It seems that little can haul equities out of the current funk. Click here for the Trader Nicole Elliott's latest views on the markets.
IC TIP UPDATES:
TSB (TSB) has posted strong figures for its third quarter performance during which time it grew statutory pre-tax profits by almost 29 per cent to £33.1m and grabbed a 9.7 per cent share of new current account openings. Plans remain on track to launch TSB mortgages in the first quarter of next year. We keep our buy rating.
Spirit Pub Company (SPRT) is proving to be popular. Just days after the board recommended an offer from rival Greene King (GNK), Irish cider specialist C&C (CCR) has admitted that it has contacted Spirit with a view to potentially making a rival offer. We continue to advise readers to sit tight.
Ophir Energy (OPHR) has signed two exploration and production sharing contracts for more blocks offshore Gabon. Buy.
KEY STORIES:
Pets at Home (PETS) enjoyed like for like sales growth of 4.2 per cent during the six months to 28 October with wider group sales up by 10.2 per cent to £381.5m. The company now has 2.6m VIP club members having added 600,000 in the half year.
Cobham (COB) has won a significant A$640m contract to supply airborne search and rescue for the Australian Maritime Safety Authority for 12 years from 2016.
Testing and instrumentation specialist Spectris (SXS) has warned on full year profits after weak second quarter trading continued through the third quarter with Asia and Europe proving to be particularly problematic, reporting sales declines of 3 per cent and 6 per cent respectively.
Pearson (PSON), the global publisher which owns the Investors Chronicle, has announced the impending departure of finance director Robin Freestone after ten years at the company. This was accompanied by a trading statement which reiterated guidance for full year adjusted earnings per share of 62p-67p and said that sales after nine months were up 1 per cent in constant currency but flat on an underlying basis.
Molten metal flow engineering specialist Vesuvius (VSVS) says that despite ongoing weakness in Europe and negative currency effects it still expects to meet expectations for the full year.
Construction specialist Morgan Sindall (MGNS) has warned investors that full year figures will undershoot expectations after a number of contracts in London and the South East suffered timetable slippage and increased costs to complete.
OTHER COMPANY NEWS:
Dart Group (DTG) says that trading in its travel business picked up after a weak start with its leisure airline Jet2.com flying 4.6m passengers in the six months to September, up 12 per cent on last year but below the 13 per cent by which capacity was expanded. The group’s Fowler Welch logistics business has also performed well although margins are tight. Overall, management expect full year operating profit to exceed market expectations.
