CPPGroup PLC (LON:CPP) was clobbered, plummeting 43% to 1.6470p before recovering a little, after it said its full-year results would be delayed.
The insurance company was only complying with a request from the Financial Conduct Authority, which has asked many companies to hold off from publishing their preliminary results, and its shares recovered to 2.5p, down 14%, after it posted a trading update.
In 2019, underlying earnings (EBITDA) rose by 38% to £8.7mln from £6.3mln in 2019 on revenue that rose 26% to £138.4mln from £110.1mln.
1.30pm: Market goes to town on N Brown
N Brown PLC (LON:BWNG), down 38% at 16.51p, was the top faller in London after sales in the past week plunged by 40%.
The clothing retailer that owns the JD Williams, Simply Be and Jacamo brands said while it is impossible to give accurate guidance, it is budgeting for a material reduction in demand throughout the current year.
Dividends have been postponed indefinitely, stock purchases halted and all non-essential expenditure stopped while talks have started with HMRC to defer tax and national insurance.
12.35pm: Tasty restaurant closures have accountants contemplating some dim sums
Tasty PLC (LON:TAST) has shut all 56 of its Dim T and Wildwood eateries, wiping a third off the value of its shares (at 1.25p) in the process.
The move came after the UK government called for the closure of all restaurants, pubs and bars to limit the spread of coronavirus.
AIM-listed Tasty said it was offering takeaway and delivery services from the restaurants where this was available and would do so until the government advised otherwise.
11.40am: Tristel teams up with Byotrol
Tristel PLC (LON:TSTL), the manufacturer of infection prevention and contamination control products, climbed 24% to 470p as it announced a collaboration with Byotrol.
It has entered into a “know-how licence and commercial collaboration” with Byotrol; shares in the latter were the top risers in London, up 42%.
The agreement relates to the joint development of a biocidal formulation and Byotrol's development of two additional biocidal products and formulations that will be supplied and licensed to Tristel.
10.45am: Spire pitches in to help the NHS
Spire Healthcare Group PLC (LON:SPI) shot up 21% to 63.8p as it threw its full weight behind the National Health Service’s sight against the coronavirus pandemic.
The group is handing over all available capacity in its 35 private hospitals in England to the NHS for at least 14 weeks to help in the coronavirus pandemic.
Spire will be paid an amount to cover costs for its services, including operating costs, overheads, use of assets, rent and interest, with a deduction made for any private elective care provided.
9.30am: Byotrol and Novacyt soar on coronavirus-related developments
Byotrol PLC (LON:BYOT) shares soared 42% to 5.1p in early trade on Monday after it revealed “exceptional demand” in recent weeks for its infection prevention and control technologies in the face of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Byotrol's results to 31 March 2020 are now expected to exceed the guidance given at the time of its interim results, where it confirmed its expectations of positive underlying earnings (EBITDA) for the full year.
The exact out-turn will depend on the extent to which it can complete orders before the cut-off on 31 March.
Meanwhile, Novacyt SA (LON:NCYT) saw its shares rocket by a third to 163.5p after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an Emergency Use Authorization for Novacyt’s COVID-19 test.
As a result of the FDA’s decision, hospitals and laboratories in the US will be able to use the test for clinical diagnosis of COVID-19.
The test is available for immediate distribution into the US market.
Proactive news headlines:
Gfinity PLC (LON:GFIN) has been selected to host the F1 Esports Virtual Grand Prix, a series created to enable fans to watch Formula 1 races virtually. The esports firm said it will oversee the delivery of the tournament, tournament operations and broadcast production for the series, which will be played every weekend in place of the F1 Grand Prix, which has been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.
e-therapeutics PLC (LON:ETX) said it is gauging interest in its rapid screening technology as the pharma industry works to find an effective vaccine against coronavirus (COVID-19). Its “in silico”, or computer simulation platform has successfully found active compounds capable of protecting human cells in influenza. The firm, therefore, believes the same strategies could be used to identify combinations of compounds with “useful activity” against Sars-CoV-2, the virus which causes Covid-19.
Amryt Pharma PLC (LON:AMYT) chief, Dr Joe Wiley, said the business is well capitalised and resilient as he provided an update against the backdrop of the COVID-19 outbreak. Pro forma revenues of the newly enlarged group were up 13.1% at US$154.1mln in the year just gone as it reported that a strong end to 2019 carried on into 2020. As at December 31, the firm had US$65mln in cash. Amryt’s debt profile, meanwhile, offers “significant flexibility”, the firm said with no facility set to mature before September 2024.
Directa Plus PLC (LON:DCTA) has pointed out that its Italian operations are exempt from the restrictions recently imposed by the Italian government. The producer and supplier of graphene nanoplatelets-based products for use in consumer and industrial markets is classified as a chemical company in Italy and so is in a protected industry deemed to be providing essential goods and services.
NQ Minerals PLC (AQSE:NQMI) has engaged experienced Tasmanian mining specialist consultants to assist it to prepare a mine re-opening due diligence study to assess the opportunities available at the Beaconsfield gold mine. "In these challenging times, I'm pleased to advise that all of NQ's operations in Tasmania continue as normal,” said David Lenigas, NQ's chairman.
