James Fisher and Sons shares dip despite revenue and dividend hike

Jamie Gordon
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James Fisher and Sons shares dip despite revenue and dividend hike
Marine engineering services company James Fisher and Sons plc (LON: FSJ) booked a mixed set of financial results during the first half of FY19, which saw their share price dip during trading on Wednesday. The Group’s revenues jumped 10% on a year-on-year comparison for the same period, up to £286.90 million. The Company’s dividend per share paid during the period increased by the same margin, up 10% to 11.30p per share. While James Fisher and Sons statutory operating profit rose fractionally by 1%, both its underlying profit before tax and underlying diluted EPS dipped by 4% on-year, to £20.9 million and 33.20p.

James Fisher and Sons comments

Chief Executive Officer, Nick Henry, said,

“The Group has made good strategic progress in the first half with the acquisition in Brazil and the purchase of two dive support vessels. We remain well positioned across all four of our divisions with significant growth opportunities ahead. As previously advised, the phasing of projects has made the year more weighted to the second half, which will also begin to benefit from the investment committed to in the first half. The Group remains well placed to deliver an improved financial performance in the year and to continue to provide future value to its shareholders.”

Investor notes

The Company’s shares have widened through the day, down 5.88% or 125.00p to 2,000.00p per share 28/08/19 14:23 BST. Analysts from Jefferies International reiterated their ‘Hold’ stance on James Fisher and Sons stock. The Group’s p/e ratio is 23.74 and their dividend yield is 1.55%. Elsewhere in the oil and gas sector, there have been updates from; Eco Atlantic Oil and Gas Ltd (AIM: EOG), Valeura Energy Inc.(LON: VLU), President Energy PLC (LON: PPC), Mosman Oil and Gas Limited (AIM: MSMN) and Nostrum Oil and Gas PLC (LON: NOG).    

Loungers revenues and profits bounce over 20% during the full year

Jamie Gordon
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Loungers revenues and profits bounce over 20% during the full year
Food and drink outlet operator Loungers PLC (LON: LGRS) booked healthy growth across financial performance indices during the full year ended April 31 2019. The Group’s revenue jumped 26.4% on a year-on-year basis, to £153.0 million, and adjusted operating profit bounced 23.3% to £12.4 million. Loungers also reported adjusted EBITDA growth of 23.7% to £20.6 million and their adjusted EBITDA margin dropped slightly by 0.2% on-year. Further, the Company’s like-for-like sales grew 6.9% and cash generated from operations hiked 13.5% to £22.4 million. The Group added that it added 25 sites over the course of the year, taking its total number to 146 cafes, bars and restaurants. Loungers shares were admitted to the AIM post year end and raised £83.30 million.

Loungers comments

Nick Collins, Chief Executive Officer, said,

“These results represent a strong performance for the financial year ending 21 April 2019 and are in line with both our, and the market’s, expectations. Our revenue and profit growth not only reflect the continued success of the roll-out, but also our unwavering focus on our customers, the evolution of our proposition and how we support and invest in our teams.”

“Our admission to AIM post the FY19 year-end has meant almost 600 employees have had the opportunity to become shareholders in Loungers plc and it is fantastic that their hard work and commitment can be rewarded in this way.”

“Our new financial year has started well and our roll-out strategy for both brands is on schedule. I remain confident about the outlook and future growth prospects for the Group.”

Investor notes

Despite the positive update, the Company’s shares dipped 0.49% or 1.00p to 205.00p a share 28/08/19 12:37 BST. Analysts from Peel Hunt and Liberum Capital both reiterated their respective ‘Buy’ stances on Loungers stock. Elsewhere, there have been updates from other food and drink retailers; The Coca-Cola Co (NYSE: KO), Devro plc (LON: DVO), Greencore Group plc(LON: GNC), NWF Group plc (LON: NWF), Cranswick plc (LON: CWK) and Nestle SA (SWX: NESN).

