Rio Tinto shares spike after financial pledge to ERA

Ishen Patel
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Rio Tinto shares spike after financial pledge to ERA

Rio Tinto plc (LON: RIO) have seen their shares spike on Friday morning after the firm pledged to raise funds to clean up a uranium mine.

Shares of the London listed miner spiked 1.38% to 4,148p on Friday. 15/11/19 10:42BST.

The mining sector has become increasingly competitive, with firms such as Serabi Gold (LON: SRB) reporting strong third quarter figures. Additionally, Hochschild Mining (LON: HOC) have remained confident in future outlook after a mixed trading update.

Rio Tinto said they will take part and underwrite a fundraise by invest Energy Resources of Australia (ASX: ERA).ERA are looking to clean up and close the Ranger uranium project in the Northern Territory of Australia.

Rio own a 68% stake in ERA and will look to assist them in the clean up and eventual closure of the Ranger operation.

ERA has been looking to raise AUD476 million, or $323.4 million, to go towards the plan, but the firm has been unable to secure third-party underwriting support, so Rio Tinto will step in to “ensure ERA has the funds it needs”.

Bold Baatar, Rio Tinto’s head of Energy & Minerals, said: “We take mine closure very seriously and ensuring ERA is able to fund the closure and rehabilitation of the Ranger project area, through participating in this entitlement offer, is a priority.

“We have committed to supporting this offer with the objective of ensuring ERA is in a position to rehabilitate Ranger to a standard that will establish an environment similar to the adjacent Kakadu national park.”

ERA are set to end the Ranger project by January 2021, and clean up the side within five years of this date.

FTSE100 (INDEXFTSE: UKX) listed Rio Tinto have pledged to subscribe to $221 million rights of ERA and will fully underwrite $326 million of equity fundraising if no other party does.

“We have committed to supporting this offer with the objective of ensuring ERA is in a position to rehabilitate Ranger to a standard that will establish an environment similar to the adjacent Kakadu National Park,” said Bold Baatar, Rio Tinto’s group executive for energy & minerals.

Enteq Upstream dips despite 143% earnings hike

Jamie Gordon
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0
Enteq Upstream dips despite 143% earnings hike
Oil and gas producer Enteq Upstream plc (LON: NTQ) saw its shares dip despite posting progress in its half-year financials. The Company saw its revenues jump 58% year-on-year to $6.5 million for the half year ended 30 September 2019, which led a 143% surge in its EBITDA, up to $1.5 million. However, Enteq also noted that losses per share remained flat at 0.4 cents, while post tax losses widened by $100,000 to $400,000, while its cash balance dropped by more than a million dollars to $10.7 million. Operationally, the company added that its technology partnerships were ‘creating pull through’ for Enteq Upstream sales, and that during the period they secured an exclusive agreement with Shell for innovative Directional Drilling technology. Elsewhere in oil, Premier Oil PLC (LON: PMO) offered a positive forecast, while Tullow Oil plc (LON: TLW) issued a less promising outlook. Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE: RDS.A) and Nostrum Oil and Gas PLC (LON: NOG) both posted disappointing financial results.

Enteq Upstream comments

Martin Perry, CEO, responded to the update,

“Enteq has delivered progressive growth, both in revenue and adjusted EBITDA, for the third successive first half reporting period, with a particularly strong performance from international sales. Investment continues to be made into both new technology and strategic opportunities with the recent exclusive technology agreement with Shell significantly broadening the potential for Enteq.”

“Despite a recent drop in the number of active rigs drilling in North America, Enteq is optimistic for growth as new technology and markets are introduced. The board is confident in meeting its full year expectations.”

Investor notes

Following the update, the Company’s shares dipped 7.89% or 2.40p to 28.00p per share 14/11/19 13:01 GMT. Neither a dividend yield nor a p/e ratio are available, their market cap is £19.32 million.

Tesla decides against opening a European plant in the United Kingdom due to Brexit uncertainty

Dilara Kucuk
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1
Tesla decides against opening a European plant in the United Kingdom due to Brexit uncertainty
Elon Musk announced that Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) considered launching its first large European plant in the United Kingdom. However, Tesla decided against picking the United Kingdom as the location due to uncertainty created by Brexit.

Brexit Uncertainty

Elon Musk said that picking the United Kingdom as the location for Tesla’s European plant would be a mistake. According to Mr. Musk, it would be way too risky in a period of high economic and regulatory uncertainty in the United Kingdom.

Finalist : Germany

After considering multiple locations, Tesla decided to open its European plant in Germany. The new plant which will host a factory as well as a design centre will open up near Berlin. The new Tesla plant will create thousands of jobs in Germany. It will mainly focus on producing batteries and cars. Tesla has a huge growth potential due to increasing consumer demand for electric cars. The new European plant is likely to draw investment from multiple sectors due to its growth potential. The plant would have benefited the United Kingdom economy to a large extent if Tesla decided to open it in the United Kingdom.

