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Hammerson avoids a hammering

Last updated: 15:25 25 Feb 2020 GMT, First published: 08:54 25 Feb 2020 GMT

Wey Education -

Hammerson PLC (LON:HMSO) defied the market trend today, rising 2.2% to 226.9p despite some scary numbers in its full-year results.

Losses before tax at the Bullring and Brent Cross owner widened to £574mln (from £173mln) as rent and car park income fell.

Net asset value per share tanked 19% to £6.01 and though the dividend was maintained this time at 25.9p, for the current year it will be cut by 46% to 14p.

2.15pm: Katoro shines as it says progress at Blyvoor has been quicker than expected

Katoro Gold PLC (LON:KAT) climbed 12% to 2.85p after issuing an update concerning its Blyvoor joint venture.

The gold and nickel exploration and development company said work on the Blyvoor project is proceeding more rapidly than anticipated.

The company has issued notice to Sanderson Capital Partners to draw down an additional £400,000 through a convertible loan note facility it has negotiated.

1.00pm: De La Rue shareholders are quids in

De La Rue PLC (LON:DLAR) shares were London’s best performers, up 22% at 148.6p, after the banknote maker unveiled a restructuring plan.

The company, which until recently was responsible for making the UK’s passports, said the new cost reduction plans will “significantly exceed and accelerate” previous commitments to cut £20mln by the 2021/22 financial year, adding that the reduced expenses will allow it to “compete more strongly across all its market segments”.

The company is now looking to suck £35mln in annual costs out of the business.

11.30am: Dalata Hotel rises as it sees no sign of coronavirus hitting its business yet

Dalata Hotel Group Plc (LON:DAL), the largest hotel operator in Ireland, rose 2.9% to 405p on the back of full-year results.

The hotel sector has not had much to sing about of late owing to the coronavirus but the hotels group said trading in the first quarter had been in line with expectations.

“We continue to monitor closely the evolving and unfortunate COVID-19 outbreak but to date, we have seen no material impact on our business,” the company said.

10.00am: Ricardo slumps as it joins the list of coronavirus-related profit warners

Ricardo PLC (LON:RCDO) shares tumbled 118p to 642p as the engineer joined the list of companies warning about the impact of the coronavirus.

“As we start the second half of the year, we have seen increased headwinds in the automotive sector which we anticipate will lead to suppressed order intake in our US, EMEA and China Automotive businesses. The Coronavirus outbreak at the start of H2 has already had an operationally disruptive impact on our Automotive and Rail operations in China and we anticipate continuing disruption to client engagement, project delivery and business development in the coming months in mainland China and surrounding countries,” said Dave Shemmans, the chief executive officer of Ricardo.

The engineering company said it is expecting a “material impact” to its profitability in the second half of its financial year.

9.15am: Wey Education earns gold star after lifting revenue guidance

Wey Education PLC (LON:WEY) was a star pupil in early trade on Tuesday, rising 12% to 18.15p after it raised revenue guidance for the current financial year.

The online educational services provider said it's InterHigh and Academy 21 businesses have both started the fiscal year (to end-August) strongly as a result of which group turnover is expected to be significantly ahead of current market forecasts at more than £5.7mln.

The board is taking advantage of the increased turnover to invest in the growth areas at a greater rate than initially planned but still expects to meet market forecasts for profit in the current year.

Pollen Street Secured Lending PLC (LON:PSSL), the FTSE 250 investment trust, saw its shares surge 7.5% to 890p after it received a bid approach from Waterfall Asset Management.

The terms are evidently not to be sneezed at; Waterfall is considering offering 900p per Pollen share and allowing shareholders to trouser the recently announced fourth-quarter dividend of 12p.

The board of Pollen Street has indicated to Waterfall it would be “minded to recommend” shareholders accept a cash offer at the indicated level.

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InnovaDerma PLC (LON:IDP) said the online customer base for its Skinny Tan product has increased by 12% to 683,000 since June of last year. In its results statement covering the second half of 2019, the developer of beauty, personal care and life science products said it had been a period of strong progress. Revenue surged 32.8% to £5.1mln from £3.9mln in the same period of 2018.

Tlou Energy Limited (LON:TLOU) told investors that it has received a regulatory document in support of the tender for its coal bed methane venture in Botswana. The written confirmation is from Botswana’s Ministry of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security. Tlou said it looks forward to working to finalise the power purchase agreement for the project in due course.

FastForward Innovations Ltd’s (LON:FFWD) portfolio firm EMMAC has launched Medican, the UK’s first operational distance medical cannabis pharmacy. EMMAC, in which FFWD owns a 2.4% stake, said Medican has already processed over 100 medical cannabis prescriptions in the UK and will be able to leverage EMMAC’s vertically integrated supply chain to create value for clients.

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Aminex PLC (LON:AEX) and partner APT are teeing up their operations in Tanzania in anticipation of the ‘greenlight’ from regulatory authorities. The company, in a statement, also highlighted that there are “positive indications” that Tanzania is re-engaging with the international business community, after a period of reduced corporate engagement, in order to support the country's power demands.

Solo Oil PLC (LON:SOLO) chief executive Tom Reynolds said the AIM-quoted investment firm is “encouraged” by Tuesday’s update from Tanzania partner Aminex PLC (LON:AEX).

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