sheet” that allows it to begin its drilling campaign.
Thor Mining PLC (LON:THR) is continuing to engage in talks regarding funding for its Molhil tungsten project in Australia.
In a statement after Monday’s close Aminex PLC (LON:AEX) told investors that it had agreed a new extension to the longstop date for its farm-out deal for the Ruvuma asset onshore Tanzania, with a new date set at 31 October.
Xpediator PLC (LON:XPD) said demand for its freight management services remains strong but this year’s profit will be materially below expectations.
Polymetal has exchanged US$10mln worth of convertible loan notes in Chaarat Gold Holdings (LON:CGH) for just over 14.6mln shares. The convertible was issued as part of the deal whereby Chaarat acquired the Kapan mine in Armenia.
Physiomics Plc (LON:PYC) in a short statement confirmed it has traded in line with analysts’ expectations for the year to June 30.
Tower Resources PLC (LON:TRP) has extended its bridging loan facility with repayment now moving out to 31 August.
Brady PLC (LON:BRY) said it has appointed non-executive director Iain Greig as its interim chief technology officer with effect from August 12.
accesso Technology Group plc (LON: ACSO) has awarded its chief operating officer, John Guilfoy, more than £500,000 worth of share awards under its long-term incentive plan, which was approved by shareholders in May 2017.
MTI Wireless Edge Ltd’s (LON:MWE) wholly owned subsidiary, Mottech Water Solution Ltd, has completed the purchase of 50% of Parkland Australia.