Currys (CURY), Hipgnosis Songs (SONG), Chemring (CHG), Focusrite (TUNE), Bytes Technologies (BYIT), mining and Sigmaroc (SRC)
The prospect of an imminent takeover of Currys (CURY) has fizzled out. After US activist investor Elliott Advisors pulled out of the race to buy the electronics retailer at the start of last week, Friday afternoon brought confirmation from Chinese retail group JD.com that it doesn’t plan to make an offer for the business. Investors will have to wait and see whether holding out for a higher bid – the board rejected two approaches from Elliott as it believed they undervalued the group – will ultimately attract further interest.
Currys said this morning that sales since early January “have been stronger than the group’s expectations”, with like-for-like growth in both the UK and Ireland and the Nordics. Management raised its full-year adjusted pre-tax profit guidance to at least £115mn, from a previous range of £105mn-£115mn. The shares were up 4 per cent in early trading. CA
Hipgnosis takes another NAV hit
Hipgnosis Songs (SONG) has applied a further writedown to its portfolio net asset value (NAV) thanks to the "double counting of accrued revenue". The NAV falls from $1.1657 (92.08p) to $1.0765 (85.03p), amounting to a 7.6 per cent reduction.
A preliminary valuation by Shot Tower Capital had already resulted in a significant writedown earlier this month. DB
Read more: What comes next for Hipgnosis Songs investors
Focusrite shares plunge by a third on profit warning
Focusrite (TUNE) struck a bum note with investors as a profit warning from the Aim-traded music and audio products group led its shares to crater by a third in early trading. New guidance is for full-year revenue to come in at around £155mn, which would mean a £24mn fall on the 2023 posting. Cash profits are expected to decline from £37mn to £27mn-£30mn. The business highlighted a cocktail of headwinds, including weakness in Asia, cost of living pressures and industry overstocking. CA
New Aim mining IPO
A European mining project generator will list on Aim next month, pitching investors on its ability to find prospects related to the energy transition and sell them on.
European Green Transition already owns rare earths and graphite prospects in Sweden. It bought the rare earths project last year, under former boss David Hall, who founded Horizonte Minerals (HZM). The company is now run by Aiden Lavelle, who had been a consultant. The top shareholder is new to the mining world: Cathal Friel, who co-founded pharma company hVivo (HVO), formerly known as Open Orphan.
The company is looking to raise £6mn, Investors’ Chronicle understands. AH
