Bidstack shares up 15% on in-game advertising deal with Ubisoft

Jamie Gordon
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Bidstack shares up 15% on in-game advertising deal with Ubisoft
Native in-game advertising platform, Bidstack Group plc (AIM:BIDS.L) saw its shares rally as it announced it had signed an exclusive partnership with Ubisoft (EPA:UBI). The deal provides that Bidstack will provide in-game advertising for Ubisoft’s ‘Hyper Scape’, a ” futuristic, free-to-play, urban battle royale game that was officially launched on 11 August 2020″.

The advertisements will be delivered across Hyper Scape-compatible gaming platforms, including Xbox One, Playstation and PC. According to the company, today’s partnership follows Bidstack’s supply-side strategy to focus on partnering with world-leading game developers, in an effort to incorporate their native in-game advertising technology into their games.

Bidstack response

Commenting on the deal and its potential forthe Group, company CEO James Draper stated:

“This deal shows the progress the business has made over the last two years. The team at Ubisoft has become a close partner, and together we’re excited to empower advertisers to run campaigns within the cross-platform battle royale Hyper Scape.”

“We look forward to delivering true ‘virtual out of home’ advertising campaigns into these open world gaming environments together with our global relationships with game publishers and developers, agency holding groups and brands direct.”

“This agreement signifies another major milestone for not only the Company but the native in-game advertising industry as a whole.”

Investor notes

Following the update, Bidstack shares rallied over 20% before settling down to a 15.29% or 0.77p rally, up to 5.82p a share 15/09/20 11:40 BST. This price is a 77.80% decrease versus the same day last year, but still ahead of its year-to-date nadir of 3.00p in mid-March.  

Firstgroup shares rise ahead of AGM

Safiya Bashir
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Firstgroup shares rise ahead of AGM
FirstGroup shares (LON: FGP) soared 8.66% on Tuesday as the group saw passenger numbers recover following the Coronavirus pandemic. An update ahead of the group’s Annual General Meeting revealed stronger than expected financial performance as schools and workplaces return to normal. Bus passengers have returned to 50% of their pre-pandemic levels, which is significantly higher than the 10% levels they were running on since lockdown. “Overall, our divisions have delivered better revenue recovery and strong cost control in the period and the group is now expecting to generate a small adjusted operating profit in the seasonally weaker first half of the financial year. This anticipated result is ahead of our expectations earlier this summer,” said FirstGroup in a statement. “Passengers can be confident that public transport is safe and we are encouraged that activity levels are increasing, especially since the start of the new school year on both sides of the Atlantic. We continue to work with our customers, communities and governments to maintain the availability of our transportation services which are so crucial to the recovery of local economies,” said chief executive Matthew Gregory. “Although the ongoing impact of the pandemic on the Group continues to evolve, clarity is improving over time. We continue to take all necessary action to protect the business and to ensure the Group is in the most robust position possible to deliver on our strategic plans. “As we head into the autumn, our priorities are to continue delivering safe, reliable transport services that meet the changing needs of our customers and communities, and to execute the sale of the North American businesses as expediently as possible and in the best interests of all shareholders,” he added. FirstGroup shares (LON: FGP) are trading +8.07% at 44,20 (1008GMT).

Polypipe shares surge despite 93% profit plunge

Safiya Bashir
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0
Polypipe shares surge despite 93% profit plunge
Polypipe shares (LON: PLP) surged 8% after the group released interim results for the six months ending 30 June 2020. The group posted a 93% drop in pre-tax profits, from £31.4m in 2019 to £2.3m. Revenue dropped 22% to £173.6m. “I want to thank all our colleagues for their dedication, hard work and support through what have been unprecedented times for all of us. I am particularly proud of the way they have rallied to support their local communities despite their own circumstances,” said Martin Payne, the group’s chief executive. We manufactured visors and distributed them and other surplus PPE into local NHS and care homes, supported the Nightingale programme and other repurposing of NHS facilities for care and recovery, and contributed to many other local initiatives that have made a difference. The health and wellbeing of our colleagues, our customers and our communities remains an absolute priority, and we will continue to operate to the highest standards possible.”

