Valeura Energy posts ‘positive’ Inanli-1 appraisal well results

Jamie Gordon
-
3
Valeura Energy posts ‘positive’ Inanli-1 appraisal well results
Turkey-focused upstream natural gas supplier Valeura Energy Inc. (LON: VLU) today posted mixed financial and operational results for the second quarter of 2019, alongside ‘positive’ production test results for its Inanli-1 appraisal well. For the second quarter of FY19, the Company noted that production had dipped 9% compared to Q1, and was down 5% on a year-on-year comparison for the second quarter. Its operating income of $1.8 million for Q2 was 21% lower than its figure for the previous quarter, but up 20% on Q2 2018. Its average realised gas price of $8.54/Mcf was 7% lower than in Q1 FY19, but up 15% on-year for the same period. The Company’s net working capital surplus also dropped during the quarter, from $56.1 million on March 31, to $52.3 million on June 30 2019.

Operationally, Valeura Energy told investors that it had completed drilling operations at the Devepinar-1 project within budget.

Further, it reported that it had successfully flowed natural gas from a 21 metre gross interval that it had stimulated at its Inanli-1 appraisal well. The well has been flowing since August 3 2019 and gas flow is stable, with production for the first eight days averaging

Valeura Energy comments

Investor notes

The Company’s share price last closed at 2.41 CAD, after rallying over 5% during trading. The Company’s p/e ratio is currently unavailable, their market cap stands at £136.37 million. Elsewhere in the oil and gas sector, there have been updates from; Eco Atlantic Oil and Gas Ltd (AIM: ECO), President Energy PLC (LON: PPC), Mosman Oil and Gas Limited (AIM: MSMN), Nostrum Oil and Gas PLC (LON: NOG) and Reabold Resources PLC (LON: RBD).

Eco Atlantic O&G announces oil discovery at Orinduik Block

Jamie Gordon
-
1
Eco Atlantic O&G announces oil discovery at Orinduik Block
Today the oil and gas exploration and production company Eco Atlantic Oil and Gas Ltd (AIM: ECO) announced a ‘significant’ oil discovery on the Orinduik Block, offshore Guyana. The Company said that the Jethro-1 exploration well was drilled to a depth of 4,400 metres in approximately 1,350 metres of water, by the Stena Forth drillship. Jethro-1 is the first discovery on the Orinduik licence; the Group encountered 55 metres of net high-quality oil pay in lower Tertiary sandstone reservoir. Eco Atlantic said the well has been cased and is awaiting further evaluation to determine appropriate appraisal activity.

Eco Atlantic Oil and Gas comments

Gil Holzman, CEO and Co-Founder of the Company, stated,

“We are thrilled to report this exceptionally exciting discovery. This is a revolutionary moment for Eco. It has been a long path of hard work for our team, and with today’s announcement we feel our first rewards have justified our journey. We have been very confident in the prospects of the Orinduik since we first decided to make a licence application in February 2014, based on a strong recommendation from our team at Kinley Exploration.”

“I always believed that Eco would create exceptional stakeholder value, for our shareholders, and the people of Guyana alike, and I am so proud that we have made this exciting discovery.”

“This is a transformational event for the Company, and we now need to strategically plan for an even brighter future. With multiple targets to consider, and Joe as the next prospect to be drilled, we will now pursue our evaluation of the timing for wells to develop the Jethro field and to expediently bring it on production. We are funded for at least six additional wells.”

“I want to thank the small but amazing team at Eco, the Board of Directors of Eco Atlantic, our extremely professional partners in Tullow and Total, our investors and shareholders, and the Government of Guyana for their support to date and hopefully into the future as we continue to strive to generate value for all of our supporters and partners.”

Investor notes

The Company’s shares have dipped 0.87% or 0.01p to 1.14p a share 12/08/19 16:00 GMT. The Company’s p/e ratio stands at 27.25 and their market cap is £250.85 million. Elsewhere in the oil and gas sector, there have been updates from; President Energy PLC (LON: PPC), Mosman Oil and Gas Limited (AIM: MSMN), Nostrum Oil and Gas PLC (LON: NOG), Reabold Resources PLC (LON: RBD) and Trinity Exploration and Production PLC (LON: TRIN).

