AIB Group plc (LON: AIBG) have released a recent trading statement on Tuesday morning. Despite challenging political conditions the bank delivered a solid performance however, shares have fallen slightly. The Dublin-headquartered bank said net income “remained steady” in the nine months ended September 30. AIB’s net interest margin for the period was 2.42%, though taking a 7 basis point hit year-to-date from excess liquidity and further weakened by a drop in investment securities income and “increased MREL-related funding costs” Despite the tough market conditions, the fact that AIB have managed to deliver positive results will suffice shareholder appetite. Other competitors have found it tough to operate in the market, as we have seen the crisis at Deutsche Bank AG (ETR: DBK) continue, whilst HSBC (LON: HSBA) and Lloyd’s (LON: LLOY) have reported third quarter losses. “We continue to take management action in relation to negative deposit pricing. Due to the distortionary impact on NIM from excess euro liquidity volumes grossing up our balance sheet, we expect our full-year NIM to be marginally below 2.40%,” said AIB. AIB have made a concerned effort to cut costs within operations, expecting annual costs of around €1.5 billion. As of September 30, gross loans stood 0.3% higher at €62.7 billion versus €62.9 billion at the end of 2018. While the performing loan book was up 2.3% at €58.1 billion from €56.8 billion. Customer accounts rose 3.7% to €70.2 billion from €67.7 billion on a “strong Irish macro-economic backdrop” and the loan to deposit ratio on September 30 was 87%. Chief Executive Colin Hunt said: “Following a solid operational performance in H1, we continue to focus on controlling the controllables; non-performing exposures, quality of lending and cost discipline. Our recently announced portfolio sale brings our 2019 c. 5% NPE milestone into sight. We continue to align our business to serve our customers sustainably and look forward to updating the market in Q1 2020 with our strategic refresh and intentions for capital return.” Shares of AIB fell 1.62% during Tuesday and are trading at €3 per share. 5/11/19 12:43BST.

Gem Diamonds Limited (LON: GEMD) have reduced their sales outlook for diamonds as prices ‘remain under pressure’, additionally the firm has renewed its lease or the Letseng mine in Lesotho. In their third quarter trading update, ending 30th September the miner said that capital expenditure has been reduced by $7 million, reducing expected capital spend for 2019 to around $12 million. The company said it sold 25,631 carats during the quarter, down 10% from 28,379 in the second quarter, while achieved prices declined by 6% to $1,417 per carat from $1,501. The cut in sales forecast will not worry shareholders as significantly as expected. The global mining industry has seen slumps, particularly with firms such as Antofagasta (LON: ANTO) cutting their production guidance and Centamin (LON: CEY) also experienced output declines. “Prices for smaller and commercial type goods remain under pressure with polished inventory levels remaining high,” the company said. “Larger high-quality diamonds have also experienced some price pressures in 2019, contributing to the lower prices achieved during the period.” Production from the Letseng mine totalled 27,539 carats in the third quarter, up 1% from 27,210 in second quarter. Gem Diamonds said there was lower-than-expected contribution from the mine’s Satellite pipe, which is being developed in addition to the Main pipe. It said that as the mine transitioned into the new cutback to accommodate the planned increase in contribution from the Satellite pipe, a deviation was identified in the anticipated contact face position. “Due to the contact variance in the Satellite pipe, the forecast contribution for 2019 has been reduced. The overall impact on carats recovered for the year remain unchanged; however carats sold have been reduced due to the lower contribution from the higher-grade Satellite pipe,” the company said. Gem Diamonds owns 70% of Letseng mine, said the lease is renewed for an immediate period of ten years which will come as a positive for the firm, despite the cut in sales forecast. Despite this cut, investors seem optimistic about the potential of Gem Diamonds. The share price of Gem has jumped 2.89% trading at 63p per share. 5/11/19 12:21BST.

Verona Pharma Plc (LON: VRP) have reported in their most recent trading update that their third quarter loss is set to widen as research & development costs more than doubled. For the three months ended September 30, Verona’s pretax loss totaled £12.8 million, more than three times the £3.5 million loss posted the the year before. The massive loss will worry shareholders, and investors may not be so optimistic about the future performance of Verona looking at 2019 trading results. The increasing costs in the Research and Development team was the main cause of the massive loss. These costs inflated to £12.0 million from £5.3 million. Verona’s general & administrative costs also rose, jumping 43% to £2.0 million from £1.4 million. This comes at a bad time for Verona Pharma, as rivals seem to be captivating the market and dominating the pharmaceutical scene. Belgium’s UCB (EBR: UCB) are close to completing a move for RA Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: RARX), and the new super firm will pose strong competition to Verona.

Additionally, more established names such as Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) have smashed their third quarter, expanding their market dominance.

For the nine months to September 30, pretax loss widened to £33.7 million from £18.3 million after a more than doubling of R&D costs to £27.8 million from £13.6 million.

A 28% increase in general & administrative costs to £5.9 million from £4.6 million also saw the loss widen for Verona.

Chief Executive Jan-Anders Karlsson said: “We are very pleased that our four-week phase 2b dose-ranging clinical trial with nebulized ensifentrine is progressing according to plan and that we have completed enrollment of over 400 symptomatic patients with moderate to severe COPD. We anticipate completing this study around the end of 2019. Informed by this and prior studies in around 850 subjects, we plan to advance into our phase 3 clinical trial program which we expect to commence in 2020 following an end of phase 2 meeting with the [US Food & Drug Administration].

“Karlsson added: “Initially we will focus on nebulized treatment for more severe patients but we are very excited by the positive [dry powder inhaler] formulation results that support our view that ensifentrine is an effective bronchodilator in COPD patients, whether administered as a dry powder via a handheld inhaler or as a suspension via a nebulizer.”