The Group has traded robustly through the crisis with continued improvement in trading in recent months. The early actions we took to secure liquidity have positioned the Group to be able to capitalise on opportunities as they arise during the recovery, as well as continue investing in new product development in line with our strategy.”

We have a balanced exposure to the different elements of the UK construction market which provides resilience, and strong medium-term growth drivers. Whilst we remain mindful of the various risks to the UK’s economic recovery, I am confident the Group is well positioned for the future,” he added.

Polypipe has said that it will consider paying a final dividend for 2020 in May 2021. This depends on continued performance ahead of the operating scenario set out in May. During the height of the pandemic, 1,771 employees were furloughed. The group has made 104 employees redundant, which is significantly less than the 250 people announced earlier this year. Polypipe shares (LON: PLP) are trading +7.83% at 439,14 (0928GMT).

 

Eve Sleep shares down, despite “strong trading momentum”

Safiya Bashir
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0
Eve Sleep shares down, despite “strong trading momentum”
Eve Sleep shares (LON: EVE) were down over 7% on Tuesday’s opening after the group released its latest results. For the six months ended 30 June 2020, revenue fell from £12.9m to £12.2m whilst gross profits increased by 1% to £6.8m. The company expects full-year revenues to reach £22m due to “strong trading momentum”, whilst the group also boasts a year-on-year increase of customers by 7%. “This has been a highly unusual and complex trading period,” said Cheryl Calverley, Eve Sleep’s chief executive. “Eve has benefited significantly from the accelerated switch to online, the temporary closure of high street retailers, and the recent increased consumer investment in the home, which, combined with the hard work on the rebuild strategy, has allowed us to see the fruits of our labour a little sooner than we anticipated. “The focus now is on building towards a longer-term growth plan as we draw closer to our goal of securing a base as a sustainable, profitable business. “We do not expect this to be easy, and 2021 like 2020 may well bring both challenges and opportunities as economies shift, consumers reset and competitors rebuild. “However, I have confidence in our brand, our products, our customer experience and most importantly, our team that we are now well set up to capitalize upon whatever opportunities the next few years may bring,” she added. Eve Sleep shares (LON: EVE) are trading -14.17% at 5,51 (0901GMT).

NextGen Nano is striving to be at the forefront of green energy innovation

UK Investor Magazine
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NextGen Nano is striving to be at the forefront of green energy innovation
Sponsored by NextGen Nano NextGen Nano is a high-tech company with a focus on the empowerment of the individual. By decentralising power generation from governments and traditional grids, we are striving to have a deliberate positive environmental impact, whilst reducing reliance on pollutants and finite materials. NextGen Nano has developed benchmark IP that may hold the key to advancements in the decentralising of energy, in line with recent Government CO2 emission and climate policy goals. Our breakthrough technology replaces existing solutions (fabricated with pollutant, finite materials) with earth-friendly biopolymers. This breakthrough enables NextGen Nano to develop solar cells that produce energy with unrivalled efficiency at a far lower cost than existing hardware. This technology allows robust, transparent cells to be applied to flexible surfaces, thus making it more usable and cost-effective than ever before, as well as practical for multiple potential real-world applications. Next Gen has two main products in PolyPower and NewFusion. Blending earth-friendly biopolymers with cutting-edge nanotechnology, NextGen’s trademark PolyPower® revolutionises the sector, decentralising power generation and opening up endless market opportunities. PolyPower® provides an extremely flexible, durable and efficient solar cell technology, with a wide range of both industrial and everyday applications. The New Fusion technology is based on a phenomenon called triplet-triplet annihilation (TTA) – a process in which two triplet excitons annihilate and produce a higher-energy singlet exciton. While the quantum efficiency is lower than that of the phosphorescent OLEDs, the voltage required to drive the device is actually about half that required for phosphorescent OLEDs. Article written and sponsored by NextGen Nano

