Data technology firm Shearwater Group PLC (LON:SWG) cheered the market with its full-year results, which sent the shares 16% higher to 2.30p.
Actually, the bit that most impressed in its results statement was the part that referred to current trading; the company said there had been a “notably strong performance” in the first quarter of the current year.
The company said it made a maiden profit on an underlying earnings (EBITDA) basis.
1.45pm: Thomas Cook lifted by stake-building by Turkish tourism tycoon
Neşet Koçkar, the founder and owner of ANEX Tourism Group of companies, has disclosed a 6.71% stake in Thomas Cook Group PLC (LON:TCG).
Shares in the cash-strapped UK company, which is looking for a £750mln bail-out from its major shareholder, China’s Fosun, soared by a third to 6p on the disclosure.
The market capitalisation of Thomas Cook rose to £68.7mln but any company taking it over would also have to take on board its £1.25bn of debt.
12.30pm: Slim-fast flogger Glanbia looking a bit peakey after lowering earnings guidance
Protein products purveyor Glanbia PLC (LON:GLB), with its shares down 13% at 12.08p, was looking a bit peaky after its half-year results.
The full-year 2019 guidance of adjusted earnings per share on a reported basis has been revised to 88 cents to 92 cent range assuming foreign exchange rates remain at current levels, the Irish company said.
The median forecast for earnings per share was 98.5 cents.
11.15am: Dignity dives as death rate drops off
Shareholders in listed undertaker Dignity PLC (LON:DTY) had a coughing fit after the company revealed plummeting half-year profits.
The shares were down 8.9% at 560p after the company, no stranger to profit warnings, said profit before tax in the first year was £14.9mln, down from £38.5mln in the same period of last year, on revenue that fell 11% to £155.3mln from £174.7mln.
On the plus side – unless you are a particularly callous Dignity shareholder – the number of UK deaths in the period fell to 300,000 from 324,000 in the first half of last year.
“Longer-term expectations, based on the ONS [Office for National Statistics] forecasts remain unchanged, with increases in the long-term number of deaths, reaching approximately 700,000 per year by 2040,” said cheerful Mike McCollum, the chief executive officer of Dignity.
10.00am: Shareholders cull Brave Bison from their portfolios
Shares in the oddly-named Brave Bison Group PLC (LON:BBSN) were being ruthlessly culled from investors’ portfolios after a profit warning from the social video company.
The company said advertising revenue in the first half of 2019 was affected by “de-monetisation” of Facebook pages and the adaptation to Facebook’s new policies.
Brave Bison: Here's the BS the then (and now returned) CEO spouted 3 years ago on the new strategy & name change to the risible Brave Bison.
SP is 70% down since then (warned again today) and 98% since IPO as Rightster in 2013.$BBSN.L pic.twitter.com/NKBZFd4Rnz
— MrContrarian (@MrContrarian) July 31, 2019
“The out-turn for the full year to 31 December 2019 will show a material reduction in revenue and adjusted EBITDA versus current market expectations,” the company warned.
The loss before tax widened to £1.16mln from £415,000 the year before while the cash balance at the end of June had declined to £3.7mln from £5.4mln at the end of 2018.
Brave Bison’s shares were down 21% at 1.5p.
As if we needed any more evidence that retailers are having a hard time … shopping centres owner Intu Properties PLC’s (LON:INTU) shares tanked 19% to 57p after a grim half-year report.
“We have experienced further downward pressure on like-for-like net rental income and property values resulting from a higher level of administrations and CVAs as some retailers struggle to remain relevant in a multichannel world,” admitted Matthew Roberts, the chief executive of Intu.
Net rental income in the first six months of the year fell to £205.2mln from £223.1mln – down 17.9% in absolute terms and 7.7% lower on a like-for-like basis.
The company swallowed an £872mln property revaluation deficit, which was even bigger than the £650.4mln buzz-cut it suffered the year before. Net asset value per share plunged to 252p from 312p a year earlier.
The company did not declare an interim dividend.
Not that I won any but I see $JSEITU INTU UK shopping centres etc now at a new 52wk low or 70 pence
Are things that bad? Didn't a rival offer a much higher price back in the day? pic.twitter.com/FI5Bt8RGZV
— @Smalltalkdaily Research (@smalltalkdaily) July 30, 2019
Proactive news headlines
hVIVO PLC (LON:HVO) said a potentially breakthrough vaccine for mosquito-borne diseases is set to undergo a phase I clinical trial.
Shares in StatPro Group PLC (LON:SOG) nudged higher in a falling market after the provider of portfolio analysis tools posted an increase in underlying profits.
Integumen PLC told investors “current activity continues to be significantly higher than the company has experienced in the past”.
Sunrise Resources PLC (LON:SRES) is now on the regulatory fast track with its permitting application for the NewPerl perlite project in Nevada, USA.
Immotion Group PLC (LON:IMMO) has signed a deal with US firm The Virtual Reality Company to roll out 'Jurassic World VR Expedition' virtual reality franchise to partners.
Salt Lake Potash Ltd (LON:SO4) has completed construction of its first two commercial-scale evaporation ponds and has begun pumping of sulphate of potash (SOP) brine.
Bushveld Minerals Limited (LON:BMN) said the Vametco vanadium mine in South Africa is on course to meet full-year production guidance.
Mosman Oil And Gas Ltd (LON:MSMN) reported a sharp rise in second-half production, driven by strong output from the Stanley project in Texas.
Berkeley Energia Ltd (LON:BKY) highlighted that its primary focus continues to be on securing approvals to start building the Salamanca mine and bring it into production.
Premier African Minerals PLC (LON:PREM) chief executive George Roach has written to shareholders to explain the lack of progress at the RHA tungsten mine and Zulu lithium projects in Zimbabwe.
MidaTech Pharma PLC (MTPH.L) has appointed a former GlaxoSmithKline PLC (LON:GSK) director to its board.
Sure Ventures PLC (LON:SURE) finished its financial year invested in a much more diverse portfolio of software companies operating across the fields of augmented and virtual reality, the internet of things, fintech and artificial intelligence.
AfriTin Mining Ltd (LON:ATM) has completed the construction of a new plant at its flagship Uis Tin Mine in Namibia.
Anglesey Mining PLC (LON:AYM) says the detailed review of its Parys Mountain project in Wales has identified several ways to improve its economics.
ANGLE PLC (LON:AGL) still expects to make a US regulatory submission for its Parsortix cancer-detecting system in or around October, offering the chance that it could be given the green light early next year.
Falcon Oil & Gas Ltd (LON:FOG, CVE:FO) gave investors an update on operations at the Beetaloo basin project, in Australia’s Northern Territory, where preparations are underway for a drill programme.
Keywords Studios PLC (LON:KWS), the technical and creative services provider to the video games industry, has seen strong like-for-like revenue growth in 2019.
Genel Energy PLC (LON:GENL) in an update highlighted that its 25% owned Tawke field remains the largest independent oil firm operated field in Kurdistan, with production averaging 71,700 barrels of oil per day in the first half of 2019.