As a result, shares of Verona sunk 3.08% to trade at 44p per share. 5/11/19 BST.

First Derivatives plc (LON: FDP) have seen their share price spike as the company released its most recent trading update, the firm saw rising pre-tax profit and an earnings rise. In the six months to August 31, revenue grew by 11% to £116.7 million from £105.6 million with pretax profit rising by 11% to £8.4 million from £7.6 million. The firm boosted its interim dividend by 10% to 8.5 pence per share from 7.7p. Shareholders will be pleased with the performance of First Derivatives across 2019, as earnings before interest, depreciation, taxation and amortisation rose by 22% to £22.0 million from £18.1 million. Additionally, the firm also completed a a $53.8 million deal to take sole ownership of its subsidiary Kx Systems. This comes at an important time for First Derivatives, in a sector where competitors such as Gentrack Group Ltd (NZE: GTK) have seen progress. Additionally, Intelligent Ultrasound Group PLC (LON: MED) saw increasing sales in the testing of its new AI software, showing the need for First Derivatives to post these positive results. First Derivatives said: “Notwithstanding economic uncertainty, we secured a number of contract wins during the period, particularly around regulatory compliance and reporting in Europe. We have also expanded the range of third-party vendor technologies we support and developed some additional propositions that we believe will be attractive to our clients and increase our addressable market. “As a result, irrespective of any improvement in economic conditions, we expect growth to accelerate in our traditionally stronger second half.” The company also added that it was confident in reaching its full year results in line with board expectations. First Derivatives said anticipates financial 2020 revenue to be £242.9 million with an adjusted Ebitda of £43.8 million. In financial 2019, it achieved revenue of £217.4 million and an adjusted Ebitda of £38.9 million. These results come at at an even better time as the company was mourning the loss of founder Brian Conlon, who died in July after a battle with cancer. Shares of First Derivatives jumped 4.06% as a results of the positive results. Shares currently trade at 2,289p per share. 5/11/19 11:44BST.

Xerox Holdings Corp (NYSE: XRX) will sell its 25% stake in Fuji Xerox, its partner firm with Fujifilm Holdings Corp (TYO: 4901) for $2.3 billion after investors had their say on the deal involving the two companies. Xerox have struggled with falling demand across 2019, particularly in their office equipment department. Xerox had agreed to $6 billion deal that would have merged the U.S. brand into Fuji Xerox and given Fujifilm status as the dominant partner. Xerox decided to scrap the deal last year, after lobbying from two investors against the acquisition. Activists investors Carl Icahn and Darwin Deason spearheaded the opposition. “We expect the share acquisition to deepen integration between Fujifilm and Fuji Xerox and improve efficiency; expected maintenance of a cross-licensing agreement means any material impact on Fuji Xerox’s business is unlikely,” ratings agency S&P Global (NYSE: SPGI) said in a statement. As part of the new deal, Xerox will continue procuring copiers from Fuji Xerox, which will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Fujifilm. Xerox have said that they plan to use the funds to pursue further acquisitions adding that it also plans to return money to shareholders and pay down $550 million debt due in December. “This transaction is an ideal next step for Fuji Xerox and Fujifilm that we believe serves our stakeholders well and reflects our commitment to create innovative products that contribute to society,” said Shigetaka Komori, chairman and chief executive of Fujifilm. “Fuji Xerox has now become a lean and strong company after a series of reforms we started in 2018, and I am confident that with this initiative it will be even stronger.” The Japanese giant has also agreed to sell off litigation after the sale was confirmed. The transaction will have a “mid-to-long term positive impact” on earnings after Fuji Xerox becomes a 100% owned subsidiary, Fujifilm said. The deal to buy Xerox’s stake also includes 51% ownership in Xerox International Partners, an original equipment supplier in the U.S. and Europe, the companies said. The deal, which is worth roughly $2.3 billion comes a little over a year after the US printer scrapped a $6 billion merger with Fujifilm. Shares of Xerox have spiked 3.55% as a result of the company update trading at $34.67 per share.

New data released on Tuesday revealed that the UK’s service sector flatlined in October. The GBP/USD was last trading below 1.29 following the release of the data. The IHS Markit/CIPS UK Services PMI Business Activity Index increased to 50.0 in October, up from the 49.5 registered in September, revealing no change in service sector output. The latest figure is among the lowest registered in the past ten and a half years, the report said. The data also revealed that service providers reported lower intakes of new business for the second consecutive month in October. Additionally, new work has now declined seven times in the first ten months of this year. “The UK PMI surveys collectively indicated a further overall decline in private sector output in October. Contractions have now been recorded in four of the past five months, marking the worst spell since 2009 during the global financial crisis,” Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at IHS Markit, which compiles the survey, commented on the data. “The seasonally adjusted IHS Markit/CIPS ‘all-sector’ Output Index rose from 48.8 in September to 49.5 in October, signalling a weaker rate of contraction, but the volume of new business fell at a pace similar to that seen in September,” the Chief Business Economist at IHS Markit continued. “The October reading is historically consistent with GDP declining at a quarterly rate of 0.1%, similar to the pace of contraction in GDP signalled by the surveys in the third quarter. While official data may indicate more robust growth in the third quarter, the PMI warns that some of this could merely reflect a pay-back from a steeper decline than signalled by the surveys in the second quarter, and that the underlying business trend remains one of stagnation at best.” Duncan Brock, Group Director at the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply, said: “Without any real expectation for significant change in October, the sector stuttered and stalled delivering a lifeless set of results as new business from domestic and export markets dried up and orders fell for the second month in a row.” “The sector’s main difficulties are largely of Brexit’s making and with another deadline comes more indecision and delay,” Duncan Brock continued. With the EU departure date for the UK extended yet again, uncertainty prevails as parties prepare for the general election later this year.