Equities have resumed their upward march after a couple of days of consolidation, just as The Trader Dominic Picarda prescribed. But today he is warning of piling back in too soon and getting stuck in a sideways pattern.
IC TIP UPDATES:
Supermarket Sainsbury's (SBRY) solid Christmas trading performance, with like for like sales up by 0.9 per cent excluding fuel in the third quarter, has overshadowed rival Morrison which reported a decline in like for like sales on Monday. Crucially, Sainsbury has benefited from its continued investment in convenience stores and its online delivery service. We keep our buy rating.
Insurance giant Aviva (AV.) has confirmed the pricing of its offering of shares in Delta Lloyd at €12.65 each, which will net the company £353m. Buy.
Restaurant Group (RTN) has maintained its solid progress despite tough economic conditions, reporting that profits for the full year are expected to be marginally ahead of expectations. The group opened 28 sites in 2012 and plans a further 28-35 in 2013. We keep our buy rating.
Simon Thompson recommendation Anglo Asian Mining (AAZ) has said that full year gold production from its Gedabek mine in Azerbaijan met management’s expectations at 50,215 ounces. Silver and copper production also met expectations. We keep as a buy.
Galliford Try (GFRD) says profits for the six months to December will beat management expectations after a record number of housing completions and strong performance in construction, which has secured 99 per cent of its forecast revenue for the full year already. We maintain our buy rating.
African budget airline FastJet (FJET) says its new start up operation flew 29,547 passengers in its first full month of operation. The company has also raised a little more than £1m from an equity draw down facility. Buy.
KEY STORIES:
Retailer Ted Baker (TED) enjoyed a 20 per cent rise in overall sales in the 8 weeks to 5 January. Meanwhile its chairman Robert Breare is stepping down after 11 years to be replaced by David Bernstein.
Egyptian gold miner Centamin (CEY) managed record gold production of 85,543 ounces in the fourth quarter of 2012 which meant full year production improved by 30 per cent to 262,958 ounces, ahead of forecasts of 250,000 ounces. The company has bounced back from a halt to operations of several days in December after conflicts over fuel payments and export duties.
Greggs (GRG) traded resiliently over Christmas with total sales up by 4.3 per cent. This was boosted by new store openings as like for like sales declined by 2.9 per cent. Over the whole of 2012, total sales grew by 4.8 per cent.
OTHER COMPANY NEWS:
Leyshon Resources (LRL) says that its second well on the Zijinshan prospect in central China has encountered multiple pay zones of gas adding up to a cumulative 80m of potential pay interval. Flow tests will now be conducted although, like the first well drilled there, fracturing might be required to fully exploit the prospect.
ZincOx (ZOX) is making good progress on its Korean zinc recycling plant, processing at 93 per cent of nameplate capacity since Christmas day.
Central Asia Metals (CAML) says its Kounrad project in Kazakhstan produced 6,586 tonnes of copper in 2012, of which 6,063 tonnes was sold through offtake agreements and 320 tonnes sold locally. The company ended the year with a positive cash balance of $37.5m.
