Political uncertainty not preventing Brits from visiting Europe
This week’s election and the uncertainty surrounding Brexit are not preventing Brits from travelling to the EU in 2020, new data revealed on Monday.
With just days left before voters cast their votes, Brexit is at the forefront of everyone’s minds as the nation’s departure from the European Union was postponed yet again.
However, new data from WeSwap revealed that holidaymakers are still choosing to travel to Europe in the year ahead.
Indeed, 54% of Brits still plan to travel to Europe in 2020.
Of this, 68% of 18-24 year old are planning to jet off to the continent next year.
WeSwap revealed that Britain’s most popular European holiday destinations are Spain, France, Italy, Greece and the Netherlands.
Brexit may certainly complicate travel plans, but the research shows that it by no means detracts from holidaymakers’ love for Europe.
“Although the December general election and Brexit may concern many British holidaymakers, our research shows that people are continuing to fly to Europe over flying long-haul in spite of all the uncertainty,” Rob Stross, CMO of WeSwap, commented on the data.
“Undoubtedly, there may be people who are worried about the impact of Brexit on their holidays as 35% of Brits have already lost out when exchanging money due to the fluctuation of the pound in light of Brexit. However, there are still many ways that you can ensure that you don’t fall victim to any ‘holidaying pitfalls’ this winter,” Rob Stross continued.
“When it comes to travel money, with the ups and downs of the pound in light of Brexit, it’s difficult to plan when to buy your travel money. Our research has unveiled that nearly 12 million people have no idea how to plan my foreign currency due to the impact of Brexit.”
Rob Stross said: “To try and keep ahead of the fluctuations, and even make the most of them, there are several rate alert systems you can use. Our Smart Swap feature is one example of these. We’ve also done research that shows nearly half of Brits buy all their travel money in one sitting. It can be wise, however, to exchange half your holiday money now and half closer to when you go or if the pound strengthens.”
Angling Direct shares in green following record Black Friday performance
Angling Direct PLC (Angling Direct PLC) have seen their shares in green after the firm reported a record Black Friday performance.
In October. Angling Direct announced a new acquisition in the form of Erics Angling Centre. The deal was valued at £1.1 million as Angling Direct stampeded their influence in the British Angling market.
Eric’s reported revenues of £5.2 million in 2018 and looked like a sound investment for Angling Direct.
One week later, the firm made another announcement which enlightened shareholders about the appointment of Steven Crowe as new CFO. Crowe begum his career at PricewaterhouseCooper where he rose to the ranks before taking positions in senior finance at Aviva.
Today, the firm has given shareholders another positive update by achieving a record performance during the Black Friday trading period.
Additionally, the retailer said that they would be opening a new store in the UK.
The fishing tackle equipment retailer said the store opening – which took place last Saturday – brought the total number of Angling Direct stores across the UK to 33.
The new store, a independent former fishing tackle store, is located in Snape Hill Road, Darfield, and has been completely renovated in order to stimulate trading and business.
“We are excited to have opened our latest store in Barnsley, which supports the recent opening of the Rotherham store. The new store offers products for all disciplines across this very enthusiastic angling community,” said Chief Executive Darren Bailey.
The AIM-listed company said its sales grew by 11% from November 25 to Monday last week to £1.9 million.
Across this period, Angling Direct said it has supplied 5,868 new customers, with Black Friday transactions up 29% to 18,204. Profit during the Black Friday week was up 50% on last year, the company noted.
We are delighted to report that trading remains strong, which is due to recent store openings, enhanced operational performances both in store and online, and our targeted approach towards Black Friday, which resulted in a record performance,” added Bailey.
It seems that Angling Direct have once again managed to pull it out of the bag, as the firm has managed to pluck results out of a tough period of global UK trading.
Angling Direct have shown a resilient nature, and will not be overcome compared to some other UK High Street Retailers.
The UK High street has seen an tough period across financial 19, and many high street names have closed.
As Mothercare descended into administration in November, Angling Direct will have pleased shareholders with the impressive update showing market growth and also profits rising.
Shares of Angling Direct modestly rallied 0.73% to 66p on Monday afternoon. 9/12/19 13:54BST.