Thomas Cook shares plunge following Fosun rescue deal

Dina Caruso
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Thomas Cook shares plunge following Fosun rescue deal
Thomas Cook (LON:TCG) shares tumbled over 11% on Wednesday after it announced that it had agreed on a rescue deal. The British global travel group said that it had reached a “substantial agreement” between China-based Fosun Tourism Group, its core lending banks and a majority of its senior noteholders. The deal will see Fosun offer £450 million in exchange for at least 75% of the travel group’s tour operating business and 25% of its airline. The company’s core lending banks and noteholders will also inject £450 million, in return for 75% of Thomas Cook’s airline and 25% of its tour operator. Thomas Cook added in a company statement that “the recapitalisation is expected to result in existing shareholders’ interests in the recapitalised and reorganised Group Airline being significantly diluted”. Moreover, the travel group said that the board’s current intention is to maintain its listing. “However, the implementation of the proposed recapitalisation may, in certain circumstances, result in the cancellation of the Company’s listing,” the company warned in a statement. Earlier in June, Thomas Cook confirmed that it had received a takeover approach from the Chinese tour business Fosun. It has been under pressure recently with falling profits – in May the travel group reported a £1.5 billion loss for the first-half of the year. The business also revealed earlier this year that it was set to close 21 stores, focusing instead on online growth. Thomas Cook, the leading leisure travel group, is supported by 21,000 employees and has 200 own-brand hotels. Shares in Thomas Cook Group plc (LON:TCG) were trading at -11.02% as of 12:57 BST Wednesday.

Avanti Communications shares drop as its backlog widens

Jamie Gordon
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Avanti Communications shares drop as its backlog widens
UK based satellite provider Avanti Communications Group PLC (LON: AVN) saw its share price dip sharply on Tuesday, crowned by a seemingly optimistic but hardly in-depth trading update from the Company. Avanti Communications said that their EBITDA for the first half was ‘in line with Company budget’, and that their guidance remained positive for the full-year, with further material growth forecast in 2020.

The Group added that its backlog had increased 80% to $156.4 million at 30 June 2019, up from $87 million on-year.

Operationally, the Company said that it had successfully launched HYLAS 3 post period end, and had completed a 1.5 lien credit facility.

Avanti Communications comments

Kyle Whitehill, CEO, said,

“The steady progress in the first half of 2019 has set the foundations for the remainder of the year. We expect to see a material contribution from Government bandwidth opportunities in the second half of 2019.”

Regarding its operations, the Company’s statement read,

“Avanti connects people wherever they are – in their homes, businesses, in government and on mobiles. Through the HYLAS satellite fleet and more than 180 partners in 118 countries, the network provides ubiquitous internet service to a quarter of the world’s population.”

“Avanti is the first mover in high throughput satellite data communications in EMEA. It has rights to orbital slots and Ka band spectrum in perpetuity that covers an end market of over 1.7bn people.”

“The Group has invested $1.2bn in a network that incorporates satellites, gateway earth stations, datacentres and a fibre ring.”

Investor notes

Since markets opened on Wednesday, the Company’s shares have dipped 17.30% or 0.11p to 0.52p a share 28/08/19 11:06 BST. Neither a r/e ratio or dividend yield are available, their market cap is £10.82 million. Elsewhere in the tech sector, there were updates from; Maestrano Group (AIM: MNO), Vitec Group plc (LON: VTC), TT Electronics (LON: TTG), SDL plc (LON: SDL), Dialight Plc (LON: DIA) and Seeing Machines (LON: SEE).

GBP/USD sinks as Boris Johnson plans to ask Queen to suspend Parliament

Dina Caruso
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GBP/USD sinks as Boris Johnson plans to ask Queen to suspend Parliament
The GBP/USD is trading around 1.2200 as Boris Johnson attempts to block parliament until 14 October. News broke on Wednesday that Prime Minister Boris Johnson has asked the Queen to suspend parliament ahead of the Halloween Brexit deadline. After the suspension period, a new Queen’s Speech will occur to reveal the PM’s “very exciting agenda”. However, the move has sparked a wave of backlash because it limits MPs’ ability to block a no-deal departure from the European Union. Boris Johnson insisted that “there will be ample time” both before and after the 17 October Brussels summit for MPs to debate the nation’s departure from the European Union. “We’re not going to wait until October 31st before getting on with our plans to take this country forward,” the PM continued. “This is a new government with a very exciting agenda to make our streets safer, it’s very important we bring violent crime down, we need to invest in our fantastic NHS, we need to level up education funding across the country, we need to invest in the infrastructure that’s going to take this country forward for decades and we need to deal with the cost of living, moving to a high wage, high productivity economy … and do to that we need new legislation … that’s why we are going to have a Queen’s Speech and we are going to do it on October 14th,” Boris Johnson said. https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Philip Hammond took to Twitter to express backlash towards the “profoundly democratic” situation: https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