Risk

Brexit uncertainty caused hesitation among many manufacturers. Earlier this year, Nissan (TYO: 7201) raised concerns that its European business model would become unsustainable in the case of a no deal-Brexit. Furthermore, other companies such as Sony (TYO: 6758), Ford (NYSE: F) and Barclays (LON: BARC) moved significant portions of their capital to other European capitals due to Brexit uncertainty. No-deal Brexit implies that companies in the United Kingdom might face tariffs when trading with European countries. In the case that the United Kingdom passes a Brexit agreement, it is still unclear what such an agreement would imply in terms of trade deals. The uncertainty created by Brexit makes other European countries more preferable for manufacturing giants such as Tesla. Brexit uncertainty holds back the flow of investment from European Union countries to the United Kingdom.

German Economy

Recent research on Germany’s economic growth showed that Germany is facing an economic slowdown. Tesla’s decision to open a large plant in Berlin is likely to boost Germany’s economy, and contribute to preventing economic stagnation in the region. Elon Musk stated that selecting Germany as the location for Tesla’s European plant was a strategic decision to benefit from Germany’s strong engineering industry.

Tracsis acquisitions lead full-year revenue surge

Jamie Gordon
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0
Tracsis acquisitions lead full-year revenue surge
Tracsis PLC (LON: TRCS), a provider of software, hardware and services for the rail, traffic data and wider transport industries, today posted an uplifting set of full-year performance fundamentals, on the back of a series of recent acquisitions. The headline figure was a 24% year-on-year jump in revenues, up to £49.2 million. This led hikes in the Company’s EBITDA and operating profit, which were up 12% and 13% to £10.5 million and £6.7 million respectively. Tracsis shareholders saw similar progress, with the Company’s full-year dividend rising 13% to 1.8p per share, and their fully diluted EPS increasing 8% to 27.42p. This came on the back of the acquisition of Compass Informatics, Cash and Traffic Management Limited and Bellvedi Limited, during the period. All of which served to enhance Tracsis’s “overall product and service offering”.

Operationally, the Company also told investors that it had secured a Five-year Framework Agreement with a ‘major Train Owning Group’, they had seen continued good performance across its software offerings, strong trading in its rail infrastructure businesses, and finally, that Chris Barnes had succeeded John McArthur as Group CEO.

Elsewhere in software, Wirecard AG (ETR:WDI) announced a new partnership, while AdEPT Technology Group PLC (LON: ADT), Intelligent Ultrasound Group PLC (LON: MED) and dotDigital Group plc (LON: DOTD) all reported strong sales.

Tracsis comments

Speaking on Thursday’s results, Chris Barnes, Chief Executive Officer, stated,

“In my first report as the new CEO, I am delighted to present these results which show good growth for the Tracsis Group compared to the previous year. The results reflect the impact of the acquisitions that we have completed in the period along with strong organic growth, something which is a key focus as we look to increase collaboration and expand our product offerings across the Group. The acquisitions we have completed in the year will have a full impact in the next year, and combined with the strong pipeline of organic sales opportunities provide a good platform for future growth of the business in the years to come. I have inherited a great business, with a wide range of compelling product and service offerings, a great team of colleagues, an excellent blue-chip client base, and I am excited about the prospects for the Group.“

Investor notes

The Company’s shares have rallied following today’s update, up 3.05% or 18.45p to 623.45p per share 14/11/19 15:17 GMT. The Group’s p/e ratio is 22.97, their dividend yield stands at 0.13% and their market cap is £179.24 million.  

Disney’s shares rise by 3.5% amid the launch of new streaming service Disney+

Dilara Kucuk
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3
Disney’s shares rise by 3.5% amid the launch of new streaming service Disney+
After a period of trial, Disney (NYSE: DIS) launched its long-expected streaming service Disney + on Tuesday. As a result of the launch, Disney’s shares experienced a rise by 3.5%.

Disney +

Disney + overwhelmingly fulfilled Disney’s expectations by attracting more than 10 million subscribers on its first day of launch. As a result of this success, Disney’s shares increased by 3.5% as a result of overwhelming consumer demand for the new streaming service. Disney tested its new streaming service in the Netherlands before officially launching the service on Tuesday. Currently, Disney + is available in the United States, Canada and the Netherlands. Furthermore, Disney + will become available in the United Kingdom and Ireland next March.

