The Stoxx Europe 600 index slipped back marginally on early trading. The benchmark was up by 1.68 per cent at one point on Monday, amid a perceived easing of the geopolitical tensions - that may prove short-lived.
KEY STORIES:
Sunrise Resources (SRES) saw its shares drop heavily iafter it said diamond size distribution from its Soapy Bore kimberlite site at the Cue Diamond Project in Western Australia were less favourable than the Target 5 samples.
Bookmaker Ladbrokes (LAD) reported a sharp fall in profit, despite saying it had had a "good World Cup". Pre-tax profit fell 49.7 per cent to £27.7m in the first half of the year ending 30th June.
Outsourcing firm Serco (SRP) reported a loss due to poor trading conditions in the first half of the year. Reorganising costs and loss-making contracts led to a reported pre-tax loss of £7.3m, a fall of 107 per cent from last year.
The share price of CloudBuy (CBUY) was on jthe up after it has won a contract in Australia to build an emarketplace for the government which could eventually be worth up to A$7.2m. The first phase of the contract, for a minimum period of six months, is to implement such an electronic procurement marketplace for the Treasury department and all IT purchasing.
DRS Data & Research Services (DRS) announced that conditions in the overseas education markets for the group's more established products and services, in particular scanners and printing, are proving to be even more challenging than anticipated. As a result full-year sales revenue and profit are likely to be considerably below expectations and a significant loss is probable.
Greka Drilling (GDL), an independent and specialized unconventional oil & gas driller in Asia, announced that the five GD75 rigs to be utilised for the 100 well drilling contract with Essar Oil have arrived in India.
GB Group (GBG) said it is continuing to make good progress and is confident on its prospects as it looks to enter more international markets. The Chester company, which provides ID checking services, said its most recent acquisition, Australian fraud and credit risk software provider DecTech Solutions, which it bought for £20m in April, was making a positive contribution already.
Scancell Holdings (SCLP)saw its shares rise sharply after it released results showing animals treated with a combination of its SCIB1 product and PD-1 checkpoint inhibition showed enhanced tumour destruction and much longer survival times than when only one of the treatments was administered.
First half profits for online takeaway service Just Eat (JE.) almost trebled after it expanded the number of restaurants it serves. Pre-tax profit rose to £8.6m from £3.1m, while revenues jumped 58 per cent to £69.8m in the six months to the end of June.
OTHER COMPANY NEWS:
Shares in Talent Group (TTV) were down by a quarter after it announced that it had entered into conditional Sale and Purchase Agreements to dispose of its wholly owned subsidiaries Talent Holdings and Talent South, together with news that it is to raise £50,000 before expenses by means of a subscription for 1,694,911 New Ordinary Shares
IP Group (IPO), a developer of intellectual property based businesses, revealed that its portfolio company Medaphor Group has announced its intention to raise funds and to apply for the admission of ordinary shares to trading on AIM.
Condé Nast, the privately held US publisher, is spinning off its shopping magazine, Lucky, in a joint venture with ecommerce site BeachMint.
A note published by analysts at Morgan Stanley on Monday suggests that there is a "lack of a credible bear case” for securities.
