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.

Imperial Brands Plc (LON: IMB) have updated shareholders by saying that the yearly trading figures were poor as sales of Next Generation products slumped, leading to the appointment of a new chair. This comes at a tough time in trading for Imperial Brands, that have seen their shares become very volatile since the slump earlier in May. For its year ended September 30, the tobacco company’s pretax profit dropped 7.1% to £1.69 billion from £1.82 billion, which concerned senior stakeholders. The profit decline was worsened by a rise in distribution, advertising & selling costs to £2.3 billion from £2.0 billion and an increase in administrative & other expenses to £1.75 billion from $1.6 billion. This lead to a slump in operating profit by 8.3% to £2.2 billion from £2.4 billion. However, revenue rose 5.1% on a positive for Imperial Brands, growth from both tobacco and NGP sales. NGP includes products such as Imperial Brands’ Blu e-cigarette. The company lifted its annual dividend by 10% in the year to 206.6p per share from 187.8p the year before. Forecasting further, Imperial brands expect ‘modest revenue growth’ from Tobacco with strong cash flows and high margins. Its NGP business is expected to see more revenue growth, with “strong growth prospects contributing to margins and cash returns over the medium term”. Chief Executive Alison Cooper said: “2019 has been a challenging year with results below our expectations due to tough trading in Next Generation Products. We are implementing actions to drive a stronger performance in the coming year. Cooper added “Our resilient tobacco value creation model continues to produce high-margin sales growth and is well-placed to deliver sustained profitable growth in the years ahead” “Although we grew NGP revenues by around 50%, this was below the level we expected to deliver. Our delivery was also impacted by an increasingly competitive environment and regulatory uncertainty in the USA. Growth in Europe was also slower, despite achieving leading retail shares in several markets. We have taken the learnings from this year to reset our NGP investment plans for 2020, prioritising the markets and categories with the highest potential for sustainable, profitable growth. We will scale up investment as the visibility on returns and regulatory uncertainties improves.” Imperial Brands announced that Cooper would be stepping down in October and will be replaced when a suitable candidate is found. On Tuesday, the company announced the appointment of a new chair as well. Senior Independent Director Therese Esperdy will succeed current chair Mark Williamson with effect from January 1, 2020. She joined the board in May 2019 and also holds roles as a non-executive director at National Grid PLC (LON: NG) and Moody’s Corp (NYSE: MCO). “Therese has significant international investment banking experience having held a number of senior roles at JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) including Global Chairman of JP Morgan’s Financial Institutions Group, Co-Head of Asia-Pacific Corporate & Investment Banking, Global Head of Debt Capital Markets, and Head of US Debt Capital Markets. She began her banking career at Lehman Brothers and retired from JP Morgan in 2015,” Imperial Brands noted. Shares of Imperial Brands are trading at 1738p per share. 5/11/19 10:52BST.

Filta Group Holdings PLC (LON: FLTA) have expected their second half 2019 profits to be in line with their first six months of trading, as they released their most recent trading statement on Tuesday morning. The filtration-focused engineering firm expects adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation & amortisation to be “similar” to the £1.7 million reported for the first six months of the year. This statement was released after planned efficiencies from its £8.1 million acquisition of Watbio Holdings Ltd in December were slower to be realised in the second half of 2019. As a result, Filta have had to change their strategy in order to compensate for this slowdown. Management decided to divert resources to catch up on an order backlog in its UK Fat, Oils & Grease unit. In addition, a small installation operation is also expected to be delayed, until early 2020. It has been necessary to divert resource to catch up on an order backlog in our FOG businesses and a small amount of installation work, which had been expected in the fourth quarter, has been delayed into 2020, the company said. ‘Additionally, over the last 3 months we have invested in additional personnel to maximise the opportunities in the UK,’ it added. Despite this, the Watbio acquisition has “greatly strengthened” the market position on Filta and brought some “major” national contracts. The firm remained confident about their 2019 forecast, saying that trading had stayed consistent with expectations. This comes at no surprise looking at the global oil market, where big names such as Royal Dutch Shell plc (NYSE: RDS.A) have seen their profits sink and SABIC (TADAWUL: 2010) reported an impairment loss of $400 million. Filta alluded to the fact that order books continued to remain strong, and new franchisees continue to show interest and the firm remains confident of delivering further growth. “With completion of the Watbio integration in sight and our franchise operations performing well across all territories, 2020 is set to be a year of significant progress for the business,” Chief Executive Officer Jason Sayers said. “We shall update the market further in due course.” Shares of Filta plummeted 18.24% as a result of this morning’s trading update. Shares are currently trading at 157p per share. 5/11/19 10:34BST.