London shares were down a little in morning training as trader remain circumspect on trade war concerns. Click here for The Trader Nicole Elliott's latest thoughts.
IC TIP UPDATES:
Richard Laycock has stepped down as chief financial officer and executive director at Stobart Group (STOB). The announcement came ahead of the company’s annual general meeting, where shareholders will vote on the re-election of Ian Ferguson as chairman. Former chief executive Andrew Tinkler has been campaigning to have Mr Ferguson ousted from the role, while the board is in full support of Mr Ferguson. Management added that the group remains on track to reach the goals of having 5m passengers per year through its London Southend airport by 2022, to supply over 3m tonnes of renewable energy fuel per annum by 2022, and to dispose of non-operating assets to support the dividend. Shares were up nearly 4 per cent in early trading. Buy.
Impax Asset Management (IPX) reported £200m in the second quarter, which together with market and currency gains of £519m, took assets under management to £11.8bn by the end of June. Thematic equity funds led the way, gaining £332m in net inflows. Buy.
KEY STORIES:
Rolls-Royce (RR.) is to sell its commercial marine business Norwegian defence contractor Kongsberg, for an enterprise value of £500m. The British engineer expects to net between £350m and £400m from the disposal, part of its efforts to cut some of the fat out of the group. Last year, the division generated sales of £817m, but posted an operating loss of £70m.
Those still doubting the Hurricane Energy (HUR) development story have two updates to contend with this morning. First is news that Morgan Stanley joins Stifel on the company’s broking bench. Second is the completion of wells at the Lancaster early production system, meaning both production wells are ready to be connected to subsea infrastructure, keeping the company on track for first oil in the first half of 2019.
OTHER COMPANY NEWS:
Shares in Acacia Mining (ACA) have shown some signs of life over the past month, and there are glimmers of hope in an operational update, out this morning. Despite its constrained activities Bulyanhulu and Buzwagi, the group remains on track to producing 435-475koz (thousand ounces) of gold in 2018. Output at North Mara ticked up 3 per cent, tailings treatment picked up at Buly, and the cash balance and net cash both increased by $13m in the second quarter. Crucially, there was no further update on the stalemate with the Tanzanian government, and shares are off 3 per cent this morning.
FairFX (FFX) has said first-half trading was strong, with margins maintained despite “substantial growth”. Turnover - meaning the gross value of currency transactions sold, plus the gross value of deposits into bank accounts - exceeded £1bn in the first half, reflecting a 146 per cent increase year-on-year from £434m. Excluding the contributions of Cardone Banking and City Forex - two acquired businesses - like-for-like turnover rose 22.8 per cent to £533m. Meanwhile, the company’s corporate card platform saw usage rise by 28.3 per cent. Management anticipates meeting the market’s full-year expectations. The shares were up over a tenth at the time of writing.
