Premier African Minerals Ltd (PREM) slid after it announced the results of a consultation on how to bring one of its Zimbabwean mines back into production. The study concluded it was viable, but would cost £818,000. After 15 months, it would only be making £474,000. In a separate announcement, it said it may have to reconfigure the layout of the mine to take advantage of where minerals were detected.
There will be No Deal between ITV (ITV) and media company Endemol Shine. ITV has ruled itself out as a buyer of the Deal or No Deal creator, which relieved shareholders’ worries about how the broadcaster would raise the cash to pay for Endemol. Shares in ITV, sinking over recent weeks, hit their highest level since August yesterday, climbing 5.9p, to 162.3p.
Speculation that B&Q owner Kingfisher (KGF) might be ripe for an activist investor to swoop caused the shares to creep up 3%, or 7.6p, to 261.2p. Analysts at Northern Trust Capital Markets said splitting up the firm, which also owns Screwfix, would boost its value even if the French businesses and B&Q were valued at zero. Kingfisher has little to show for its long-running turnaround, and pressure is piling up.
Topps Tiles (TPT) surprised investors with a remarkably upbeat trading update. The UK’s largest tile retailer said revenues for the year would be up around 1.5% at £215 million, while like-for-like revenues would be flat compared to the previous year. In 2017, by contrast, like-for-like revenues fell by 2.9%. Just this April it was buffeted by bad weather and a ‘challenging’ market, and in July it warned sales were still falling. But this time, Topps said it had outperformed competitors as a turnaround paid off. Pre-tax profits will be slightly ahead of expectations.
Nektan (DI) (NKTN) announced another record quarter for the first three months of its 2019 financial year. Net gaming revenue, from the online sites which it operates around the world, rocketed 64.6% to £6.4 million compared to the first quarter of last year.
Amerisur Resources (AMER) also impressed investors, saying it had achieved a flow of 590 barrels per day from its Pintadillo-1 discovery. Chief executive John Wardle called the result ‘exciting and very positive’.
Tesco (TSCO) boss Dave Lewis declared his turnaround of the supermarket chain was bang on track as he stepped up his battle with Aldi and Lidl. Reporting the best sales figures for a decade, the 53-year-old said he is close to completing a total revamp of the budget food range as he takes on the German discounters. The former Unilever executive also said he was happy with the performance of the two new Jack’s stores Tesco opened last month.
Short-sellers who were betting against Royal Mail (RMG) have netted millions of pounds after its shares plummeted. Around 5.9% of the stock is now on loan, with Blackrock, GLG Partners and Eminence Capital among those with the biggest holdings, according to data provided to the Financial Conduct Authority. The bets proved lucrative for hedge funds this week, with Royal Mail’s shares plunging a quarter since a profit warning on Monday.
Shares in Aston Martin Holdings (AML) tumbled on their first day of trading in London as investors baulked at the value put on it by bankers. In one of the most eagerly anticipated stock market listings of the year, the luxury car maker was valued at £4.3 billion when its shares began changing hands at £19 each. A wave of interest sent the stock up to 1920p in early trading but were more than 8% below their opening price at around 1744p before closing at 1810p last night.
Weapons-maker BAE Systems (BA.) has lifted the lid on its plans for the next battle tank for the British Army. Its vehicle, dubbed Black Night, would be faster, use thermal cameras to find targets and automatically respond to incoming missiles. BAE is bidding to update the army’s Challenger 2, with designs developed at its base in the West Midlands.
More than £250 million was wiped off the value of online lender Funding Circle (FCH) as it debuted on the stock market. Shares were sold to investors at 440p each in an initial public offering that valued the business at £1.5 billion. But the stock closed last night at 365p, down 17 per cent or 75p on the offer price – meaning the business was worth little more than £1.2 billion. The fall was triggered by a big drop earlier this week on the so-called grey market, where shares are bought and sold in the days between investors back the IPO, and the start of official trading on the London Stock Exchange.
