White van man is back.
Vehicle hire company Redde Northgate PLC (LSE:REDD) said its post-pandemic recovery had been hindered in December and January by the arrival of the Omicron variant and work from home restrictions..
But it saw a good improvement at the beginning of February, and was now trading ahead of expectations.
Volumes are now running at around 90% of pre-COVID-19 levels.
So it is anticipating full year profits to the end of April of around £150mln, well ahead of City forecasts of £133.9mln.
It expects disposal profits to account for around 33% of the full year underlying profit before tax compared to around 43% in the prior year.
It has plans for organic investment and has a good M&A pipeline, but it is also planning to launch a share buyback programme of up to £30mln.
Its shares have roared ahead by 8.85% to 412p.
2.47pm: Hargreaves Services lifted by strong performance from German business
Hargreaves Services Plc (AIM:HSP, OTC:HGRVF), which supports the industrial and property sectors, has been boosted by a strong performance from its German joint venture HMRS.
Both the German group's materials trading business and its DK Recycling und Roheisen subsidiary are exceeding expectations, helped by the current strength in commodity prices, specifically pig iron and zinc.
It said that the German business has sufficient visibility for the remainder of the current financial year for its contribution to Hargreaves' results in the second half to exceed that recorded in the first half.
It added: "While it is not possible to predict how long these favourable market conditions will prevail, the board now expects some beneficial impact to continue into the first half of the year financial ending 31 May 2023.
"Additionally, as a result of operational improvements at DK, future profitability from HRMS is expected to be at least 30% greater than current market expectations, even if current levels of commodity pricing are not sustained."
The rest of the group's businesses are trading in line with market expectations.
The news has lifted Hargeaves by 10.46% or 50p to 528p.
12.12pm: Mobile Streams raises £1.2mln and links up with Gfinity for esports
Mobile Streams PLC (AIM:MOS) has raised £1.2mln in a placing and unveiled a partnership with esports group Gfinity PLC (AIM:GFIN).
The mobile content specialist has issued 400mln new shares at 0.3p each, and has seen its shares in the market drop 19.62% to just above this placing price at 0.32p.
The funds will be used to support its future growth. This includes a plan to create a joint venture with Gfinity for Mobilegaming.com, the site for its gaming and esports offerings.
As part of this it will subscribe for £250,000 in Gfinity's own £2.7mln fundraising announced on Monday.
Mobile Streams chief executive Mark Epstein said: "The funds raised in this placing will enable us to take advantage of significant revenue generating opportunities and help us grow the business at a faster rate... We are now extremely well-funded, and the business is in the strongest position it has been in for years."
Meanwile Gfinity shares have added 11.54% to 1.45p.
10.48am: Eco Animal Health Group warns on profits
Eco Animal Health Group PLC (AIM:EAH) is looking a little sickly after its latest update.
The company, which supplies pharmacutical products for animal health markets, said full year earnings were now expected to be 15% to 20% below market expectations, thanks to increased investment including an £8.7mln charge relating to R&D cash expenditure.
It said in January that China pork prices were volatile and producers were being cautious, and these conditions have persisted throughout the first quarter.
It has no exposure to Ukraine but has around €430,000 due from its distributor in Russia and is exploring "a number of mechanisms" to recover this debt.
Chief executive Marc Loomes said: "The pork commodity price in China continues to be volatile but we are pleased with recent trading and our expectation of meeting revenue consensus is an important indicator of a return to more stable trading conditions. We have kept investment on critical organisation development and strategic R&D at our planned levels despite the reduced revenues from China. This decision is beginning to bear fruit and we look forward with excitement to the announcement of new regulatory approvals."
"We hope for a speedy resolution to the conflict in Ukraine and stay ready to support our business partners in Eastern Europe in any way we can."
But the market has marked its shares down by 20.53% or 31p to 120p.
10.04am: Bus group Rotala (AIM:ROL) accelerates after returning to profit
Bus group Rotala (AIM:ROL) has seen its shares accelerate as it returned to profit - just.
Like other transport groups, the company is seeing a slow recovery from the pandemic. After a COVID-19-hit 2020 when it made a loss of £4.8mln, it has reported a slight profit of £0.3mln.
It is hoping to benefit from the government's forthcoming national bus strategy, which promises up to £3bn of new investment over the next few years, and is cautiously positive about its prospects.
Chairman John Gunn said: "The board has assumed that passenger volumes will continue to be negatively affected throughout 2022 and that true recovery will not occur until the 2023 financial year. However, the board does expect passenger numbers to continue to rise as 2022 progresses. As this happens, and the new government investment initiatives start to have effect, the company expects to return to commercial profitability, albeit initially at lower than pre-pandemic levels."
It also believes there will be deals done in the sector.
Gunn said: " Already one of the largest UK bus operators, Stagecoach Group, has attracted considerable bid interest. I believe that this transaction could be a pre-cursor of many others in the bus industry, at both large and small levels, in the short to medium term.
"During the COVID-19 pandemic Rotala (AIM:ROL) deliberately concentrated on improving its business efficiency, software systems and use of working capital and on reducing its unsecured debt
"If acquisition opportunities do arise, we will therefore be able to draw on large unused facilities to support our ambitions. Accordingly, I continue to believe that the company is very well placed, with excellent prospects in a bus industry which will see extensive and exciting changes in the foreseeable future.
Rotala (AIM:ROL) has risen 9.3% to 23.5p.
9.07am: URU Metals gains ground after positive news from South African nickel project
URU Metals Ltd (AIM:URU) is in demand after an associate reported positive drilling results from South Africa.
Its shares are up 55p or 17.19% to 375p on news from the Zebediela Nickel project.
URU sold the project to ZEB Nickel Corp last August but it remains URU's main focus through a 74.82% interest in Zeb and its role as the technical operator.
The latest results show higher grade nickel sulfide and associated platinum group element mineralization of up to 1.7% nickel was intersected during exploration drilling.
ZEB chief executive Wayne Isaacs said: "With two major mining companies in our area exploiting the same Critical Zone lithologies which host the Ni-PGE mineralization that we have recently discovered as part of our recent exploration campaign, and the recent increases in nickel and palladium prices, we are encouraged with the results to date. We look forward to receiving the remaining assay results and we are confident that these will continue to add value to the overall project economics."
Elsewhere healthcare group ValiRx PLC (AIM:VAL) is higher after announcing various projects are going according to plan, and also unveiling a change of strategy.
It said: "Currently operating as a virtual biotech company, ValiRx out-sources all testing of current evaluation and pre-clinical projects to a wide range of external contract research organisations .
"The company is of the view that this fragmented approach to early-stage drug development is non-optimal and is assessing options to acquire capabilities and infrastructure to create a more efficient and effective translational drug development service.
"Operating as a wholly owned subsidiary company, the prospective integrated services entity would be used for both in-house projects and offered to third parties, such as the increasing number of innovative biotechnology companies.
"The revenue generated from providing pre-clinical development services would enable continued investment in advanced testing and analysis technology and support the progression of ValiRx in-house pipeline projects."
The news has lifted its shares by 18.07% to 24.5p.