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.
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+
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
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
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
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
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
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.Nike end selling partnership with Amazon
Nike Inc (NYSE: NKE) have announced that they will not sell directly to Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) in an attempt to sell directly to consumers as the company confirmed to CNBC.
The decision by Nike to make this change ends an experimental pilot which was launched in 2017.
The initial terms of the deal allowed Nike to sell a limited range of products to Amazon in exchange for tighter regulations on selling counterfeits on Amazon. This deal also included Nike’s athletic footwear, apparel and other merchandise.
Analysts have said “I think Nike is putting more emphasis on its own online business, as evidenced by the news that its new CEO of a former CEO at eBay,” said Morningstar analyst David Swartz. “Also, Nike was probably unhappy that Amazon hasn’t gotten rid of the third-party sellers and fakes.
Nike products will be available to purchase items on the company website, or through independent stores which Nike sell directly too.
Company officials said that the pilot partnership between Amazon and Nike was no longer part of Nike’s wider sales strategy.
“We will continue to invest in strong, distinctive partnerships for Nike with other retailers and platforms to seamlessly serve our consumers globally,” Nike confirmed.
Ending this partnership will allow Nike to take stronger control of their brand, and bring sovereignty back.
Nike said: “As part of Nike’s focus on elevating consumer experiences through more direct, personal relationships, we have made the decision to complete our current pilot with Amazon Retail.
“We will continue to invest in strong, distinctive partnerships for Nike with other retailers and platforms to seamlessly serve our consumers globally.
“We will continue to partner with Amazon Web Services to power a suite of services on Nike.com and within Nike’s ecosystem of apps.”
Amazon have declined to comment on the story, but it is clear that Nike are looking to take the reign back to promote organic growth.
Amazon have looked to expand into many different sectors and are currently involved in an investigation over the potential takeover of Deliveroo. However, Nike have seen more benefit in closing this partnership and this may allow Nike to have control over their own operations and seek expansion with other companies.Viacom exceed market and analyst expectations
Viacom, Inc. Class B (NASDAQ: VIAB) have exceeded market expectations returning strong trading figures in their most recent update.
MTV Owner Viacom, is currently inn the process of formalizing a deal to merge with former partner CBS Corp (NYSE: CBS). The planned merger between CBS Corp and Viacom, is set to be formalized and completed by early December.
Shares of Viacom slipped 2.24% during Thursday trading to $22.05. 14/11/19 13:33BST.
The company also reported a 6% rise in domestic advertising revenue on a constant currency basis. However, revenue from its filmed entertainment division, which includes Paramount Pictures, fell 14%.
Viacom had experienced external success as well, which has contributed to increasing revenues.
Viacom have told shareholders that they have produced content for Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Hulu who are owned by Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) and HBO Max who AT&T (NYSE: T) own.
Shareholders will be further pleased, as it was reported earlier this week that Viacom reported a multi-year deal with Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) to produce animated TV shows.
Net earnings from continuing operations for Viacom fell to $303 million (£236.8 million), or 75 cents per share. In the fourth quarter ended Sept. 30 from $386 million, or 96 cents per share, a year earlier.
Total revenue fell to $3.43 billion from $3.49 billion, but was above the average estimate of $3.41 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Excluding items, the company earned 79 cents per share, above the average analyst estimate of 75 cents per share.
The new partnerships that Viacom have agreed with rivals such as Disney and Netflix will thoroughly excite shareholders, which could be part of a response to stimulate Netflix subscribers after a period of slow trading. With a well established base, Viacom seem to have scored a good deal to expand into other sectors of broadcasting television and entertainment, which could boost long term returns. “Our strong performance in the fourth quarter capped off a pivotal year for Viacom and reflects the successful execution of our strategic priorities to evolve the company for the future,” CEO Bob Bakish said. “As we look to the future of a combined ViacomCBS, we’re thrilled with the momentum we have to create one of the world’s preeminent content companies.”