Menzies finding it difficult to take off

Andrew Hore
-
0
Menzies finding it difficult to take off

John Menzies (LSE: MZNS) is focused on aviation services since it sold its distribution business. However, the remaining business has its problems and a trading statement last month led to downgrades ahead of its interims on 13 August.
Cargo traffic has been hit by worries about global trade. EMEA appears to be weak, while North America is holding up better. The interims will provide further information about trading in the different geographic regions.
Some airlines have had their financial problems and Boeing is not in a good place following plane crashes. That could hamper any improvemen...

How boohoo has overtaken ASOS

Andrew Hore
-
1
How boohoo has overtaken ASOS

Online fashion retailer boohoo (LON: BOO) has not always been an investor favourite, but in little more than five years it has leapfrogged rival ASOS (LON: ASC) in market capitalisation terms.
The acquisition of the online assets of Karen Millen and Coast for £18.2m has broadened the range of brands owned by boohoo, which is on course to increase pre-tax profit from £76.3m to £93.9m in the year to February 2020.
boohoo is valued at £2.74bn, which compares with £2.03bn for ASOS, which is not much more than one-third of its market capitalisation when boohoo joined AIM. At that time, ASOS was t...

Hidden attractions of nmcn

Andrew Hore
-
0
Hidden attractions of nmcn

Even when it was called North Midland Construction, nmcn (LON: NMCN) was not a well know fully listed company yet it has probably been listed for longer than most of the other companies on the premium list.
Management is starting to raise the profile of the Nottinghamshire-based business and the company should start to attract the attention of investors that the much-increased dividend and the share price performance in the past three years warrants.
Employing Progressive Research to write analyst reports on the company broadens the information available to investors.
Some people turn their...

UK GDP contracts 0.2% during Q2 in its first dip since 2012

Jamie Gordon
-
8
UK GDP contracts 0.2% during Q2 in its first dip since 2012
Source: Richards, C. (2019), Office for National Statistics With discussion of a looming recession gaining traction with weakness in growth indicators, fundamentals and bond market inverted yield curves, today’s announcement from the Office of National Statistics has if anything compounded already tentative market sentiment. UK GDP (‘economy’) contracted by 0.2% against analysts’ predictions, making it the UK economy’s equal worst performance – with Q4 2012 – since the financial crash. Consecutive economic contractions signify a recession, and there are three reasons this contraction is significant. First, there was surprising growth in the first quarter; second, growth in the second quarter was expected to be stagnant rather than negative; third, the political climate makes the next quarter’s prospects dubious at best.

ONS and Analysts’ thoughts

Head of GDP at the ONS, Rob Kent-Smith, said both the manufacturing and construction sectors weakened. “Manufacturing output fell back after a strong start to the year, with production brought forward ahead of the UK’s original departure date from the EU,” He added, “the often-dominant service sector delivered virtually no growth at all”. The ONS then said, “The path of GDP and some of its components has been particularly volatile through the year so far, largely reflecting changes in timing of activity related to the UK’s original planned exit date from the European Union in late March.” BBC Economic Editor, Faisal Islam, stated, “The economy has contracted over a quarter for the first time since 2012, raising the risk that the UK might be in a technical recession.” “This figure though is set to be the worst in the G7. The UK should avoid a recession if expectations of growth in this quarter are fulfilled, but that is not guaranteed. It is not the welcoming present that a new chancellor and PM would have wanted.”

