Bitcoin took a battering on Thursday on the back Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and as Vladimir Putin threatened any western intervention with the ‘greatest consequences in history.’
The digital currency fell by over 8% and flirted with the key support level of US$35,000, adding to what has been a period of decline since November’s all-time high of US$67,000.
GlaxoSmithKline has received regulatory approval for its first Covid vaccine almost 14 months after UK rival AstraZeneca began dosing patients.
Canada has given approval for Covifenz, an adjuvanted plant-based COVID-19 vaccine developed by the UK pharma giant in collaboration with Quebec-based Medicago (TSX:MDG).
A Greencoat UK Wind PLC (LSE:UKW) executive has commented on the positive impacts of recent storms that battered the UK on the company’s portfolio, and that it also expects to enjoy the tailwinds of surging inflation.
Storms Eunice and Frank last week led to wind at one point generating 45% of the UK’s energy requirements, compared with an annual average of less than 20%.
Moderna Inc bucked the slump in global markets after the vaccine maker last night upped its forecast for sales of its Covid jab.
The US pharma now expects to generate sales of US$19bn from its mRNA vaccine, compared to US$18.5bn previously with US$3bn worth of additional doses under option for booster campaigns.
eBay Inc has reported disappointing results for its first quarter, driving down premarket shares by 8.6%.
The global e-commerce platform gave revenue guidance that fell short of analysts’ expectations, and laid the blame on weak online demand, competitive challenges, and disruptions to global supply chains for its weak performance.
The UK’s main oil and gas body has hit back at calls by the government’s climate advisers to stop north sea exploration, in a tug of war between sustainability and energy sovereignty.
UK Onshore Oil and Gas (UKOOG) was responding to the Climate Change Committee’s (CCC) suggestion to business and energy secretary Kwasi Kwarteng that the UK should wean itself off oil drilling.
Stock markets exist primarily as a means of raising capital but increasingly companies seem to be using them to give capital back.
Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LSE:LLOY) became the latest big name to announce a mammoth share buyback, in this case, a £2bn share buyback programme expected to be completed by the end of 2022.
Having endured sustained turbulence through Covid, aerospace groups have been forced to turn the seatbelt signs on again as the latest Russia fears eat into their shares.
Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC (LSE:RR.), International Consolidated Airlines Group (LSE:IAG) and easyJet plc (LSE:EZJ) each saw steep drops in their share prices this morning as escalating tensions in Ukraine stripped back nascent recovery from the Covid pandemic.
A collection of 104 CryptoPunks non-fungible tokens (NFTs) were withdrawn from a Sotheby’s auction by the seller minutes before it was expected to start.
The holder, who goes under the pseudonym 0x650d on twitter, tweeted he decided to hold the collection just before it was expected to go ahead.
It’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good and if you are heavily invested in gold, today is a good day for your portfolio.
Unless you are invested in Russian mining companies but we’ll get to them in a minute.
Ethernity Networks Ltd (AIM:ENET) has unveiled an upgrade to its current universal edge device, a UEP2025 cell site router (CSR).
"UEP2025 is the ultimate tool in enabling a truly disaggregated radio access network,” said chief executive David Levi.
Hays PLC's (LSE:HAS) revealed its half-year profit has quadrupled, helped by increased hiring in the UK and Germany.
The British recruitment agency this morning also raised its operating profit expectation for the entire year.
Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LSE:LLOY) shares’ are facing the fallout of a £1.3bn remediation bill driven by historic fraud charges dating back 15 years.
The bank’s latest annual report showed remediation charges of £1.3bn, with more than half coming from a £600mln fraud case at its Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) Reading branch paid in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Brent crude prices jumped 9% to soar over US$105 per barrel in Thursday morning’s deals after Russia launched a "full-scale invasion" of Ukraine overnight.
A raft of new international sanctions is expected in the wake of Russian tanks and troops rolling across the border into Ukraine and cruise missile strikes on major cities including the capital Kyiv.
Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC (AIM:HIK, OTC:HKMPF) reported “solid growth” for 2021, with sales rising 9% on the back of a good performance in all its three businesses.
The multinational pharmaceutical company also announced plans to return US$300mln to shareholders via a share buyback.
