London shares rose marginally in morning trading as the summer lull looks set to kick in. Click here for The Trader Nicole Elliott's latest thoughts on the markets.
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William Hill (WMH) isn’t going down without a fight. Having extended negotiations with rival groups 888 (888) and Rank Group (RNK) over the weekend, it has rejected a new offer of 352p a share. Bosses at the high street bookie said the latest proposal still greatly undervalued the company. The fresh approach comes less than one week after William Hill dismissed an initial 364p cash-and-stock offer from Rank and 888, labelling that bid “opportunistic”. The shares are off slightly this morning, but we’re staying bullish while this story develops.
With the ‘recovery’ in oil prices taking longer than many had forecast, investors in Ithaca Energy (IAE) were looking for three signs of encouragement in half-year results: good hedging, falling debt and reduced operating costs at Stella. Fortunately, the oil producer delivered on all three fronts, with future hedges generating 20¢ in cash flow per share, net debt down by almost a quarter and unit operating costs likely to drop to less than $20 a barrel after the Stella field comes online. We continue to rate the shares a recovery buy.
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Shares in Entertainment One (ETO) climbed 7 per cent to 255p – a premium of 8 per cent to ITV’s recent preliminary bid of 236p – on reports that private equity group KKR is mulling a bid for the film-and-TV distributor and producer. KKR’s investments include Pets at Home and Walgreens Boots Alliance.
Following up on our story on Friday, a jury has found that Genus (GNS) should pay $1.25m upfront and ongoing royalties of $1.75 per straw of semen to Sexing Technologies, with an additional $750,000 for breach of confidentiality obligations. According to City analysts, this will enable Genus to enter the market with a relatively low ongoing payment, amounting to roughly £1.5m per annum versus the current royalty of around £12m.
Bovis Homes (BVS) reported increased sales of around a fifth during the first half of the year, with both average sales price and legal completions up on the previous year. Despite a slowdown in reservation rates in July, these have now improved, plus management maintains the underlying market for UK housebuilders remains positive despite the referendum.
Georgia Healthcare (GHG) grew sales by 56 per cent to 174m Georgian Lari (£57.7m) in the first half of 2016, driving cash profits up 44 per cent to GEL 34m. The healthcare services division performed strongly and the integration of GPC, the recently acquired pharmaceutical business, is underway.
The war of words between Speedy Hire (SDY) and its main shareholder Toscafund is hotting up. Today Toscafund has rejected a circular sent to shareholders on Friday rebutting its call for chairman Jan Astrand to step down and for the company to consider again pursuing a merger with HSS (HSS). Toscafund says the circular ‘fails to address’ its concerns about governance it has raised and that it now considers that Jan Astrand is no longer truly independent and should be replaced.
