The Times 06/09/18 | Vox Markets

The Times 06/09/18

Blow for fraud office after miner wins privilege case. Court backs company’s refusal to hand over investigation documents. The decision has been hailed as a landmark ruling in favour of litigation privilege. This allows parties to investigate disputes or alleged wrongdoing without worrying that inquiries may be scrutinised by other parties. The Court of Appeal overturned a judgment that Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (Assd GBP Cash) (ENRA) must hand over documents prepared by lawyers and forensic accountants as part of its inquiry into whistleblower claims.

Everyman Media Group (EMAN) will spread into Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland after expanding rapidly from its London origins. The upmarket chain, which offers sofas and armchairs to its audiences, has grown to 22 venues with 69 screens and has another 15 committed sites. It aims to reach a half-century over the next four years.

William Hill (WMH) is betting on a tie-up with a casino operator as it aims to cash in on the American sports betting gold rush. Shares in the bookmaker jumped by 12p, or 4.8%, to 260½p after it unveiled a partnership with Eldorado Resorts, a Nasdaq-listed gaming group, to operate both land-based and online sports betting across the United States.

Britain’s biggest housebuilder has built its largest number of homes in a decade, helping it to finish the year with record profits of more than £800 million. Barratt Developments (BDEV) said that it had completed 17,579 homes in the year to June, 1.1% more than last year. This was the highest level since 2008, on the eve of the housing crash, when the FTSE 100 company completed 18,500 homes. Its pre-tax profits rose by 9.2% to £835.5 million on the back of £4.8 billion in turnover, up 4.8% cent from a year earlier.

A London-listed litigation finance provider has won permission to pursue legal action against Argentina over a nationalised energy company in a case that could net it hundreds of millions of dollars. A court in the United States ruled that the case, which is being funded by Burford Capital (BUR), can be heard in America, delivering a blow to Argentina, whose lawyers had tried to get it struck out.

Almost two years after an initial approach was rebuffed, has secured an interest in a promising copper project in Ecuador. The world’s largest listed mining company said that it had bought a $35 million stake in Solgold (SOLG), which controls the Cascabel copper and gold project in the “highly prospective” country.

Profits at one of Britain’s largest construction material groups dipped amid weaker demand, rising costs and falling concrete sales during poor weather. Breedon Group (BREE) reported a 3% fall in pre-tax profit to £30.4 million in the first six months of the year on a 16% rise in revenue to £378.4 million.The interim results were the first update since it bought the Lagan Group, a private Irish construction company, in April for £455 million.

Dealers checked out of Burberry Group (BRBY) after HSBC predicted that sales at the luxury fashion house, famous for its tartan-lined trench coats, would not rebound until the next financial year.

Investec (INVP) and Old Mutual (OML), both of which have significant exposure in South Africa, were sent lower by the country’s fall into recession, sparking a fall in the rand.

The “risk-off” market took against Sirius Minerals (SXX). The bet here is on Sirius’s ability to access mineral wealth that it estimates could yield 20 million tonnes of polyhalite a year by 2026. Significantly, the company needs to achieve milestones, including securing its target of committed sales volumes of between six million and seven million tonnes per year as part of an effort to secure £2.1 billion of debt to complete the project. Equally significantly it has not updated the market since July 31, which means that although there is a potential for the stock to rally if good news arrives, there is also uncertainty.

Footasylum (FOOT) sank to a fresh low of 33½p, down 4¾p as investors continued to run a mile two days after it cut its earnings forecasts for the second time this year. In a bearish note, Peel Hunt issued a “sell” recommendation. “Our conversation with the company did not leave us  feeling that the business is about to stabilise, nor that the shares have stopped falling,” its analysts said.

Kainos Group (KNOS) rallied 45p to 410p, after the digital services company behind a platform that h digitises NHS patient records said that it expected results for the year that ends next March to exceed market expectations.

Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) has become the first lender to issue bonds tied to the Bank of England’s replacement for the discredited Libor interest rate benchmark, by selling £750 million of debt. Sonia, the Sterling Overnight Interbank Average Rate, tracks prices for unsecured overnight lending between banks. Other benchmarks, such as Sofr, used for dollar transactions, also have been used.

Tempus – Quiz (QUIZ): Hold. Operates an efficient, flexible model that should offer improving returns

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Mentioned in this post

BDEV
Barratt Developments
BRBY
Burberry Group
BREE
Breedon Group
BUR
Burford Capital
EMAN
Everyman Media Group
ENRA
Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (Assd GBP Cash)
FOOT
Footasylum
INVP
Investec
KNOS
Kainos Group
LLOY
Lloyds Banking Group
OML
Old Mutual
QUIZ
Quiz
SOLG
Solgold
SXX
Sirius Minerals
WMH
William Hill