The FTSE 250 was up 0.2% to 19,961.6 and the AIM was down 0.2% to 953.5 after signs of an economic slowdown in China due to Covid-19 lockdowns started to hit sectors across international markets.
The rising cost of living also contributed to sliding retail stocks, and investors kept a concerned eye on former indulgences which consumers have been gradually paring back on as 7% inflation continues to bite.
“Big ticket items are the first things consumers will delay when the going gets tough [and] the cost of energy, food, drink and more is racing ahead,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
“Households will have to make their current [expensive products] last a bit longer, and the same applies to other expensive purchases such as electronic goods unless they’re broken and desperately need replacing.”
Plus500 shares gained 4.1% to 1,574p after the company reported strong trading into Q2 2022, and consequently raised its expected FY 2022 EBITDA and revenue expectations.
Diploma shares dropped 4.9% despite the firm announcing a 23% surge in revenue to £448.5 million compared to £365.2 million and an adjusted operating profit growth of 24% to £82.5 million from £66.6 million in its HY 2022 results.
The company reported an unchanged outlook with an estimated 20% revenue growth and resilience in the face of macroeconomic volatility due to its increasing revenue diversification, value-added model and strong balance sheet.
Vast Resources shares were up 53.6% to 1.2p following the company’s repayment of outstanding bonds owed to Atlas Special Opportunities related to the Bond Issuance Deed from 24 October 2019.
Vast also confirmed a debt repayment of $1 million to Mercuria Energy which was linked to tranche A of a prepayment agreement from 21 March 2018. The miner also took the opportunity to raise £3.2 million through a placing.
Synairgen shares gained 47.7% to 39.4p as a result of the group’s Phase 3 SPRINTER trial, which suggested that patients on its SNG001 treatment had a reduced risk in the relative progression to severe disease or death within 35 days. Comments suggest SNG001 is effective in high-risk patients and provides welcome positivity in Synairgen’ treatment.
Synairgen presented its research at the American Thoratic Society (ATS) 2022 conference on Monday.
“The improvement in standard of care for COVID-19 means that most patients are currently discharged fairly rapidly from hospital; however, this further analysis shows that some patients struggle in their battle with the virus and show signs of respiratory compromise, with faster breathing rates and lower oxygen saturations, despite being on oxygen,” said SPRINTER trial chief investigator Tom Wilkinson.
“For these higher-risk patients, there remains an urgent need for new treatment options, and this analysis suggests that SNG001 could be a potentially efficacious treatment option for them.”
Wishbone Gold shares rose 11.2% to 10.8p after the group signed the drilling contract for its Northern Queensland-based Wishbone 2 Cold-Copper project.
The company reported that the maiden drill program would consist of 2,000 metres of reverse circulation holes to test for surface gold and copper anomalies at depth, and search for continuous underground structures.
Nostra Terra shares were up 9.4% to 0.7p following the company’s announcement that its Fouke 2 well was producing beyond management expectations at 145 barrels of oil per day (bopd).
Woodbois shares were up 10.6% to 5.2p as a result of the the firm’s new partnership with World Forest ID, which is set to enhance the traceability and identification of timber originating from the group’s forest concessions in Gabon.
RWS Holdings shares fell 18.2% to 361.7p after Baring Private Equity Asia Fund declined to make a takeover offer for the technology-enabled language services group.
Baring Private Equity Asia said its decision did not reflect its perception of RWS Holdings as a business.
Meanwhile, analysts took note of the cheerful tone with which RWS Holdings replied to the report.
“RWS couldn’t be happier judging by the tone of its response to the news. It has a plan to grow and seemingly would rather do this on its own than as part of a private equity empire,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.
“The board of RWS believes the company has a strong future based on its clearly defined strategy…The company is focused on the actions and investments which support this strategy and its five year accelerated growth plan,” the company said in a statement.
Empire Metals shares dropped 15.3% to 1.3p after the company announced the results of its exploration update for its Eclipse Gold Project, including confirmed gold mineralisation and an extension in strike length of 300 metres to over 500 metres from the previously reported extent of mineralisation discovered along the Eclipse shear.
Chaarat Gold Holdings shares slid 6.2% to 15.5p following a fatal rock fall accident at the firm’s Kapan mine.
Operations were suspended immediately in the underground mining area where the accident occurred, meanwhile work progressed in all other working areas. The company commented that it did not expect the incident to affect production levels.
“We truly regret this incident, and we offer our sincere condolences to the family of the deceased. The safety of our employees and contractor employees at our operations is a top priority for Chaarat,” said Chaarat Gold Holdings CEO Mike Fraser.
“We are working through an internal and external investigation and will identify further measures to prevent such incidents from occurring, and to protect the health of our employees and contracted companies’ employees.”