HSBC announce senior management overhaul
HSBC Holdings plc (LON: HSBA) have updated the market on a few senior management changes on Monday morning.
Shares of HSBC trade at 561p. (-0.071%) 9/12/19 12:59BST.
HSBC have seen a turbulent 2019, as the firm reported a 31% rise in its first quarter profits as reported in May.
The FTSE100 listed bank reported a profit after tax that amounted to $4.9 billion, up 31%. Additionally, reported revenue was up 5%, whilst adjusted operating expenses were up 3.2%
Later in the year, in the middle of November HSBC announced that they would be cutting jobs in their UAE operations following a slump in trading.
The firm made gains however, at the end of November when HSBC saw their private banking division boast double digit revenue growth.
Assets managed by HSBC’s private banking unit rose 9.4% in the first nine months of 2019 to $338 billion (£263 billion), while revenue rose 4.6% versus the same period a year earlier to $1.4 billion. The unit is the smallest contributor to group revenue at 3%.
Today, the firm updated the market by announcing the appointment of a new Chief Operating Officer in John Hinshaw.
The changes also include the appointment of Pam Kaur, currently head of Wholesale Market & Credit Risk at the bank, as group chief risk officer from the start of 2020.
Mark Moses will hand over responsibilities to Kaur before departing the board and stepping down as group chief risk officer at the end of 2019. He will remain at HSBC supporting the CEO before departing the bank completely in December 2020.
Samir Assaf will leave HSBC’s Global Banking and Markets division at the start of March 2020, taking a new role as hair of Corporate & Institutional Banking.
HSBC Group Chief Executive Noel Quinn said: “I’d like to thank each of these individuals for their extraordinary dedication and commitment to the bank over many years. In their respective successors we have talented and capable individuals that I’m looking forward to working closely with as we execute plans for the next phase of the bank.”
HSBC’s current COO, Andy Maguire, will retire at the end of January but will remain with the group until the end of his notice period on June 9 in order to assist with the handover.
Hinshaw will join the bank as group COO-designate on Tuesday before stepping into the full role in February.
The move comes as part of HSBC’s plans to turnaround fortunes in a global banking and finance slump.
This was illustrated when Moody’s cut the UK Banking sector outlook from stable to negative amid a host of political and economic uncertainties.
Rivals such as Lloyds Banking Group PLC saw their shares crash following a poor quarterly update. The firm saw a 97% fall in pre-tax profit for the third quarter from last year.
Additionally, profit before tax for the third quarter fell 97 percent to 50 million pounds from £1.82 billion last year. Lloyd’s are one of the banks however that have appeared to gain some ground, after posting revenue gains in trading updates after gloomy performance.
Another noteworthy performance came from Deutsche Bank who have collapsed across 2019, with the firm now fighting to stay afloat in a cutthroat market. Deutsche Bank saw a €3.1 billion loss at the end of July, following a strategy which pledged transformation after they axed 18,000 jobs at the end of June.
Certainly, the efforts made by HSBC to turnaround business slumps does come at a good time. Both the senior board and shareholders will remain optimistic till all of the changes are fully implemented, and subsequent results will be used to scrutinize the work of the new appointments.Zambeef shares in red despite positive update
Zambeef Products PLC (LON: ZAM) have seen their shares in red despite the firm reporting profit gains in an update on Monday.
Zambeef is the largest beef producer in Zambia. The company also provides feedlot services, and manufactures milk, chicken, eggs, leather and shoes. The company operates a fast food restaurant chain and a trucking company, including a fleet of refrigerated trucks
Shares of Zambeef dipped 3.83% to 5p on the positive announcement. 9/12/19 12:45BST.
The firm reported a full year profit rise but Zambian currency headwinds contributed to a mixed revenue picture, in what was a “challenging year” for the Africa-focused food producer.
In the year ended September 30, revenue was up 13% to ZMW3.13 billion from ZMW2.78 billion last year.
In US dollar terms, revenue declined by 9.2% year-on-year to $254.5 million from $280.3 million.