OptiBiotix Health shares in free-fall despite operational progress

Jamie Gordon
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OptiBiotix Health shares in free-fall despite operational progress
Biotechnology company OptiBiotix Health PLC (LON: OPTI) has seen its share price dive despite gaining new licences and partnerships during the first half of the year. Regarding licences and approvals; the Group gained a CE mark for its SlimBiome product, its cholesterol and blood pressure reducing Lactobacillus plantarum LP-LDL probiotic strain was determined as Generally Recognized As Safe by the FDA and it launched its LP-LDL in the pharmacies of Spain’s largest department store. Regarding parternships, OptiBiotix appointed; Zeon Lifesciences Ltd to manufacture and supply SlimBiome in India, EIWA Trading Company to import, market and distribute Lactobacillus plantarum LP-LDL in Japan, DKSH International Limited to distribute SlimBiome in Italy and Spain, and Extensor to import, market and distribute their own-label GoFigure® products in Poland. The Group also reached an agreement utrilinea Srl to develop a food supplement containing LP-LDL, for hypertension reduction. The Company also raised £1.025 million through convertible loan notes, to fund an IPO of its subsidiary ProBiotix Health.

OptiBiotix Health comments

Stephen O’Hara, CEO, stated,

“This has been an exciting half year period, with twelve commercial deals signed, six for SlimBiome and six for LP-LDL, making a total of 44 deals since mid-2017. The large number of agreements signed in the last two years demonstrate early commercial progress. The next stage of the process is to ensure these agreements deliver recurring revenue streams to build sales growth in 2019 against a continued low-cost base and create profitable divisions across all areas of the Company.”

“We are particularly proud of achieving the CE mark and medical device status for SlimBiome Medical product and GRAS status for LP-LDL which are both significant milestones. As we continue to move towards a commercial business, I would like to thank our shareholders for their continued support and we look forward to an exciting future commercialising our technology in this fast growth area.”

Investor notes

After a slight recovery, the Company’s share price dipped 30.33% or 20.02p to 45.98p a share. Neither the Group’s dividend yield nor their p/e ratio are available, their market cap is £38.88 million. Elsewhere in health and medical news; NMC Health (LON: NMC), Astrazeneca plc (LON: AZN) and ValiRx Plc (LON:VAL).

Bury takeover collapses, expelled from English Football League

Dina Caruso
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Bury takeover collapses, expelled from English Football League
Bury’s potential takeover bid from C&N Sporting Risk has collapsed, leaving the club expelled from the English Football League. The football club had been given an extension to the original Friday deadline, with the new deadline set at 5pm on Tuesday to finalise the deal with C&N Sporting Risk. Bury, the League One club, issued a statement on its website eighteen hours ago, telling supporters the club understands “that this is a difficult and emotional time for all supporters given the recent news regarding a potential takeover”. The last team to be expelled from the English Football League was Maidstone, after it faced liquidation back in 1992. “The EFL Board met earlier this evening and, after a long and detailed discussion, determined that Bury FC’s membership of the English Football League be withdrawn after the deadline passed at 5pm today (Tuesday 27 August) without a successful resolution,” a statement reads on the EFL website. The EFL Board unanimously determined with “enormous regret” that Bury’s membership be withdrawn after all options were fully considered, including late expressions of interest. League One will now be made up of 23 teams for the remainder of the season. Only three will face relegation to provide a full 24 teams for the following season. https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

UK supermarket discounts mislead shoppers, study finds

Dina Caruso
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UK supermarket discounts mislead shoppers, study finds
Supermarket special offers continue to mislead shoppers, latest research from Which? reveals on Wednesday. Which?, the consumer group, tracked the pricing and offers for 450 products available at Asda, Iceland, Morrisons (LON:MRW), Ocado (LON:OCDO), Sainsbury’s (LON:SBRY), Tesco (LON:TSCO) and Waitrose. Though some of the deals were genuine, research shows that 65 instances across the year involved misleading discounts that did not genuinely represent the bargains being advertised. The only supermarket to have all of its offers meet the guidelines issued by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) was Sainsbury’s. Which? revealed the three general categories of misleading offers – multibuys, was/now discounts, and those that are always on offer. The data shows that misleading offers were used to sell products such as Kellogg’s Crunchy Nut Cornflakes sold in Iceland, Cathedral City Mature Cheddar sold in Morrisons and Wall’s Carte D’Or Strawberry Ice Cream sold in Asda. “We spotted a variety of offers like this across a variety of products in six of the seven supermarkets we looked at. We didn’t find any dodgy discounts at Sainsbury’s – all of its offers met the guidelines set by the CMA,” Which? said in its report. Elsewhere in supermarket news, data by Kantar revealed the first overall growth decline in the supermarket sector since June 2016. Earlier this year, Sainsbury’s £7.3 billion takeover of Asda was blocked by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) because it would have created a “poorer overall shopping experience”. Shares in J Sainsbury plc (LON:SBRY) were trading at +1.78% as of 10:10 BST Wednesday. Tesco plc (LON:TSCO) shares were up 2.43% at of 10:11 BST, whilst Ocado Group plc (LON:OCDO) shares were down 1.78% as of 10:12 BST and shares in WM Morrison Supermarket plc (LON:MRW) were up 2.20% as of 10:12 BST.