Ocado shares surge on “sucessful” M&S switch

Safiya Bashir
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0
Ocado shares surge on “sucessful” M&S switch
Ocado shares (LON: OCDO) surged over 5% on Tuesday after the group hailed a “successful switchover” to Marks & Spencer. In the 13 weeks to 30 August, sales at the group reached £587.3m as the company switched from Waitrose to Marks & Spencer. “Our aim is to continue to set the bar as we begin again to welcome new customers who are seeing the benefits of online shopping in ever greater numbers and we remain focused and on track to increase capacity by 40% through to 2021,” said Ocado Retail’s chief executive, Melanie Smith. “As a result, we can now offer customers more choice and better value than ever before, wider ranges than any traditional retailer, and thousands of products that are only available online through Ocado.com.” The joint venture with Marks & Spencer got off to a rocky start after a surge in demand led to customers having their orders cancelled. On the switch, the group said: “the weighting of M&S products in the average Ocado basket is higher than Waitrose prior to the switchover, reflecting positive customer reaction to the addition of M&S to the range”. Online shopping has boomed over lockdown, with Ocado being a clear winner. The group expects strong underlying earnings of £40m this year due to the continued demand. Ocado shares (LON: OCDO) are trading +5.51% at 2.484,74 (0847GMT).    

Mountfield Group shares fall 46% on “disappointing year”

Safiya Bashir
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0
Mountfield Group shares fall 46% on “disappointing year”
Mountfield Group shares (LON: MOGP) plunged on Tuesday after the group revealed final results for the year ending 31 December 2019. Shares in the group plummeted 45% on opening after the group’s results reflected “a disappointing year”. Pre-tax profits fell from £1,109,332 to £840,740. The board anticipated a fall in profits due to a reduction in margin on some of the larger contracts. The construction company’s gross margin plunged from 15.5% to 10.4%, while its operating margin fell to 4.1%, from 7.0%. Looking forward, Mountfield expects a negative impact from the Coronavirus pandemic. The group said: “The Board believes that as regards future prospects, the changes resulting from the COVID-19 epidemic are of a fundamental nature and that these changes are likely to have a long term and materially negative impact on the markets in which the Group Companies operate.” “The sharp recession that resulted from the steps taken to limit the spread of the virus has impacted the construction business generally, having had a significant, negative effect on the demand for construction services and in activity levels in the industry generally. The Group has also suffered because both Group Companies offer specialist services to small segments of their respective markets.” Mountfield Group shares (LON: MOGP) are trading -46.21% at 0,51 (0826GMT).

Unemployment rate grows to 4.1%

Safiya Bashir
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1
Unemployment rate grows to 4.1%
Official data published on Tuesday has shown unemployment rates in the UK to rise to 4.1% As the toll of the pandemic is taking a hit, unemployment between May to July climbed by 0.2% from the three months previous. The Office for National Statistics said that numbers will continue to increase as the government’s furlough scheme comes to an end in October. “Some effects of the pandemic on the labour market were beginning to unwind in July as parts of the economy reopened,” said Darren Morgan, director of ecnomic statistics at the ONS. “Nonetheless, with the number of employees on the payroll down again in August and both unemployment and redundancies sharply up in July, it is clear that coronavirus is still having a big impact on the world of work,” he added. Commenting on the unemployment results, Rishi Sunak said: “This is a difficult time for many as the pandemic continues to have a profound impact on people’s jobs and livelihoods.” “That’s why protecting jobs and helping people back into work continues to be my number one priority,” added Sunak. As the furlough scheme is due to end on 31st October, many MP’s and businesses are calling on the government to extend the scheme. “The key will be assisting those businesses who, with additional support, can come through the crisis as sustainable enterprises, rather than focusing on those that will unfortunately just not be viable in the changed post-crisis economy,” said Mel Stride, chairman of the scheme. When the scheme ends, there is likely to be another surge in unemployment.  