Pretax profit also climbed 38% to ZMW38.7 million from ZMW28.0 million, or by 11% to $3.1 million from $2.9 million last year.
The company operates a chain of 226 retail outlets and it also produces and distributes beef, chicken, pork, dairy, eggs, fish, flour and stockfeed in Zambia, Nigeria and Ghana.
Zambeef said: “The weakening of the Zambian Kwacha against the USD by approximately 24%, increase in the cost of fuel by 19%, together with constrained electricity supply that started in July 2019 due to reduced electricity generation arising from the low water levels in the Kariba Dam, impacted not only the Zambeef group’s performance but also our customers spending power.”
The company added: “The profitability was mainly driven by cropping, increased volumes and margins in the stock feed division and retail and cold chain food products which is in line with our strategic imperative of consistent revenue growth through expansion of our retail network.”
Zembeef concluded: “As we had anticipated, 2019 proved a challenging year for the group, driven by difficult economic and market conditions that impacted negatively on the group’s financial performance, particularly in the first half of the year.
“Set against this challenging macro economic backdrop, the group’s results were reassuring, especially in the second half of the year.”
Looking ahead, the firm expects the tricky market conditions in Zambia, which is mired by a high national debt and electricity supply constraints, to continue hindering consumer confidence.
Shareholders of Zambeef should remain optimistic, as the global state of the supermarket industry has been slow.
Certainly, UK supermarkets have been hit by slow trading and Brexit complications whilst overseas competitors have made gains.
FTSE100 listed Sainsbury’s saw a bruising to its profits in November, as the firm saw underlying profit before tax declined by 15% to £238 million, compared to the £279 million figure recorded for the same period the year prior.
Sainsbury’s did seem to make some ground however, as the firm reported a few days later that it had struck a deal with Australian retailer Coles for a wholesale partnership, as they look to expand wholesale business.
Additionally, Tesco reported a fall in their profits leading to the release of the ClubCard plus and this morning the firm led a consideration to sell its Asian operations.
In the food suppliers market, Associated British Foods saw their shares jump on Friday as the firm gave a confident outlook to shareholders following strong performance from brands such as Primark.
It may be the case that shareholders of Zambeef will have to be patient before they see their shares in green as the global economy looks to recover from a slump which has been caused by both political and economic complications.Update: Just Eat consider Prosus bid
Just Eat (LON: JE) have been at the centre of an ongoing battle between Prosus (JSE: PRX) and Takeaway.com NV (AMS: TKWY),
Just Eat, who are a FTSE100 (INDEXFTSE: UKX) listed firm have been flirting with rumors of a potential takeover deal, however Prosus and Takeaway.com have been locked in a vicious battle to make the acquisition permanent.
Shares in Just Eat currently trade at 780p (+0.46%). 9/12/19 12:32BST.
At the end of November, it appeared that both parties from takeaway.com and Just Eat looked to push a deal amid market pressures.
However, the persistence of Prosus stopped the two firms finalizing a deal as Prosus increased their bid in a battle of money and stubbornness.
Last week, Takeaway.com accused Prosus of scaremongering in an attempt to persuade shareholders to accept Prosus’ low ball cash offer.
Cat Rock Capital Management LP, who said on Monday that Just Eat shareholders would be better accepting the deal proposed by takeaway.com rather than from Prosus, who recently spun off from Naspers (JSE: NPN), had their say on the deal.
Today, Just Eat updated the market by saying that they are reviewing the increased offer from Prosus and are advising shareholders to hold off from accepting the proposition.
Prosus, earlier on Monday, increased its offer for London-listed Just Eat to 740 pence per share, giving Just Eat a value of £5.1 billion.
The all-cash offer represents a 26% premium to Just Eat’s closing price on October 21, the day before Prosus’s first bid for the company.
Prosus Chief Executive Bob van Dijk said: “Following the announcement of our offer, we have had the opportunity to listen to the views of Just Eat shareholders, share our perspective on the global food delivery sector and reflect on the unquestionable challenges Just Eat faces, as clearly seen in its third quarter results. We have also had extensive discussions with our own shareholders with regards to our long-term strategy for food delivery and Just Eat’s role within that.”
