Shares in London have sold off in morning trading as political concerns swirl around Europe. Click here for The Trader Nicole Elliott's latest views.
IC TIP UPDATES:
Fuller Smith & Turner (FSTA) reported a 6 per cent increase in sales over the first half to £209m, driven by a particularly strong first quarter. Managed pubs and hotels saw like-for-like sales outperform the market with 3.6 per cent growth with revenue from accommodation up 8.2 per cent. Like-for-like profit at tenanted inns increased 3 per cent while beer and cider volumes at The Fuller’s Beer Company were up 1 per cent. Shares were up 1 per cent in early trading. Buy.
Shares in James Fisher and Sons (FSJ) fell 3 per cent this morning after management said the pick-up in offshore oil activity in the first half "has not been maintained into the Autumn”. But sales in the 10 months to end of October are 7 per cent ahead of last year. New operations in Brazil gave a boost to ship to ship volumes in marine support, while the renewables business benefitted from the contact for East Anglia One windfarm development. Buy.
Equipment hire specialist Speedy Hire (SDY) has acquired two platform companies, Prolift Access and Platform Sales & Hire. The companies were bought for £5.9m and £7.1m respectively, assuming the net debt in both cases. The deals are expected to boost revenues and generate cost savings. Buy
KEY STORIES:
It’s fair to say Sports Direct (SPD) hasn’t been a champion for corporate governance over the last year or so. Allegations about employee rights have dogged the company for some time, so this morning’s news that Mike Ashley’s brother John is one of those such underpaid has certainly raised eyebrows. Shareholders are being asked to vote at a general meeting on 13 December as to whether John Ashley should receive an additional £11m - a figure lawyers at firm RPC said he should have received over his time at the company, had he been treated the same as other senior executives. Mike Ashley has said he will voluntarily abstain from the vote.
Shares in WYG (WYG) took another tumble this morning after the group announced operating profit would be “substantially lower than current market expectations” and in the range of £3.5m-£4m. Analysts at N+1 Singer lowered their expectations for 2018’s underlying pre tax profit 57 per cent following the announcement, and shares were down 35 per cent in early trading. Sell.
Provident Financial’s (PFG) executive chair Manjit Wolstenholme has passed away suddenly. Ms Wolstenholme was appointed as successor to former-chief executive Peter Crook in August, following the third profit warning in a year from the sub-prime lender. The board has appointed senior independent director Malcolm Le May as interim executive chair.
William Hill (WMH) confirmed that it is in talks with Australian gambling company CrownBet, the online wagering business owned by Crown Resorts, over a possible combination with William Hill Australia. In a statement management said the talks were “very preliminary discussions” with no certainty it will lead to a transaction. Analysts at Stifel called the talks “logical” given the poor performance of William Hill’s Australian business and pressures in the market. Shares fell 1 per cent in early trading.
It’s a sign of the times - Just Eat (JE.), the company running an app to connect hungry people with local restaurants and food delivery is due to replace engineering giant Babcock (BAB) in the FTSE 100 index next week. Just Eat’s market cap is now £5.6bn, compared to Babcock on £3.5bn, although this is likely to keep growing now that regulators have given its takeover of rival Hungryhouse the green light. That deal should complete by the end of January next year.
OTHER COMPANY NEWS:
Mercia Technologies (MERC) announced this morning that direct investment Impression Technologies (ITL), part of a consortium including Gestamp Washington UK Limited, have secured funding of £9.6m. The project is called RACEForm, and includes £4.8m of grant funding delivered through the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK. A large proportion of this will go to ITL, as it works to develop its HFQ technology - “an advanced light-weighting approach for use in the global automotive industry”.
Ten Lifestyle Group - a tech-enabled lifestyle platform offering concierge services - announced its IPO today, via a conditional placing of 13.4m shares to be issued by the company, and 10.6m shares to be sold by existing shareholders at 134p per share. Of the £32.2m raised in gross proceeds, £14.2m will go to selling shareholders (including company directors and connected persons). The company’s market cap upon joining Aim will be £104.8m. It is expected that Ten’s shares will begin trading on Aim on Wednesday 29 November.