UK GDP Outlook

Today’s data do contain factors such as stockpiling and premature shutdowns, which flatter the first quarter and reflect badly on the second. However, macro scale forces such as poor global growth and mediocre volumes of investment, will weigh on wider market sentiment and are outside of the UK’s control. Alpesh Paleja, CBI Lead Economist, summed it up best, “Growth has been pushed down by an unwind of stockpiling and car manufacturers shifting their seasonal shutdowns.” “Nonetheless, it’s clear from our business surveys that underlying momentum remains lukewarm, choked by a combination of slower global growth and Brexit uncertainty.”
“As a result, business sentiment is dire.”
The CBI said today’s news was “concerning”. The problem is we’re not sure how seriously the UK is taking this news. That may sound like a ludicrous suggestion but realistically; political tit-for-tat has not halted as it normally does during a time of real economic turmoil, the news may be blamed on the reactionary behaviour of companies who feel unstable due to Brexit, and put bluntly, those who would support the uncertainty of a no-deal scenario are not opposed to a degree of economic turmoil (recession is bad for the general populace but provides an exciting investment opportunity – some Conservative members have already shorted failures in British companies). Other market and macro financial news has come from; the FTSE and Sterling, the London Stock Exchange Group (LON: LSE), the US-China currency manipulation debacle, and analysts’ outlook for markets and currencies.  

FTSE muted as Brexit warnings weigh on Sterling

Jamie Gordon
-
1
FTSE muted as Brexit warnings weigh on Sterling
With suggestions of a potential resistance being mounted against Boris Johnson’s likely no-deal Brexit trajectory, Sterling gained slightly yesterday morning. Unfortunately, this gain perhaps dampened FTSE prospects of joining in yesterday’s rally (until later in the afternoon), at least to the same extent as other European indices. Speaking on market opening movements and his predictions for the morning, Spreadex financial analyst Connor Campbell stated,

“Europe was pretty tame after the bell on Friday, with the UK markets bracing themselves for what could be a rather depressing data dump.”

“Though still above 7250, the FTSE slipped 0.2% as trading got underway, roughly in line with the performances of the DAX and CAC. It could have been worse; the UK index’s mining and banking stocks are all down around 1%, losses that were somewhat compensated for by a 7% rise from WPP, which insisted its turnaround is on track despite a 43.5% slide in full year pre-tax profit.”

“Sterling was similarly muted. Against the dollar it was flat at $1.2135, while against the euro it dipped under €1.084 following a 0.1% decline. The pound is likely saving its energy for the data workout it is set to undergo this morning. The UK’s Q2 GDP is expecting to have flat-lined, a sharp drop-off from Q1’s 0.5% increase; the monthly figure, meanwhile, is forecast to drop from 0.3% to 0.1%.”

“On top of this, the currency is facing a big about face from the manufacturing sector, with production for June estimated at -0.1% against May’s 1.4% increase. Though the pound has been politically-focused of late, it’s hard to see this selection of pre-Brexit warning signs allowing sterling a happy end to the week.”

Since then, sterling has dropped against the euro and dollar, following news that the British economy shrank during the second quarter. This was driven by car makers pulling forward their scheduled shutdown periods, which drove manufacturing growth to its biggest rolling three-month fall since the financial crash. Further losses should not be ruled out, with the FTSE set for a tasking morning with two GDP readings. Other market and macro financial news has come from; the London Stock Exchange Group (LON: LSE), the US-China currency manipulation debacle, and analysts’ outlook for markets and currencies.

Vitec retains full-year guidance despite 2.2% drop in revenue

Jamie Gordon
-
5
Vitec retains full-year guidance despite 2.2% drop in revenue
Image capture product manufacturer Vitec Group plc (LON: VTC) booked weak fundamentals during the first half ended 30 June 2019. The Company’s revenue dipped 2.2% on a constant currency year-on-year basis, to £184.2 million. While adjusted operating profit rose 0.5% to £25.8 million; adjusted profit before tax dipped 4.0% to £23.5 million, statutory operating profit dropped 8.7% to £18.9 million and statutory profit before tax dived 15.7% to £16.6 million. Vitec Group also presented a somewhat mixed set of results on its shareholder yields. Adjusted basic earnings rose 1.0% to 39.9p per share and the Group declared an interim dividend for the first half of 12.3p a share, up 7.0% on-year. Conversely, statutory basic EPS collapsed 29.3% to 27.0p. The Company said the integration of Amimon is complete and the launch of wireless video products into the broadcast sports market is set for 2020. The Group also said it was on track to take advantage of the growing e-commerce channel, with a restructuring of its Imaging Solutions sector.