Prosus believes Just Eat is an “attractive business with strong long-term potential” but is facing “significant challenges”.
“Just Eat’s historically strong market positions are being eroded by intensifying competition in the UK and other core markets, including Spain and Italy, with market share loss recently accelerating in a number of markets,” Prosus added.
Prosus believes Just Eat has
“underinvested” in addressing these problems. The company also believes the Takeaway.com offer “carries significant risk” and Takeaway.com “takes a narrow view of the food delivery sector”.
Van Dijk added: “We continue to believe in the sector and, as we have demonstrated in Brazil, if you act decisively and invest effectively in technology as well as the opportunities of own-delivery, then you can build an attractive growth business that is equipped to win in the long-term. We believe the investment required is substantial and this impacts our view of potential returns. As disciplined investors we obviously need to factor the required investment into our value considerations.”
Together, we have the opportunity to combine two fantastic companies with huge growth potential. Our Takeaway.com offer provides you with the opportunity to benefit from significant long-term value creation from the Just Eat Takeaway.com combination. We encourage you to join us on our journey and accept the Takeaway.com offer without delay,” said Takeaway.com Founder & Chief Executive Jitse Groen.
A little while earlier, an additional update was provided with the following being said. “The revised Prosus offer of 740p remains derisory as a cash exit price,” Takeaway.com’s Groen said on Monday. “It represents a premium of only 16% to Just Eat’s undisturbed share price of 636p on July 26. This is materially lower than the median premium paid for precedent offers for UK companies over the last 10 years of 40%, and a discount of 9% to Just Eat’s recent high share price of 812 pence on August 13.” He continued: “This opportunistic offer significantly undervalues Just Eat and the value that the Just Eat Takeaway.com combination will deliver to shareholders. Under the Takeaway.com offer, if the combined group’s shares were valued at Takeaway.com’s average trading multiple since its IPO in 2016, Just Eat’s shares would be illustratively worth about GBP11 each.”Open Orphan and hVIVO agree tie-up deal
Open Orphan PLC (LON: ORPH) and Hvivo PLC (LON: HVO) have updated shareholders on Monday on the completion of a tie up deal.
Both the firms are AIM listed and the deal would value Hvivo at £13 million according to the Monday update.
Open Orphan is building a leading European rare disease and orphan drug focused pharma services company.
The firm do this in two ways: acquiring and consolidating a series of smaller, European, orphan drug services companies and deploying our digital data platforms to support companies in research & development and commercialization.
hVIVO has particular expertise in conducting human challenge studies using influenza (flu), human rhinovirus (HRV) and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) for pharmaceutical and biotech companies.
Under the terms of the agreement, hVIVO shareholders will receive 2.47 new Open Orphan shares per hVIVO share. The deal values hVIVO shares at 15.56 pence each, a 34% premium to the clinical development services company’s closing price of 11.62p on Friday.
As the tie up deal is a reverse acquisition, Open Orphan will need to win the approval of its shareholders at their general meeting on January 6th.
Open Orphan said it expects to issue 205.5 million shares under the terms of the merger, with hVIVO shareholders owning just shy of 45% of the enlarged firm.
Open Orphan said: “Open Orphan and hVIVO are AIM-quoted groups that share a similar vision for the future of European Clinical Research Organisations and an entrepreneurial approach to developing further their business through a focus on operational efficiency, organic growth and targeted acquisitions to expand their geographic and service capabilities.
“The Open Orphan directors and the hVIVO directors believe that the combination of the businesses will result in synergies across the enlarged group with each business providing complementary services with limited overlap in existing capabilities and customers.”
Open Orphan Chief Executive Cathal Friel said: “The merger of Open Orphan and hVIVO is a key milestone in the execution of our strategy to become a larger-scale specialist pharma services business and in complementary segments where specialist skills and know-how command higher margins.
“The merger allows the combined business to maximise shareholder value through delivering cost and revenue synergies across the businesses and one that is better positioned to consistently capture greater market share as part of a properly profitable business with losses confined to the past.”
