Shares in NAHL Group (NAH) fell after it warned profits will fall by as much as 10% this year. The firm, which provides marketing services to legal firms, said a poor performance in its residential housing division would drag it down. The homes arm connects people buying houses with surveyors and other services, and has suffered a slowdown. It has also struck a £5million deal to exit a joint venture with National Law Partners.
NMC Health (NMC) gave its share price a booster jab yesterday after it opened an independent review to examine claims made by an aggressive short-seller. The beleaguered firm has brought in an unnamed leading accountant to delve into its books and assess whether an attack by US hedge fund Muddy Waters has any merit. The climb came after it shed more than half of its value last week after Muddy Waters said it had taken a short position in the group and raised ‘serious doubts’ about NMC’s finances and relationship with its auditor. In a detailed rebuttal, NMC denied Muddy Waters’ claims.Yesterday Muddy Waters, which is run by short-seller Carson Block, was quick to double down on its allegations, saying such reviews ‘are usually exercises in whitewashing that provide little to no transparency or accountability’. But this did little to dent investors’ relief that the Middle East-focused group could shake off the allegations.
Centamin (DI) (CEY) announced after the market closed that it has requested an extension to a takeover deadline until January 14. Canadian group Endeavour approached Centamin with a £1.5billion merger offer this month but only had until December 31 to make a final offer. Both companies said they had not been able to delve into each other’s books enough to make a final decision. Endeavour then asked Centamin to arrange an extension until the end of January, with Centamin compromising by giving Endeavour a two-week reprieve.