Domino’s to create 6,000 roles amid strong sales

Safiya Bashir
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1
Domino’s to create 6,000 roles amid strong sales
Domino’s Pizza (NYSE: DPZ) has revealed plans to create 6,000 new roles over the Christmas period. Thanks to a surge in sales over the pandemic, the takeaway pizza chain has said it will create 5,000 new roles and 1,000 placements for young people. First-half sales of this financial year leapt 5% as people enjoyed their pizza’s throughout the pandemic. However, pre-tax profits fell 4.6% to £47.6m thanks to the £6.2m in safety measures amid the Coronavirus. The new roles will include customer service colleagues, delivery drivers, and pizza chefs. The group will also open up 1,000 apprenticeships under the government’s Kickstart scheme. The scheme offers young people a paid placement with the opportunity to apply for a full-time job after six months. “It was a privilege to keep our stores open during Covid-19 and to now be in a position to offer thousands more people the opportunity to become a Domino’s team member,” said Dominic Paul, the chief executive. “We’re also delighted to have applied to support the Government’s Kickstart scheme, offering young people the chance to get back into work and to build lifelong skills through our training programmes.” “Together, these over 6,000 new roles will help Domino’s continue to safely serve our local communities as we head towards the busy festive period,” he added. The creation of 6,000 new roles is a stark contrast to the current climate where thousands of jobs have been cut this year. It is also a welcome change after rivals Pizza Express and Pizza Hut have announced store closures, risking 1,500 roles. Shares in Domino’s (NYSE: DPZ) are trading at 388,52 (0718GMT).

Dow Jones gripped by tech M&A-nia: Oracle wins US Tik-Tok and Nvidia buys ARM

Jamie Gordon
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1
Dow Jones gripped by tech M&A-nia: Oracle wins US Tik-Tok and Nvidia buys ARM
Surging by 400 points, to 28,050, the Dow Jones rallied by 1.40% on news of a tech sector recovery and what can only be described as Monday ‘M&A-nia’, with two tech-giant buy-ups. The first of these buy-ups saw some hope of the US-China Tik-Tok scuffle being resolved, with multinational computing corporation, Oracle (NYSE:ORCL), beating Microsoft in the bidding for management of TikTok’s US data. The deal will see Oracle become ByteDance’s partner in operating the Tik-Tok business, and will hopefully allay some of the US’s security concerns (save for a Trump u-turn). The second buy-out was carried out by US multinational tech company Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), who on Monday announced it had bought up the Cambridge-based computer chip designer, ARM Holdings, from Softbank for a hefty sum of $40 billion. Nvidia says the deal will create “the premier computing company for the age of artificial intelligence” and states that it will keep ARM’s employees in the UK. Following the M&A news, Oracle shares rallied 5.23% or US$2.90, to US$59.90 a share. Similarly, Nvidia shares bounced by 5.72% or US$27.85, to US$514.43 apiece. These rallies saw the Dow Jones enjoy a bright start. They were also assisted by other tech rallies, such as an 8.60% surge from Tesla; a 1.98% bounce from Apple; Microsoft up by 1.62%; Facebook rising 1.82%; and Amazon growing by 0.74%, all of which saw the Dow Jones gripped by a tech stock renaissance. The hope now is that, escaping last week’s fluctuations, tech will repeat its lockdown success and power further growth through this week’s trading. Unfortunately, Eurozone equities were both unable to emulate the Dow Jones rally, nor were they inspired by the US markets opening. The FTSE and DAX were stagnant, down 0.097% and 0.070% respectively, while the French CAC posted modest success, up 0.35%.

Commenting on the possibilities for Tuesday trading, Spreadex Financial Analyst, Connor Campbell, stated:

“There are a few things that could come to impact tomorrow morning’s open. Firstly, whether the US indices can keep hold of their gains all the way until closing time, something they have struggled with this month. Secondly, the state of the Chinese data in Tuesday’s early hours, especially the retail sales reading, which is set to come in at a 7-month ‘peak’ of 0.0%.”

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