The deal will please shareholders of both firms, as this will allow the cross fertilization of specialization to become more competitive. The pharmaceutical industry continues to become more saturated and more competitive as the big names continue to dominate headlines. On Thursday, FTSE100 listed GlaxoSmithKline saw their shares in green after the firm said that ViiV Healthcare has completed submission of a new drug application to the US Food & Drug Administration, seeking approval of fostemsavir.Provident Financial announce new CFO appointment
Provident Financial plc (LON: PFG) have announced the appointment of a new Chief Financial Officer on Monday morning.
Provident Financial plc is a British sub-prime lender, also described as a “doorstep lender”, based in Bradford, West Yorkshire. It specialises in credit cards, home collected credit, online loans and consumer car finance.
Provident announced that it had hired Neeraj Kapur who is set to replace Simon Thomas from April 1 within the Monday update.
Kapur has been drawn away from Secure Trust Bank PLC where he worked as CFO for eight years.
He will leave the firm on March 31 and Secure Trust added that it has kicked off a search to find his successor.
Provident Financial Chief Executive Malcolm Le May said: “I am very much looking forward to Neeraj Kapur joining Provident Financial as chief finance officer. He has deep retail banking, consumer finance and savings experience and expertise, and will be an excellent addition to the senior leadership team as we continue to re-establish Provident Financial as the market leading sub-prime lender.”
The FTSE250 listed firm said that Thomas would be stepping down in 2020, which followed a three month period of medical leave which he took earlier this year.
Provident Financial hit news headlines earlier this year, as Non Standard Finance (LON: PFG) saw a bid rejected for a potential merger deal.
In a time where the global banking and finance industry is looking rather gloomy, the new appointment should be a point of positivity for the firm.
Only a few days back Moody’s lowered the UK banking outlook from stable to negative, which reflected a host of political and economic uncertainties which shroud UK business.
Certainly, the appointment is a step in the right direction for Provident Financial. However external factors such as Brexit complications, the upcoming General Election on Thursday and the ongoing feud between the United States and China have weighed heavily onto the dampening of recent trading.Senior shares spike on Aerostructures division review
Senior plc (LON: SNR) have seen their shares spike on Monday morning after the firm confirmed speculation regarding a review of its Aerostructures business.
Senior is an international, market-leading, engineering solutions provider with 32 operating businesses in 14 countries.
Senior designs, manufactures and markets high-technology components and systems for the principal original equipment producers in the worldwide aerospace, defense, land vehicle and power & energy markets.
The Group is split into two divisions, Aerospace and Flexonics, servicing five key sectors.
The British aerospace and automotive company is working with adviser Lazard Ltd. on the potential divestment, which seems to have won the approval of shareholders.
Shares of Senior plc spiked 7.25% to 190p on the announcement. 9/12/19 11:38BST.
Senior can confirm that it has been reviewing all strategic options for its Aerostructures business, which includes an early stage assessment of a potential divestment of the division,” the FTSE 250 listed company said.
The Hertfordshire-based company added that the Aerostructures review is in line with Senior’s policy to review its portfolio and evaluate all its operating businesses in terms of their strategic fit within the group.
The Aerospace unit supplies components for airplanes such as Boeing (NYSE: BA) accounts for 70% off overall revenues, and the aerospace business includes divisional sections such as fluid conveyance and engines.
In a time where the defense technology sector has never been so competitive, gains have been made by rivals.
In November, UK government had appeared to have give the green light for the planned purchase of Cobham (LON:COB) by US private equity group Advent, which was pondered by British business minister Andrea Leadsom.
Certainly shareholders should remain optimistic about the progress of Senior plc, and this has been reflected in this mornings stock price, as the market continues to remain competitive it seems that shareholders want Senior to cash in on its Aerostructures division whilst the chance is there.
Capital & Regional announce completion of share subscription
Capital & Regional (LON: CAL) have updated shareholders on Monday about their share subscription being completed to finalize a deal with Growthpoint (JSE: GRT).
Capital & Regional plc is a large British manager of property assets – mainly shopping centres – for funds in which it has a significant stake.
Shares in Capital & Regional currently trade at 28p (+0.085%). 9/12/19 11:26BST.
