London equities have made up all of yesterday’s reversals. Click here to see what The Trader Nicole Elliott makes of the latest market moves.
IC TIP UPDATES:
Ophir Energy (OPHR) says its board have come to an agreement with Salamander Energy’s (SMDR) board over an all share offer for the oil explorer. The indicative value of the deal is 115.9p per share. The offer is not yet certain and remains conditional on various elements such as a recommendation from the Salamander board and irrevocable undertakings to accept from its board members and key shareholders. We retain our buy on Ophir.
Brewer and pubs group Fuller, Smith & Turner (FSTA) has posted a 10 per cent rise in revenues and an 8 per cent improvement in adjusted profits to £19.6m for the six months to 27 September. Like for like growth was strong in both the managed and tenanted pubs and hotels and brewing volumes rose by 6 per cent. The second half of the year has seen positive trading so far. We keep our buy recommendation.
Recent buy recommendation Hornby (HRN) is showing signs of improvement with half year revenues 8 per cent higher at £24.2m and underlying profits of £250,000 against an £850,000 loss last year. A move to a new warehouse has been completed, improving group infrastructure. Management says indications are that the Christmas season ‘will meet our expectations’. Buy.
Parkmead Group (PMG) has delivered its maiden profit as the oil and gas exploration company begins to shift towards being a producer. Revenues grew sixfold to £24.7m and post-tax profits were £1.2m, compared with a loss of £5.6m last year. We maintain our buy rating.
Indian wind power developer Mytrah Energy (MYT) has raised $70m in new debt facilities from Merrill Lynch and Apollo Global Management to plough into its development programme. We keep our buy.
KEY STORIES:
Rolls Royce (RR.) has won a $5bn order from Delta Airlines for Trent engines and associated aftercare contracts for 50 aircraft. This follows on from an order for engines to power French military aircraft announced yesterday.
OTHER COMPANY NEWS:
Materials science business Versarien (VRS) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Graphene Institute for its 2-DTech subsidiary to begin collaborative work on grapheme projects.
Final results from publisher Future (FUTR) reflect its management’s transformation programme which has seen a number of non-core businesses sold off and the cost base slashed. Revenues fell from £82.6m to £66m and losses ballooned to £35.4m from £2.2m. Print revenues continued to decline, with digital beginning to mitigate this and management reports that positive progress shown in the final quarter of the year to September has continued.
