Shares in London have slipped back today on a quiet news day. Click here for The Trader Nicole Elliott's latest thoughts on the markets.
KEY STORIES:
A trading update from John Menzies (MNZS) has sent shares plummeting by 17 per cent this morning. Revealing “disappointing” trading across the group in the face of weak cargo volumes and flight schedule reductions, first half performance has been below expectations. Full year earnings are not expected to exceed last year. “The overall aviation market is having a difficult year”, says chief executive Giles Wilson. “This is inevitably having an impact on our full year outturn.” The group is hoping that the previously announced cost rationalisation programme, revitalisation of its commercial offering and greater focus on returns from the deployment of its systems can underpin a recovery.
SIG (SHI) said it had delivered a “sustained” improvement in the margins of its UK business during the first-half, but revealed that trading conditions remained challenging in many of its end markets, which had resulted in a “marked deterioration” in the level of construction activity in the UK. Like-for-like sales declined 3.8 per cent over the six months, with UK and Ireland sales falling 12.7 per cent.
OTHER COMPANY NEWS:
CME Group has sold the NEX Exchange to Aim-minnow Aquis Exchange (AQX) for a token fee of £1, plus £2.7m based on the business's current working capital levels. Aquis said it believes it can do what CME presumably didn’t, and transform NEX Exchange from a heavily loss-making business into a “pan-European, technology driven, listing exchange for growth companies”.
Shares in Global Ports Holding (GPH) were up more than 4 per cent in early trading after the cruise port operator announced that it is undertaking a strategic review of the business, led by Goldman Sachs. The company said the purpose of the review is to “explore ways to maximise value for all stakeholders”, and could include the sale of certain assets as well as strategic investments and partnerships. A number of preliminary offers for certain assets have already been received, which Global Ports is currently considering.
