IC TIP UPDATES:
Shares in Haynes Publishing Group (HYNS) were up 4 per cent this morning, after the company said it was on target to report around 10 per cent growth in adjusted pre-tax profits for the year ending May 2018, ahead of current market expectations by around 7 per cent. Reported pre-tax profits should rise by around 30 per cent year on year. As noted in January’s half-year results, changes to the US federal tax rate will bring down its US net deferred tax assets and liabilities by £0.8m, meaning post-tax profits will fall approximately 5 per cent against the prior year. Buy.
Learning Technologies (LTG) has completed its acquisition of cloud-based talent management platform PeopleFluent, first announced on 24 April. At $150m, this is its largest purchase to date. LTG’s current trading is in line with expectations. The shares were up 1 per cent in morning trading. Buy.
KEY STORIES:
Shares in Ophir Energy (OPHR) are off 4 per cent this morning, extending losses of 10 per cent yesterday, after the oil and gas group announced it had lost Schlumberger as one of two partners in its OneLNG joint venture, the vehicle set up to develop the Fortuna project. As a result, the OneLNG venture has been dissolved, and Ophir and Golar have been left looking for not only a financing solution for the project, but “other well-capitalised” partners to take the place of the oil services giant.
Shares in Dignity (DTY) have fallen sharply this morning in reaction to news that the Competition and Markets Authority intends to investigate tighter regulation across the funeral sector. In a statement, Dignity bosses said they welcomed the review, as it supports the calls for regulation “we have been making for some time”. Dignity said it would work with the regulator throughout the process to ensure customers “get the best service and choice of pricing”.
OTHER COMPANY NEWS:
As announced on 29 May, Idox (IDOX) has today officially appointed David Meaden as its new chief executive. Mr Meaden previously worked for 22 years at Northgate Public Services (NPS), where he was chief executive for 12 years. NPS supplies software, IT and business process outsourcing to the public sector.
Codemasters (CDM), the video games developer and publisher specialising in racing games, floated on Aim this morning. This follows a placing on 29 May that raised £15m for the company, and £170m for selling shareholders including Reliance Big Entertainment (Singapore). The market cap was expected to reach £280m on admission.
