Equities are up marginally as we head into the long holiday weekend. Click here to see what The Trader Nicole Elliott thinks of the markets.
IC TIP UPDATES:
Rockhopper Exploration (RKH) and its partners in the ‘Zebedee’ well offshore the Falklands has confirmed that exploration drilling at the prospect has encountered oil and gas. The company is now moving on to drill the higher risk Isobel prospect. Buy.
Homewares specialist Dunelm (DNLM) enjoyed solid like for like sales growth of 4.9 per cent in the 13 weeks to 28 March, giving like for like sales growth of 5.8 per cent for the first 39 weeks. We keep our buy rating.
Wholesale specialist Booker (BOK) has now included its Makro acquisition in its sales figures which showed a 1 per cent like for like improvement in the 12 weeks to 27 March. For the full year to that date, total sales including Makro grew by 1.5 per cent to £4.75bn. We keep our buy rating.
Construction and engineering specialist Renew Holdings (RNWH) says trading remains in line with expectations and is ahead of the same period last year. Buy.
Simon Thompson recommendation Stanley Gibbons (SGI) that despite the contribution of recent acquisitions, which should see sales and profits come in ahead of last year, its figures will still undershoot expectations as a number of high value sales did not conclude before the year end.
Another Simon Thompson recommendation, Inland Homes (INL) has announced progress in its Wilton Park development project in Beaconsfield where the district council has adopted the supplementary planning document development brief. The project is for 350 new homes spread over 100 acres.
Sell recommendation Sirius Minerals (SXX) says that potato crop tests using fertiliser based on the polyhalite extracted from its potential development in North Yorkshire have shown positive results.
KEY STORIES:
Marks & Spencer (MKS) has produced solid figures for its fourth quarter which may hint at a turnaround in its fortunes finally. Its food business continued to outperform the wider market with growth in like for like sales of 0.7 per cent and overall growth of 3.7 per cent while general merchandise, which has been its Achilles heel, showed like for like sales growth of 0.7 per cent and total sales of 1.3 per cent, bucking the recent trend. The M&S.com online offering also bounced back after a terrible time following its relaunch last year, it grew sales by 13.8 per cent in the three months to 28 March.
Tate & Lyle (TATE) says that there has been no change to guidance given previously on its trading performance and it still expects profits for the year to March to be slightly below the previous £230m-£245m range stated in September.
Playtech (PTEC) has agreed a deal to buy a 91 per cent stake in CFD trading business TradeFX for an initial €208m with an added earnout of up to €250m.
