London’s small and midcap markets were trading down on Monday after sanctions on Russia and lockdowns in China left investors wary of future market conditions.
The FTSE 250 and AIM both fell 2% to 19,425 and 957, respectively in early afternoon trade on Monday.
FTSE 250
Energean shares rose 4.5% to 1,363p after the group announced that commercial gas has been discovered at its Athena exploration well, offshore Israel.
Energean wholly owns the Athena well, which is the fifth well in a row that has been drilled successfully by the company in Israel. It has now been suspended as a future production well.
Clipper Logistics Group shares gained 2% to 867p after the group announced that they had reached an agreement on the terms of a recommended cash and share offer to be made by GXO for the acquisition of Clipper’s entire issued and any share capital issued in the future.
NCC Group shares increased 0.3% to 185p after the cybersecurity firm’s Board expects revenue growth to hit double digits for FY22 and momentum to continue in FY23.
Victrex shares fell 5% to 1,708p after the company noted a drop in pretax profit by 6.4% to £43.6m from £46.6m despite a 6% rise in revenue from £150.9m to £160.1m.
Petershill Partners’ share lost 3% to 221p after the company announced the commencement of a share buyback programme of up to $50m.
Capital & Counties Properties shares were trading down 3.2% to 160p after the group confirmed that it is in talks with Shaftesbury for a potential all-share merger of both companies.
Shaftesbury shares fell 3% to 560p after the group announced that it is in talks with Capco for a potential merger involving all shares of both companies.
“Talks between Shaftesbury and Capital & Counties over a merger look logical given both are focused on the West End and both have had to endure a big drop in tourist numbers and wider footfall in central London during Covid,” said Russ Mould, Investment Director, AJ Bell.
“Add in the fact that Capital & Counties already has a decent-sized stake in Shaftesbury and this looks like a marriage made in heaven.”
AIM
Ideagen shares skyrocketed 46% to 355p following the announcement of reaching an agreement for its takeover by Hg Pooled Management for £1.06bn.
Ncondezi Energy shares flew 16.7% to 0.7p after the group’s Board concluded an internal review on the integrated Ncondezi 300MW power project in Tete, Mozambique, and stated that there is potential for a grid-scale solar plus battery storage power project at the site.
Quadrise Fuels shares rose 14% to 2.19p after the company announced that it is on track to achieve its commercialisation targets due to the positive engagement with counterparties during the past month. The group also said that it intends to progress with each of its core projects as well as with the development of bioMSAR fuel and its derivatives.
K3 Capital Group shares gained 6% to 228p after the group announced in a statement that it is unaware of any reason for the decline in its share price, however, the projections for the year are strong with recent acquisitions performing in line with expectations and momentum has continued in the start of H2 2022 for K3.
Water Intelligence shares tumbled 10% to 690p despite the group noting a 44% sales growth from $11.4m to $16.5m in 2022. However, the company did report a 17% decline in statutory pretax profit from $1.7m to $1.4m due to one-time costs.
Amur Minerals shares dropped 9.8% to 1.87p after the mineral exploration company along with its wholly-owned subsidiary Irosta Trading agreed to the sale of 100% of its interest in Irosta’s wholly-owned subsidiary, AO Kun-Manie to Stanmix Holding for $105m.
Trident Royalties shares lost 5.8% to 49p after the group turned to an annual loss in 2021 as it reported a pretax loss of $4.4m, swinging from a profit of $1.7m in 2020 and revenue dropped to $83,000 in 2021 from $1.7m the year before.
Trident also posted a decline in a revaluation of royalty financial assets from £2.5m to £1.5m in 2021 and a surge in “other finance costs” from £20,000 to £1.7m.
Looking past 2021’s results, Trident have recently reported the commencement of gold royalties in Q1 2022 that totalled $1,577,958.
Price Target
Travis Perkins shares fell 2.7% to 1,104p after Deutsche Bank research cut its price target from 1,961p to 1,525p.
Deutsche Bank research also cut several home construction companies such as Crest Nicholson, Redrow, Vistry and Bellway’s target to 415p, 784p, 1,207p and 3,289p, leading its shares to decline 3.5%, 3%, 2% and 2.8%, respectively.
Beazley shares rose 1% to 434p after Berenberg and Jefferies upgraded it to a ‘buy’ rating and raised its price target to 630p and 615p, respectively.
Rathbone Brothers shares dipped 1.4% to 1,992p following Barclays’ decision to cut its price target to 2,200p and give it an ‘equal-weight’ rating from an ‘over-weight’ rating.
4imprint Group saw its shares rise 1.4% to 2,930p after Barclays raised its price target to 4,100p from 3,700p.
IMI shares lost 5% to 1,255p after Barclays cut its price target to 1,750p from 2,070p.
Jefferies cut Morgan Advanced Materials’ price target from 485p to 440p resulting in a 5% dip in the group’s share to 279p.
Tate & Lyle shares lost 1.2% to 760p despite Jefferies raising the group’s price target by 40p to 900p.