With political concerns in the UK to the fore, and US jobs data coming later, London's indices were largely flat in early trading. Click here for The Trader Nicole Elliott's latest thoughts on the markets.
IC TIP UPDATES:
Even though analysts suspect car retailer Motorpoint (MOTR) suffered a slower second half, full-year pre-tax profits are still expected to grow by roughly 10 per cent following top line acceleration of “more than 6 per cent”. So perhaps the shares sudden drop this morning is an over-reaction from the market? After all, that’s a pretty resilient performance against what continues to be a struggling motor retail sector. The short-term outlook remains challenging into 2020, but analysts expect a “return to solid growth thereafter”. Our recommendation is under review.
Funding Circle SME Income Fund, which was projected to fund 3.5 per cent of Funding Circle's (FCH) originations in 2019, has decided to cease investment in new credit assets and return capital to shareholders. The move comes in response to two-thirds of shareholders stating their preference for a stop to new investments. Shares in Funding Circle were down 8 per cent in morning trading. Sell.
Treatt (TET) expects to report revenue growth of 7 per cent during the first half of its financial year, or a 5 per cent increase at constant currency. The group called this growth “particularly pleasing” given some price weakness in some of Treatt’s key raw materials in citrus, it’s largest product category. Citrus may still be the largest category, but the others are catching up. The fruit and vegetables, tea and sugar reduction categories represented 69 per cent of the year-on-year growth for the period. The new US facility was completed in March and will become operational in June. Shares were up 2 per cent in early trading. Buy.
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GVC (GVC) reported an 8 per cent increase in net gaming revenue across the group during the first quarter, primarily driven by a 17 per cent increase in net revenue generated from online gaming. UK retail like-for-like net gaming revenue was flat, as machines made up for a decline in over the counter wagers. On 1 April the stake cut on fixed-odds betting terminals from £100 to £2 took effect. Chief executive Kenny Alexander said the group is confident that it can achieve its target of double digit growth in online net gaming revenue. Shares were flat in early trading.