In October, the firm announced that it would be looking to formalize a deal with Growthpoint.
The firm said that the first part of the deal would be or Growthpoint to acquire 219.8 million existing shares in Capital & Regional, which the firm has said has been completed.
The second part was for Growthpoint to subscribe for 311.5 million new Capital & Regional shares, at a price of 25p each to raise £77.9 million before costs for the company.
Johannesburg-listed real estate investment trust Growthpoint said it will invest around £150.4 million for a 51% interest in the UK real estate firm Capital & Regional.
The completion of this two phase deal means that the offer between the two firms is now wholly unconditional.
Capital & Regional Chair Hugh Scott-Barrett said: “The successful completion of this transaction is transformational for the long term growth of Capital & Regional. It provides us with the resources and support to continue the roll out of our community centre asset management strategy, while at the same time allowing us to further reduce the company’s leverage.
“The team at Growthpoint share our conviction that retail centres which focus on daily ‘needs’, rather than the ‘wants’, of the local communities they serve and which have a central role in their local economies, will continue to play an important part in the evolving retail landscape.”
Growthpoint Chair Francois Marais added: “Growthpoint fully intends to support the growth of Capital & Regional’s portfolio both as to quality and profitability.
“Growthpoint looks forward to a productive and profitable ongoing engagement with the management of Capital & Regional to assist Capital & Regional in achieving its strategic objectives.”
The industry has been busy, as rival Intu saw their share price crash after expectations for revenue income have fallen for financial 2019. Intu said that new rent in the nine months to 30 September 2019 hit £19 million, falling from £32 million during the same period last year.
Additionally, NewRiver Reit PLC saw their shares spike in November, after the firm announced the purchase of a Northern Ireland retail park for £40 million.
Deepmatter shares surge on AstraZeneca partnership
Deepmatter Group PLC (LON: DMTR) have seen their shares rally on Monday morning after the firm announced a pharmaceutical technology collaboration.
Deepmatter platform transforms chemistry into code. It uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) to make better molecules and provide insights never before available.
Digitized chemistry enhances reproducibility and increases productivity. The contextualized data generated by deepmatter provides greater access to high fidelity data and informs and improves better outcomes.
Deepmatter shares rallied after the firm said that it will be collaborating with giant AstraZeneca PLC (LON: AZN) in a digital technology venture, designed to speed up the drug delivery process.
AstraZeneca is a FTSE100 and announced that it had received received marketing authorization from China’s National Medical Products Administration for their Lynparza drug with partner Merck & Co just last week, which won shareholder appetite.
Additionally, the firm in November said that it had made progress in in a developing a new Anaemia drug which the firm has been working on over the last few months. In this update, a collaboration deal with with US based FibroGen for Roxadustat was announced which saw the firms shares in green.Today Deepmatter, will work with AstraZeneca on their DigitalGlassware platform, which enables chemists to share the details of their experiments from anywhere and in real-time.
Michael Kossenjans, an associate director at Astra’s Discovery Sciences, Research & Development unit, said: “Our goal is to transform drug design using innovative digital technologies in combination with automation and artificial intelligence. To get potential new medicines to patients faster, we need to reduce the cycle time for lead identification and optimisation and look forward to working with DeepMatter to assess the potential of DigitalGlassware to help with this.”
DeepMatter Chief Executive added: “We’ve been impressed with the automated chemistry platforms developed at AstraZeneca sites for autonomous delivery of new lead series. We see an opportunity to draw together knowledge from the DigitalGlassware platform to enable machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies to increase the certainty of producing a high quality and choice of candidate drug molecules.
“We look forward to progressing this exciting collaboration over the coming months as we continue to maximise the potential of the DigitalGlassware platform.”
DeepMatter explained: “Displayed in real time, the data can be interrogated using multiple views, enabling the analysis of reaction runs and the re-playing of syntheses. By capturing in-situ chemical data alongside the experimental intent, observations and outcomes, it is expected that machine learning and artificial algorithms could yield cost and time savings whilst also providing novel insights into chemistry.”
Shares of Deepmatter surged 43.9% to 2p. 9/12/19 11:17BST.