WPP PLC (LSE:WPP) returned to profit in 2021 as the world's biggest advertisement agency heralded the fastest organic growth for over 20 years and said it expects to buyback around £800m shares this year.
Reported operating profit for 2021 was £1.23bn compared to a loss of £2.28bn previously, fueled by demand for digital services, ecommerce, and technology. Sales were £12.8bn, a 13.3% rise on a like-for-like basis, while earnings per share rose 30.6% to 78.5p.
Go-Ahead Group PLC (LSE:GOG) said it is setting aside £30mln for a potential penalty from the Department for Transport relating to failings in the way the company ran the London Southeastern (LSER) franchise.
Financial errors in relation to the LSER contract led to the company being stripped of the franchise in October last year.
Anglo American PLC (LSE:AAL) was the latest of the large diversified mining companies to report record earnings for 2021 due to strong commodity prices.
READ: Rio Tinto posts record full-year results, highest ever dividend
BAE Systems PLC (LSE:BA.) reported increased sales and profits for 2021 and forecast further growth in the current year.
Underlying profits (EBIT) came in at £2.2bn in the year to 31 December 2021, a rise of 13% on the previous year and in line with the market consensus, on the back of a 5% increase in sales to £21.3bn.
Shares in BP PLC (LSE:BP.) slumped as investors feared the oil major will fall victim to international sanctions after Russia launched a"full-scale invasion" of Ukraine overnight.
BP owns nearly 20% of Rosneft (AIM:ROSN), Russia's third-largest oil company. Rosneft, which has a secondary listing in London, may be targeted depending on what Western governments do next.
Empire Metals Ltd (AIM:EEE) said it started drilling at the Gindalbie gold project in Western Australia after signing an agreement with Maher Mining Contractors Pty Ltd.
The agreement gives Empire the exclusive right to explore, develop and mine within a granted area on Maher Mining's 100% owned mining lease M27/158, which is adjacent to the eastern border of Empire’s Eclipse licence area and extends the current exploration area by more than 200%.
Investors fled Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC (LSE:RR.) this morning, with the company’s share price collapsing more than 19% as chief executive Warren East announced he would step down in the midst of a gloomy outlook.
The drop marked the steepest fall since the onset of the pandemic, as the announcement of East's departure accompanied earnings.
Bitcoin and Ethereum slumped after the Ukranian foreign minister said Russia had launched “a full- scale invasion” of the country amid reports of tanks and troops rolling across the border and cruise missile strikes on major cities including the capital Kyiv.
Bitcoin tumbled over 4.53% to US$35,578, its lowest point in more than a month, while smaller peer Ethereum slumped 13.56% to US$2,308 – both flirting with key support levels.
Capital Limited (LSE:CAPD), the mining services company focused on the African markets, said its share buyback programme has now been completed.
The company bought back 1.97mln shares at a total cost of around US$2.5mln.
Centrica PLC (LSE:CNA) announced strong annual profits growth, boosted by higher commodity prices in its upstream business and a reduced impact from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Underlying profits (EBITDA) rose to £1.85bn in the year to 31 December 2021 from £1.33bn in the previous year, while adjusted operating profit jumped 112% to £948mln, the energy giant said in its earnings release.
Bango PLC (AIM:BGO), the global platform for data-driven commerce, said multi-play communications company Entel has launched a new Apple Music bundled offer through the Bango Platform.
The offer will initially be available in Chile.
Samarkand Group PLC (AQSE:SMK) has signed a three-year contract with fast-growing make-up group Revolution Beauty to be its e-commerce partner in China
The agreement will see Revolution Beauty's Tmall Global Flagship store incorporated onto the Samarkand platform and other linked sites and covers a range of marketplace, DTC and social commerce channels.
Mila Resources PLC (LSE:MILA) said gold mineralisation was intersected by the first hole drilled at the Kathleen Valley gold project in Western Australia.
The drill hole intersected about 7.35 metres (m) of sulphide mineralisation from a depth of 178.1m.
i3 Energy Plc told investors produced some 18,229 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the fourth quarter, marking a 38% rise on the preceding three months.
The current production rate is approximately 19,000 boepd, it added.
Enteq Technologies PLC (AIM:NTQ), the energy services technology supplier, continues to benefit from a tightening of surplus capacity in North America.