Content

Disney + offers original content as well as a comprehensive library of Disney, Pixar, Marvel and National Geographic movies. Furthermore, The first 30 seasons of The Simpsons is available on Disney +. Moreover, Disney + hopes to receive subscribers’ attention by streaming the first live-action Star Wars series “The Mandalorian”. Offering movies and TV shows that already have a huge audience makes Disney+ a competitive streaming service. Disney aims to compete with other streaming services such as Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) and Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN). Consequently, Disney + has a large growth potential due to its already growing consumer demand. Disney + is available on the internet, iOS, Android, Roku, smart Tvs and game consoles. Disney is also looking into making the service available on Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) products. New Marvel movies will be streamed exclusively on Disney+.

Investment

Disney expects to spend at least $1 billion on producing original content on Disney +. Furthermore, Disney+ aims to increase its investment in producing original content to $2.5 billion by 2024. All movies and shows on Disney + will be family friendly. Although Disney acquired Deadpool, it will not be streaming the movie on Disney +. While Disney will focus on developing Disney+, it will also continue producing movies for theatre release.

Cost

As of now, Disney + costs $7 a month or $70 a year. Additionally, Disney expects to have at least 90 million subscribers by 2024. Financial analysts predicted that it would take at least one year for Disney+ to have 10 million subscribers. Disney+ achieved this growth in one day. Increasing consumer demand for Disney+ reflects Disney’s growth potential in the future.

Trading Cannabis Indices with Jasper Lawler, Head of Research at London Capital Group

UK Investor Magazine
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Trading Cannabis Indices with Jasper Lawler, Head of Research at London Capital Group
Jasper Lawler explains London Capital Group’s new Cannabis Index that tracks a broad basket of the world’s largest cannabis companies. Japser was speaking at the Cannabis Investor Forum 2019 held in the City of London. You can find out more about the Cannabis Investor Forum here.

Touchstone report third consecutive quarterly loss

Ishen Patel
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0
Touchstone report third consecutive quarterly loss

Touchstone Exploration Inc (LON: TXP) have seen their shares plummet across Thursday trading as the exploration firm gave shareholders a gloomy update.

Touchstone Exploration reported on Thursday that it had swung to a loss for the third consecutive quarter in financial 2019.

The news will critically alarm shareholders, as 2019 has produced a poor string of results for the Canadian headquartered exploration firm. The main operations of Touchstone reside within Trinidad & Tobago.

Shares of Touchstone Exploration plummeted 12.24% to 10p per share. 14/11/19 14:45BST.

For the three months to the end of September, Touchstone Exploration achieved average crude oil production of 1,729 barrels per day, down 2% from 1,758 barrels in the same period a year ago.

On a positive note, nine month average production was up 12% to 1,871 barrels per day but might not be enough to satisfy shareholders within a disastrous financial 2019.

Touchstone Exploration’s net loss for the quarter was CAD1.1 million, ($793,816), swinging from a profit of CAD199,000 a year before, as petroleum sales dipped by 9% to CAD9.0 million from CAD9.9 million.

The loss will worry shareholders, but many big oil and gas exploration firms have seen slumps which may act as consolidation for shareholders.

Shell (LON: RDSB) reported a sink in profits in their most recent update, whilst Total SA (LON: TTA) saw profits fall 15% in their third quarter update.

Both the big titans alluded to sinking oil prices and market volatility as drivers of slow business, but the extend to which Touchstone swung to a loss will be alarming.

The company has completed the primary target in the Coho-1 exploration well on the Ortoire block, onshore Trinidad, and is rigged up to start production testing, which is set to be completed next week.

Certainly, the poor performance of Touchstone cannot be just attributed to low oil prices. As this is the third consecutive quarter that losses have been reported then Touchstone do face an internal challenge to keep afloat a seemingly sinking ship.

National Grid beat interim profit expectations

Ishen Patel
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0
National Grid beat interim profit expectations

National Grid plc (LON: NG) have beaten interim profit expectations as highlighted in their most recent trading update published on Thursday.

Shares of National Grid spiked 1.09% to 901p across Thursday trading. 14/11/19 14:21BST.

Underlying profit before tax at the London-listed grid operator dipped 4% to £785 million for the six months ended Sept. 30, but was above the £748 million that analysts had expected.

UK revenue jumped 5% to £2.40 billion, with a strong performance from the UK electricity transmission segment driving operating profit up by 9% to £829 million. The power company said that for the period ended Sept. 30, pretax profit was £404 million compared with £522 million for the first half of fiscal 2019.

The fact that National Grid have managed to post such impressive results will please shareholders. National Grid have faced a lot of scrutiny after widespread outages in Britain led to an investigation currently undergoing.

The FTSE100 (INDEXFTSE: UKX) listed firm received tough media scrutiny due to inclement weather conditions in August that left more than million customers without power, these customers included hospitals and airports.

National Grid outlined environmental policies by saying that they wanted to reach a net zero target for their own emissions by 2050.