Bisichi Mining rallies on earnings hike

Jamie Gordon
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Bisichi Mining rallies on earnings hike
Mining and property corporation Bisichi Mining PLC (LON: BISI) has seen its shares rally during Wednesday morning trading, following news that it saw consistent growth across earnings indices during the first half. Both the Company’s EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA rose between H1 2018 and H1 2019, by £0.5 million and £0.3 million to £5.7 million and £5.6 million respectively. Likewise, the Group’s profit before tax grew £0.3 million to £4.3 million on a year-on-year comparison for the first half, with basic EPS increasing 2.50p to 24.75p during the same period. Bisichi Mining did note that total production dropped by 15,000 tonnes on-year, and that its acquisition of the Black Wattle coal prospect remained subject to regulatory approval. It added that its UK property portfolio and planning were ‘performing well’.

Bisichi Mining comments

In the Company’s statement, the Group shared the following insights, “During the first half of 2019, Black Wattle Colliery, our South African mining operation, achieved total production of 655,000 metric tonnes, a similar level to the total production of 670,000 metric tonnes achieved in the first half of 2018. In addition, strong demand for our coal continued to impact positively on the prices achievable for our coal and overall Group revenue in the first half of the year.” “In terms of markets, we have continued to see global economic factors impacting coal demand with, at the end of June 2019, the average weekly price of Free on Board (FOB) Coal from Richard Bay Coal Terminal (API4 price) touching levels below US$65 per metric tonne, compared to US$95 at the end of 2018. Although we expect demand for our coal to remain stable, the weakening of prices in the international market may impact overall Group revenue in the second half of the year. However, in anticipation of any future negativity in our markets, management continues to focus on enhancing production efficiencies and developing new product opportunities. To that end, we have recently installed additional equipment, including a high-pressure filter plant and coal fines section in our coal processing plant at Sisonke Coal Processing.”

Investor notes

The Company’s shares were up 5.00p or 4.55% to 115.00p 27/08/19 11:00 BST. The Group’s p/e ratio is 3.54, its dividend yield is 3.48% and its market cap is £12.28 million. Elsewhere in the mining and minerals sector, recent updates have come from; Polymetal International Plc (LON: POLY) Cora Gold Ltd (LON: CORA), Glencore PLC (LON: GLEN), Jubilee Metals Group PLC (LON: JLP), Ariana Resources plc (LON: AUU) and Bushveld Minerals Limited (LON: BMN).

REC: low employer confidence in UK economy, hiring continues

Dina Caruso
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0
REC: low employer confidence in UK economy, hiring continues
Despite low confidence levels in the UK economy, employers are still looking to hire, new data reveals on Wednesday. The Recruitment & Employment Confederation’s (REC) JobsOutlook report shows that employers’ confidence in the British economy remains low as the Halloween Brexit date approaches and uncertainty looms. Despite the low confidence levels, the data shows that businesses are still seeking to hire, with the demand for permanent staff increasing in both the short-term and medium-term. Additionally, the data shows that 46% of employers of permanent staff expressed concern about finding the correct candidates to hire, especially for those seeking candidates with Health & Social Care skills. Moreover, 45% of public sector businesses said that they have no spare workforce capacity at all. “Our flexible labour market continues to be one of the strongest elements of the UK economy,” Tom Hadley, Director of Policy and Campaigns at the REC, commented on the data. “This most recent survey shows employers are still looking to take on both permanent and temporary workers as they seek to maintain stability amidst the Brexit uncertainty. More employers also seem to be trying to transfer their best temps into permanent roles as candidate shortages continue to bite across many sectors,” Tom Hadley continued. “These skills shortages are especially acute in sectors like health and social care. With over 100,000 vacancies in the NHS and staff already working at full capacity, the government’s recent announcement on ending freedom of movement has come at the worst possible time.” “EU workers are an integral part of our health and social care system and the UK workforce as a whole. It is essential that the government has in place a sensible transition towards an evidence-based immigration policy to help reassure employers and EU citizens.” The REC’s JobsOutlook for June revealed an improvement in employers’ confidence in the UK economy and in their own hiring and investing since the Brexit extension.
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