Equities are off again on the back of weaker Chinese data over the weekend. Click here for The Trader Nicole Elliott’s take on the markets.
IC TIP UPDATES:
Software business Micro Focus (MCRO) has announced an agreed merger with US-focused rival Attachmate in an all-paper deal which will see Attachmate receive £729.6m worth of shares and the larger business assume its debts of $1.17bn. Meanwhile, Micro Focus has also published details of its proposed 60p per share cash return to current shareholders. We maintain our buy.
Full year results from mobile payments specialist Monitise (MONI) showed a 31 per cent increase in revenues to £95.1m but increased losses of £31.4m due to further investment in the business. The group ended the period with cash of £146m and significantly strengthened partnerships. It now has 30m registered users and is processing 4bn transactions on an annualised basis. We keep our buy rating.
Galliford Try (GFRD) has announced the latest in a string of contract wins with the award of preferred developer status from the Greater London Authority for the construction of 1,100 mixed tenure homes at Canning Town with a development value of £360m. Buy.
KEY STORIES:
Rural broadband specialist Gigaclear has announced its intention to float on Aim, with a debut expected next month.
The turnaround at Greggs (GRG) appears to be on course with like for like sales up 5.4 per cent in the 11 weeks to 13 September compared with a 1 per cent reversal last year. Total sales year to date are up 3.5 per cent, aided by an active property policy which has seen 153 shops refitted, 32 new shops opened and 43 closed down this year.
OTHER COMPANY NEWS:
Online ‘flash’ sale specialist MySale (MYSL) announced the acquisition of a 60 per cent stake in Danish online retailer invitetobuy and the formation of a partnership for European expansion. No financial details were disclosed. Meanwhile, full year results for MySale showed revenues rising 23 per cent to A$224.3m after a strong rise in the customer base and the value of average transactions. Cash earnings dipped slightly from A$7.1m to $6m due to investment in the business.
Avanti Communications (AVN) doubled revenues to $65m in the year to June, leading to a first ever positive cash earnings figure of $1.7m.
Recently floated Hurricane Energy (HUR) has indicated that testing on the Lancaster well West of Shetland proved to be more positive than initially forecast with the well potentially having the ability to produce 20,000 barrels of oil per day.
