Shares in London dipped on the open today, following on from a downbeat end to last week. Our Trader writer Neil Wilson says: 'Indices on mainland Europe are catching up with the losses sustained in London and New York today, having been shut Friday. The DAX retreated 3 per cent on the open to take a look again at 10,500, whilst the FTSE 100 extended losses to trade about 20 points lower. Hong Kong turned sharply lower ahead of its GDP report.' For Neil's full report click here.
IC TIP UPDATES:
Shares in Manolete Partners (MANO) are up a tenth this morning after the insolvency litigation financier said it had seen a 129 per cent increase in case enquiries in the first four months of 2020. More encouragingly – from an earnings perspective – the signed case rate has picked up considerably in the last two months, during which time the group signed 29 new cases, up from 10 in 2019. Chief executive Steve Cooklin said his firm “has the balance sheet to support the important work of the turnaround restructuring and insolvency professionals who are helping many companies navigate” the current challenges facing UK business. Buy.
KEY STORIES:
Pendragon (PDG) confirmed that it has held exploratory discussions with car retail rival Lookers (LOOK) over a potential merger. These talks have now ceased, according to Pendragon.
OTHER COMPANY NEWS:
Hotel Chocolat (HOTC) has secured a new £35m revolving credit facility with Lloyds Bank, replacing an existing £20m overdraft facility. This follows the group’s £22m equity placing in March. The group also updated on trading – noting that Easter is the second-largest seasonal peak for the business. And while the closure of all retail stores has had a material impact on trading, it has managed to shift some demand online with a temporarily reduced product range. This hasn’t fully offset the loss endured during the three-weak Easter period but Hotel Chocolat is putting plans together which should allow it to cater to more digital orders in future. Hold.
Online trading platform IG Group (IGG) has appointed Charlie Rozes as its new chief financial officer. Mr Rozes, who previously held executive roles at Barclays, JLT, IBM and Bank of America, will join on 1 June.