“This objective will be supported by work in other areas, such as offering further energy efficiency programmes for our U.S. customers, proposals for renewable natural gas and hydrogen blending programmes,” Chief Executive Officer John Pettigrew said.

Whilst competitors such as Dominon Energy (NYSE: D) and Exelon Corporation (NASDAQ: EXC) reporting strong quarterly updates, the results will come as a relief for National Grid shareholders.

The board declared an interim dividend of 16.57 pence a share, compared with 16.08 pence the year before. National Grid said it expects asset growth of around 7% in the near tenrm with annual capital investment of almost £5 billion. National Grid did report a decline in US revenues however, although the company remained confident of continued outperformance from its UK business.

Google’s partnership with Ascension raises privacy concerns

Dilara Kucuk
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2
Google’s partnership with Ascension raises privacy concerns

Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) announced that it started a partnership with the healthcare giant Ascension.

Ascension

Ascension is the second largest healthcare provider in the United States.

Google gets access to the healthcare information of millions of people through its partnership with Ascension.

Furthermore, Ascension allows Google to access its data including patient names, patient ages, doctor diagnoses, hospitalisation records and lab results.

Moreover, Google receives the complete health history of Ascension customers.

Healthcare & Technology

Google’s decision to partner with a healthcare provider reflects a new trend.

More and more technology companies expand their reach to the healthcare industry.

Accessing healthcare data allows technology companies to manipulate data in order to increase profits by targeting customers.

Privacy Concerns

Google’s partnership with Ascension raises concerns regarding data privacy.

Most patients consider information regarding their health private.

Consequently, users indicate that they fear for their privacy.

Increasing fear of data privacy impact consumer behavior. Users raised concerns that they might stop using certain Google product and services.

Alphabet officially announced the partnership between Google and Ascension on Monday.

As a result, Ascension is now Google’s biggest customer in healthcare.

Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning

Technology giants increasingly invest in developing artificial intelligence and machine learning systems that maximize efficiency and profit.

Companies such as Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Snapchat (NYSE: SNAP) and Twitter (NYSE: TWTR).

Following the trend, Google is highly invested in the development of artificial intelligence technology.

Subsequently, Google is constantly looking for new ways to improve its artificial intelligence and machine learning systems.

For instance, Google’s partnership with Ascension creates new opportunities for artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Ascension hopes to explore whether artificial intelligence and machine learning can improve the effectiveness of medical systems as well as customer service.

Fitbit

Google has been increasing its involvement in the healthcare sector. Earlier this month, Google bought Fitbit (NYSE: FIT).

Fitbit is a fitness tracker that evaluates the health and wellbeing of its users.

Google has the opportunity to use data it accesses through Ascension to improve its Fitbit technology.

On the other hand, users of Fitbit raised concerns regarding Apple’s partnership with Ascension.

Through its partnership with Ascension, Google can access healthcare data of Fitbit users without their permission.

Google’s decision to partner with Ascension is a part of Google’s general strategy to get more involved in the healthcare sector.

 

BHP announce new senior appointments

Ishen Patel
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1
BHP announce new senior appointments

BHP Group Plc (LON: BHP) have announced two new senior appointments in an update on Thursday.

Shares of BHP modestly rallied 0.06% to 1,677p after the announcement. 14/11/19 14:05BST.

BHP announced that Mike Henry, the current president of Australian operations would be appointed as new chief executive.Additionally, Carolyn Hewson departed as a non executive, who retired as a director on November 7th.

Henry replaces incumbent Andrew Mackenzie who will step down as a member of the firm’s executive team on December 31, before retiring on June 30, 2020.

Henry has been a member of BHP’s executive leadership team since 2011, and was appointed President of Operations Minerals Australia.

He said: “I am honoured and privileged to be appointed as CEO and to have the opportunity to lead the talented and hard-working people who make BHP a great company. For more than 130 years, through the ingenuity and commitment of its people, BHP has delivered shareholder value while successfully adapting its portfolio, operations and products. Today we are even safer, more predictable and more focused.

“We must operate safely, with discipline and reduce our impact on the environment. With the right people and the right culture we will deliver value and strong returns for shareholders and for all of society.”

Henry has worked with BHP since 2003, and BHP added “has 30 years’ experience in the global mining and petroleum industry, spanning operational, commercial, safety, technology and marketing roles”.

The appointment of Henry shows a change of both strategy and direction for the FTSE100 (INDEXFTSE: UKX) listed firm.

In a time where competitors are gaining ground in the industry, the change in personnel could allow BHP to boost revenues and profits in a mixed financial 2019. Rivals such as Serabi Gold (LON:SRB) have posted strong production figures in their third quarter update, whilst Goldplat shares jumped as they posted strong profit gains.
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