Hopes that centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron will win the French presidential run off have lifted markets this morning. Click here for The Trader Nicole Elliott's latest thoughts on the markets.
IC TIP UPDATES:
Shares in Centrica (CNA) are down 5 per cent following work and pensions secretary Damian Green revealing over the weekend that an energy price cap would be in the conservative manifesto, which will be released last month. Shares in SSE (SSE) are also down more than 3 per cent on the news. We are reviewing our buy recommendation for Centrica.
First quarter trading from IT software and services company Computacenter (CCC) has been so good that management decided to release a trading update a few weeks earlier than planned. On a constant currency basis revenue is up 9 per cent driven by a strong performance in the group’s French and German subsidiaries. As a result, the group’s first half performance looks set to be better than previously expected. Shares rose 7 per cent in early trading and we retain our buy recommendation.
KEY STORIES:
Shoe king Jimmy Choo (CHOO) has announced it is considering a sale of its business as part of a wider strategic review. Majority shareholder JAB Luxury has said it supports the strategy as a means of maximising value for all the company’s shareholders. That said - and despite an upward 6 per cent movement in the share price this morning - the company confirms it hasn’t received any offers as yet. The company reported annual results in early March, revealing a 15 per cent improvement in total revenues, but a 20 per cent decline in profits as renovation disruption, weak US demand and trouble on the wholesale side all took their toll.
Shares in London’s diversified miners are all up this morning, including Anglo American (AAL), which released a first quarter production update detailing a sharp increase in the output of iron ore and metallurgical coal. While prices for both commodities have been falling of late, there was some good news from De Beers, Anglo’s diamond division, which saw “improved demand for lower value goods” held in stock at the end of 2016.
Tony Hayward is to step down as chairman of Genel Energy (GENL), after six years at the troubled Iraqi Kurdistan oil producer. A replacement has already been lined up: industry veteran Stephen Whyte, whose career has included a lengthy spell at Royal Dutch Shell.
Shares in Aminex (AEX) are up 17 per cent this morning, after the oil and gas driller announced a threefold increase in the gas estimated at its Ntorya appraisal area in Tanzania. The block is now expected to hold 466bcf (billion cubic feet), and follows the successful drilling and testing of the Ntorya-2 appraisal well earlier this year.
Interserve (IRV) has won a £36.5m contract to design and build a secondary school in Monmouthshire in Wales. This follows on from an announcement last week it had started work on a £41.4m school contract across three sites in Leeds.
OTHER COMPANY NEWS:
Goals Soccer Centres (GOAL) has confirmed it’s in merger talks with fellow five-a-side football pitch operator Powerleague. The Goals board emphasised that negotiations were in early stages and a deal with Powerleague is just one of the “strategic opportunities” the company is considering. Analysts at N + 1 Singer said if the deal goes through, it will make Goals the market leader in the UK and give it a presence in the US, Netherlands, and Ireland. Shares were up around 7 per cent in early trading.
