Equities start the weak in steady mode with many traders hoping Friday’s rebound marked the end of the sell off and the start of a Santa rally.
IC TIP UPDATES:
Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP) has been boosted by news that Excalibur Ventures, against whom it won a recent court hearing, will not be appealing against the decision and has also made an interim payment towards Gulf Keystone’s costs. A full hearing to deal with costs is yet to be held. We keep our buy rating on Gulf Keystone.
Premier Oil (PMO) is withdrawing from Block 10A offshore Kenya after an exploration review but is retaining a 25 per cent interest in an adjacent block, on which it will decide whether to ‘drill or drop’ by mid-2014. Buy.
Kier Group’s (KIE) joint venture with Balfour Beatty (BBY) has won a two-year £121m contract with the Ministry of Defence to build the first phase of a new training college at RAF Lyneham. Buy.
Simon Thompson recommendation, ingredients specialist Treatt (TET) has announced much improved full year results with adjusted pre-tax profits up by 23 per cent to £6.2m despite flat revenues of £74.1m as management’s efficiency programme starts to take effect.
KEY STORIES:
Lloyds Banking (LLOY) continues to trim it balance sheet with the £90m sale of a portfolio of commercial real estate loans with gross assets of £147m to an affiliate of Cerberus European Investments.
Tullow Oil (TLW) has plugged and abandoned the Tultule-1 wildcat well at South Omo, Ethiopia after disappointing drilling results despite detecting the presence of gas.
Kentz (KENZ) has announced its intention to acquire US-based oil and gas services business Valerus for $435m.
Patent specialist RWS Holdings (RWS) boosted sales by 12.5 per cent in the year to September with profits rising 22 per cent to £21m, allowing it to increase dividend by 15.7 per cent, the tenth successive year of growth in sales, profits and dividends.
Andor Technology’s (AND) board is considering the latest offer from Oxford Instruments (OXIG) which raised its indicative price to 525p a share on Friday.
OTHER COMPANY NEWS:
Full year results from Albemarle & Bond (ABM) illustrate the recent struggles for the pawnbroker which saw revenues fall from £117.7m to £107.1m with underlying profits slumping from £21.4m to £9.5m.
Caracal Energy (CRCL) reports that average production has passed 11,000 barrels per day and confirms that its 2014 exploration programme is targeting 1bn barrels.
