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News & Tips: Tritax Big Box, SDL, Equiniti & more...

Asian shares struggled for gains overnight ahead of US jobs data – a stronger jobs reading could up the chances of a rate hike by year end.
October 2, 2015

The IMF revealed that investors are on track to pull $541bn out of emerging markets this year, as fears that China is headed for a ‘hard landing’. Adding to emerging-market woes is the prospect of the US Federal Reserve lifting interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade. Click here for The Trader Nicole Elliott's latest take on the markets.

IC TIP UPDATES:

Tritax Big Box REIT (BBOX) has secured a five year, £500m debt facility with four lenders, re-financing £253m of debt. The new facility - which includes a £320m term loan, a revolving credit facility and overdraft - will increase the loan to value ratio of Tritax's portfolio to 35 per cent, and can be extended further subject to lender support. Buy.

Paragon Diamonds(PRG) has agreed a $15m package to fund the development of its Lemphane and Mothae mines in Lesotho. A term sheet has been signed with Acrux Resources, a private South Africa based finance group, for a combined convertible debt and revenue sharing facility. Paragon will receive $8m in return for giving up 7 per cent of the revenue from Mothae and Lemphane for first three years. Buy.

The Paragon Group of Companies(PAG) has agreed to acquire the entire share capital of Five Arrows Leasing Group Limited for £117m. Five Arrows Leasing is currently owned by Five Arrows Leasing Holdings Limited, which is part of Rothschild & Co. Buy

KEY STORIES:

Equiniti is gearing up for a public flotation that could see the outsourcer valued at as much as £700m. The group plans to raise gross proceeds of £390m from an initial public offering (IPO) this month – with funds earmarked for bank debts. The company provides share registrar services to around half of the FTSE 100's constituents and roughly 120 of the FTSE 250's constituents, the latter of which it is expected to join.

FirstGroup’s (FGP) shares were on the rise after the transport operator said it was on track to meet managers' expectations. In a trading update, the group revealed that it experienced strong revenue growth in both its rail and bus businesses and that the other parts of its operations have recorded progress. Hold.

Shares leapt 9 per cent in SDL (SDL) after the customer experience management specialist's founder and chief Mark Lancaster abruptly resigned. The group - whose social, e-commerce, language and other tools allow brands to tailor their websites for different audiences and platforms - has struggled to revitalise its loss-making technology division. Hold.

The FCA plans to set a deadline on PPI claims. The authority said there should be a window of at least two years after the deadline is set. This would not be before the Spring of 2016 - meaning that consumers would have until the Spring of 2018 to make a claim. So far more than £20bn has been paid out for PPI mis-selling to more than 10m consumers.

In a first half trading update, Electrocomponents (ECM) revealed that sales growth in continental Europe kept the company’s revenue up, despite a slow start to July in its key markets. Revenue for the UK was down 1 per cent for the second quarter running, which has impacted the company’s overall sales growth for the half to 4 per cent. Sell

The International Monetary Fund is still poised to pull out of Greece's third international rescue in five years over the issue of debt relief. The fund is pushing for a restructuring of at least €100bn of Greece's debt pile, according to a report in Germany's Rheinische Post.

OTHER COMPANY NEWS:

Transport for London's clampdown on Taxi app specialist Uber could draw public ride-sharing apps into the fray, increasing consumer burden by adding to travel costs and traffic in the capital, the chief executive of Liftshare has claimed.

The French arm of Franco-Dutch carrier Air France-KLM is set to announce new job cuts after it failed to reach an agreement with pilot unions to help turn around the struggling airline.