AFC Energy PLC (LON:AFC) has raised £1.4mln of new capital to boost financial liquidity so that the business is protected in the event of a prolonged coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. An existing institutional shareholder is the sole participant and it is subscribing for 14mln new shares, priced at 0.1p each. The price is marked at an 18.7% discount to Friday’s closing price in London. AFC last week unveiled several measures designed to help mitigate the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.
Bacanora Lithium PLC (LON:BCN) is continuing to make progress on all its workstreams, in spite of the coronavirus crisis. A particular focus remains on the completion of the project engineering work. The timetable for this engineering work has, however, been impacted by delays in Asia and North America due to the ongoing government restrictions. Whilst some weeks of engineering have been lost, completion of engineering and equipment selection is now scheduled for the third quarter of 2020.
Metal Tiger PLC (LON: MTR) has participated in an A$4mln fundraising undertaken by Southern Gold (ASX:SAU). Southern Gold had planned to raise A$10mln, but revised the amount down due to the uncertain market conditions created by the coronavirus. Metal Tiger has participated in the revised fundraise through a subscription for 22mln shares at a total cost of A$2.2 million. Following completion of the revised Fundraise, Metal Tiger will hold a 17.1% interest in Southern Gold.
Europa Metals Ltd (LON:EUZ) was fortunate to complete its first 2020 field season prior to the outbreak of the coronavirus, according to executive director Laurence Read. The European focused lead-zinc and silver developer is thus free to continue with metallurgical and flow sheet work as planned, with all employees apart from a skeleton staff now working from home.
Chesnara PLC (LON:CSN), the life assurance group, confirmed that it will report its results for the year ended 31 December 2019 on Tuesday 31 March 2020. It added, in light of government guidance regarding the Coronavirus pandemic, and in the interest of the health and safety of its staff and business partners, the presentation for analysts will now be held by telephone at 9.30am on 31 March 2020.
FastForward Innovations Ltd (LON:FFWD), the AIM-quoted company focusing on making investments in fast-growing and industry-leading businesses, provide an update after the market close on Friday in respect of investee company, Entertainment Direct Asia Ltd. (EDA), which trades as Yooya, in which the company holds a 12.5% interest which was valued at £1,586,000 in the Interim financial statements dated 30th September 2019. The company said it has been notified that an offer has been made to all shareholders in EDA for a share for share exchange with a newly formed Asia focused social commerce platform company. It added that, whilst it is the stated intention of the acquirer to raise funds at a significant premium to the acquisition price based on the improved value of the combined entities, the implied valuation of EDA in the share for share exchange would see a significant impairment to the value of the company's investment in EDA. The impact on the longer-term carrying value will depend on the final terms of any fundraising by the acquirer and the resulting success of the business, the group said. Fastforward chairman, Lorne Abony said: "It has become clear over the last few months that the original concept for Yooya could not be monetized to generate acceptable returns for shareholders. While it is disappointing that we expect to suffer a significant unrealised loss in the event the Acquisition concludes, I believe that Yooya may become a major constituent in a group uniquely positioned to create the trusted platform for consumers across China, and subsequently more widely across Asia."
SDX Energy PLC (LON:SDX), the MENA-focused oil and gas company, said that as a result of the announcement made by the Financial Conduct Authority on 21 March 2020 requesting that, as a result of COVID-19 uncertainties, all listed companies should observe a moratorium on the publication of preliminary financial statements for at least two weeks, it has been forced to delay today's planned publication of its preliminary financial statements and its audited financial and operating results for the year ended 31 December 2019. The company said it is in dialogue with AIM and other regulatory authorities on this matter and will endeavour to seek permission to release its preliminary financial statements and its audited financial and operating results for the year ended 31 December 2019 as soon as possible.
S&U PLC (LON:SUS), the specialist motor finance and property bridging lender, also announced that the publication of the company's Full Year Results for the period ended 31 January 2020 will be delayed beyond 24 March 2020, the date S&U previously stated it had expected to announce them. The group said the decision was made following a request by the Financial Conduct Authority (the FCA) to all public companies that, in the light of the ongoing COVID-19 developments, they delay making preliminary announcements that were due the week commencing 23 March 2020.
OptiBiotix Health PLC (LON:OPTI), a life sciences business developing compounds to tackle obesity, high cholesterol, diabetes and skincare, announced that it will be changing its accounting reference date and financial year-end from 30 November to 31 December to align financial reporting with similar companies on other international exchanges. The change reflects the growing globalisation of OptiBiotix's products and will facilitate research analyst coverage with comparator microbiome-based companies on international exchanges like NASDAQ where end of calendar year financial reporting is more common. Stephen O'Hara, CEO of OptiBiotix commented: "Despite the current general market volatility the board remain focused on creating a profitable and sustainable global business and building shareholder value. As we grow the presence of our ingredient … brands in global markets we need to facilitate research analyst coverage with comparator microbiome-based companies on international exchanges. Moving our end of year forward one month supports this aim. As interest in the microbiome and OptBiotix's products grows improving international research coverage of OptiBiotix creates market interest and with it the opportunity to explore the possibility of a dual listing, particularly in those markets where there is potential for greater liquidity and valuation."