Equities in London are off sharply this morning but The Trader Dominic Picarda reckons we are merely in a corrective phase ahead of an Autumn rally.
IC TIP UPDATES:
Urban regeneration specialist MJ Gleeson (GLE) is enjoying the buoyant conditions in the housing market. It posted revenue growth of 49 per cent for the year to June and grew operating profits by 121 per cent to £6m. Gleeson Homes sold 406 units compared with 279 the previous year while the strategic land division saw profits dip slightly. Buy.
Construction specialist Keller (KLR) has won a £33m contract for works at the Sengkang hospital project in Singapore. Buy.
Simon Thompson recommendation Treatt (TET) says that trading has remained steady through the traditionally quieter fourth quarter of its year which means profits should be in line with expectations even though revenues may be slightly lighter due to market conditions in its lower margin ingredients business.
Indian wind power investment business Mytrah Energy (MYT) is beginning to see the results of its rapid build process, which has seen it construct a 310MW portfolio in less than three years. Despite the depreciation of the rupee over the period, revenues for the six months to June grew by 70 per cent to £27.4m at a cash earnings margin of 88 per cent, which means cash earnings were $24.5m. The company is also well advanced on a further 238.2MW worth of projects. Buy.
US onshore oil and has specialist Northcote Energy (NCT) has quadrupled its output to 100 barrels of oil per day since January and expects to push this to 250 bopd by the middle of next year. Our recommendation is under review.
Gulf Keystone Petroelum (GKP) has confirmed that none of its employees were affected by the weekend’s terrorist attack in Erbil, Kurdistan.
KEY STORIES:
Pawnbroker Albemarle & Bond (ABM) has been suffering of late as the fall in the price of gold has hampered its business. Management has shut down 33 pop-up gold shops in response as it tries to manage costs and is also now proposing a £35m rights issue at 50p a share to shore up its balance sheet and avoid a covenant breach. The company has also today appointed a new chief executive, Chris Gillespie, who was until recently an executive at Provident Financial.
Providence Resources (PVR) has announced half year results which detail the progress made in its offshore Ireland portfolio, including the farm out of 38 per cent of the Spanish Point prospect to Cairn Energy during the period. The company has an active drilling campaign lined up and ended the period debt free with €23.8m in the bank.
Additional orders from the UK and Middle East in recent months have boosted the protection and defence division of Avon Rubber (AVON) and mean that full year operating profits for the group are likely to be ahead of current expectations.
Homeserve (HSV), which specialises in home emergency insurance, expects first half earnings to be broadly similar to last year’s with the business still weighted towards the second half.
OTHER COMPANY NEWS:
Lekoil (LEK), which raised $50m when it floated on Aim in May and a further $20m in July, says drilling on its high impact Ogo-1 well offshore Nigeria is progressing well. The company is also planning to acquire a 6.5 per cent stake in the OML 113 licence offshore Nigeria for $30m.
African budget airline Fastjet (FJET) posted a first half loss of $24.9m but reports that losses in its Tanzanian operations have fallen sharply as revenue per passenger has risen, it hit $81 in June, up from $46 in January. The company’s first international route, from Dar-Es- Salaam to Johannesburg, is expected to launch shortly.