The company said sales and orders since the end of September 2021 have continued in line with the trends indicated in its November interim results announcement.
Greencoat UK Wind PLC (LSE:UKW) blew in strong growth last year as the renewable infrastructure fund expanded its wind portfolio and grew assets.
Net asset value (NAV) rose more than 38% to £3.09bn in 2021, resulting in NAV per share of 133.5p, up from 122.2p the previous year.
Diversified Energy Company PLC (LSE:DEC, OTCQX:DECPF) has announced the securitisation of assets in the Barnett Shale in North Texas.
The company highlighted that it represents the company’s second sustainability-linked ABS and fourth ABS since late 2019. It added that it shows the increasing depth of investors for this type of product.
Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC (LSE:RR.) returned to profit in 2021 as it hit restructuring targets a year ahead of schedule and announced its chief executive will step down.
Looking ahead, the engine maker expects low-to-mid-single digit revenue growth and operating profit margin to be broadly unchanged and anticipates growth in its end markets as the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic eases.
Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LSE:LLOY) joined other big banks in posting sharply increased profits for 2021, boosted by the release of credit loss provisions initially set aside to cover defaults during the pandemic, and in announcing a bumper share buyback programme for the current year.
Pre-tax profits for the year to 31 December 2021 came in at £6.9bn, up from £1.2bn the year before, as an improved economic outlook in the UK led to a net underlying impairment credit of £1.2bn compared with a £4.2bn charge in 2020, Lloyds said in its earnings release.
Seeing Machines to install its pilot fatigue monitoring system in aircraft used by Air Ambulance Victoria.
It will be the first time that an eye-tracking, pilot monitoring system has been installed anywhere in the world, said the company,
W Resources PLC (AIM:WRES) said fundraising talks are progressing well and that it expects to announce details in the next few days.
The AIM-traded company said the documentation was being finalised.
Open Orphan PLC (AIM:ORPH, OTC:OPORF) has appointed a chief executive.
He is Yamin 'Mo' Khan, who currently serves as an independent director of the contract research specialist.
Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas Ltd (AIM:ECO, TSX-V:EOG) is in line to receive money from the sale of the Kozani solar energy project in Greece.
The project has been sold by Solear to Nepcoe Capital Partners and PowerChina New Energy Power for roughly €1.8mln, thus enabling the repayment of a loan advanced to Solear last year by Eco. Eco expects to receive the funds by the end of this month.
Caerus Mineral Resources PLC (LSE:CMRS) and Bezant Resources PLC (AIM:BZT) announced encouraging results from dump sampling and drilling at their Troulli, Kokkinapetra and Anglisides joint venture projects in Cyprus.
At Troulli, the average copper grade from stockpile sampling was 1.2%; tailings sampling returned an average grade of 0.4% copper and 0.2 grammes a tonne (g/t) gold, double the projected grade; while drilling results showed copper and gold mineralisation outside main Troulli deposit area.
Tirupati Graphite PLC (LSE:TGR, OTCQX:TGRHF) has signed an exclusive UK marketing and distribution agreement with Minralis for a range of graphite-based flame retardant products.
The products have been developed by TSG, over which Tirupati has a binding option to acquire 100%, which is targeting the UK where there is need for new flame retardant technology following the Grenfell Tower tragedy.
Poolbeg Pharma PLC (AIM:POLB) said it will be ‘breaking new ground’ by using a state of the art artificial intelligence tool to find new drug targets for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
Under the terms of a deal with OneThree Biotech, it will screen for putative treatments that focus in on the immune-response pathways, have a higher probability of clinical success and have the potential to prevent and/or treat infectious diseases, investors were told.
Argo Blockchain PLC (LSE:ARB, OTCQX:ARBKF, NASDAQ:ARBK, ETR:0XP) has appointed Raghav Chopra as an independent non-executive director. Chopra is described as a digital assets and technology investor, who was most recently a portfolio manager for AllianceBernstein LP and has a decade of experience in managing a significant and wide range of technology investments at leading hedge funds.
“Raghav brings a wealth of experience within the capital markets and financial technology sectors, and specific insight that will be invaluable as Argo looks to continue to progress as a global leader in cryptocurrency mining,” the company said in a statement.