Full steam ahead for Global Ports Holding (GPH) despite swings in Turkish lira. The world’s largest cruise port operator, whose directors include Lord Mandelson, has sought to reassure investors over its exposure to the crisis in Turkey
A consortium led by Interserve (IRV), the troubled outsourcer, has been awarded a £105 million contract by Durham University, boosting attempts to turn the company around.
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) has temporarily handed Katie Murray its top finance job while it decides who to appoint to the role permanently.
A healthcare technology company founded by Lord Drayson, the entrepreneur and former science minister, rose strongly on its stock market debut yesterday. Sensyne Health (SENS), which raised £60 million through an initial public offering, valuing it at £225 million, closed up 12½p at 187½p on the junior Aim market in its first day of dealings.
Spooked investors sold off Kaz Minerals (KAZ) as fears resurfaced over its $900 million deal to buy a Russian copper project from Roman Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea Football Club, and some of his business associates.
Tobacco companies were buoyed by a parliamentary report that said e-cigarettes could be a key weapon in the NHS’s mission to reduce the harmful impacts of smoking. British American Tobacco (BATS) welcomed the report and rose 45p to £42.03. Imperial Brands (IMB) wafted up 4p to £29.87½.
Fears over rising costs hurt the brewers, with Marston’s (MARS) down ¾p to 93¼p and Greene King (GNK) off 2¼p at 482p. In a research note, Trevor Stirling at Bernstein said the sharp fall in the size of the western European malting barley crop due to the hot, dry weather could drive a big increase in the cost of sourcing the crop. However, both British brewers are likely to have long-term contracts in place and will be confident of being able to mitigate any price rise. Mr Stirling also cited rising aluminium prices as a potential further hit.
Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA) – Hugh Young, the company’s head of Asia and long-time star fund manager, cashed in £162,000 of shares at the start of the week, the company revealed in a stock exchange filing yesterday. Investors did not appear too concerned as the stock closed up 1¼p at 317¼p.
SDX Energy Inc. (DI) (SDX) rose 3p to 58p after announcing that a successful production test had been conducted at its test well at South Disouq in Egypt.
MediaZest (MDZ) plunged after the company said project delays had caused a 6% drop in revenues to £2.8 million for the year. That resulted in a 75% increase in its pre-tax operating loss, at £256,000 compared with a loss of £146,000 in 2017.
Dealers piled into 7digital (7DIG) after it said it had signed a contract to provide access to music preview clips to Triller, the music video app whose 29 million users include Victoria’s Secret models.