Vitec Group comments

Commenting on the results, Stephen Bird, Group Chief Executive, said,

“I am pleased with Vitec’s half year performance, where we delivered results in line with expectations despite some challenges. The integration of Amimon is complete and I am excited about the opportunity to grow our wireless video capabilities, particularly in the broadcast sports market. Imaging Solutions continued to outperform a disrupted market through expanding into adjacent market segments, and is transitioning to an e-commerce business model to support future growth.”

“Over the last three years, the Group has continued to make progress executing its strategy to drive organic growth, improve margins and make value adding acquisitions. Our resources and investment are prioritised on developing new products for our faster growing brands and market segments, and our cost base is tightly managed. We also continue to look for further opportunities to add to our product portfolio.”

“Vitec is in good shape and is increasingly exposed to more growth segments of the “image capture and content creation” market. We are pleased to confirm that our outlook for the current year is unchanged, whilst we remain mindful of geopolitical challenges and FX movements. Notwithstanding these uncertainties, we continue to expect a strong 2020, benefitting from the summer Olympics, US Presidential elections and the targeted growth initiatives already underway.”

Investor notes

Following the announcement, the Company’s share price dipped 3.59% or 40.00p to 1,075.00p a share 08/08/19 16:27 BST. Peel Hunt analysts reiterated their ‘Buy’ stance on Vitec stock. The Group’s p/e ratio stands at 11.96, their dividend yield is 3.39%. Elsewhere in the tech sector, there were updates from; TT Electronics (LON: TTG), SDL plc (LON: SDL), Dialight Plc (LON: DIA), Seeing Machines (LON: SEE) and Bidstack Group PLC (AIM: BIDS).

Coca-Cola European Partners profits and EPS spike during H1

Jamie Gordon
-
2
Coca-Cola European Partners profits and EPS spike during H1
Coca-Cola European Partners, subsidiary of manufacturer of non-alcoholic beverages manufacturer The Coca-Cola Co (NYSE: KO) booked an impressive sheet of fundamentals during the first half of 2019. The Group’s profit before tax jumped 22.0% on a year-on-year comparison against H1 2018, up to €508 million. Their operating profit also spiked 20.0% to €726 million, pushed by revenue growth of 7.0% on-year, to €5.8 billion. Unit case volumes rose 2.0% to 1.2 billion. Coca-Cola European Partners also presented an appealing offering to shareholders, with H1 diluted EPS jumping 25.5% and the Group declaring an interim dividend payment of 0.62p a share, up 19.0% on-year.

Coca-Cola European Partners

Company Chief Executive Officer, Damian Gammell, offered the following insights,

“We are taking the decisions today to invest in the capabilities that we know we will need to win tomorrow. All underpinned by an aligned relationship with The Coca-Cola Company and a strong sustainability agenda, particularly around packaging, where we are taking action and leading innovation.”

“We have delivered a good first-half performance, reflecting our continued focus on driving profitable revenue growth through price and mix realisation and solid in market execution, alongside the successful closure of our merger commitments. We remain focused on building this momentum, albeit following a strong third quarter last year, including scaling up on some of our exciting innovations like Coke Energy and the recently launched Costa ready-to-drink coffee in Great Britain.”

“We are today reaffirming our full-year guidance for 2019. We remain confident in our annual growth objectives over the mid-term, which make for an attractive investment story underpinned by a strong and flexible balance sheet. This, alongside healthy dividend growth and the continuation of our share buyback programme, collectively demonstrate our focus on delivering sustainable value for our shareholders.”

Investor notes

Its parent Company’s shares have rallied 0.038% or 0.02p to 53.20p a share 08/08/19 10:37 GMT. The Group’s dividend yield is 2.36%, its market cap is $25.77 billion. Elsewhere, there have been updates from other food and drink retailers; Devro plc (LON: DVO), Greencore Group plc(LON: GNC), NWF Group plc (LON: NWF), Cranswick plc (LON: CWK), Nestle SA (SWX: NESN) and Fuller, Smith and Turner plc (LON: FSTA).

Hargreaves Lansdown rallies as full-year revenues and AUA rise

Jamie Gordon
-
1
Hargreaves Lansdown rallies as full-year revenues and AUA rise
Financial services company Hargreaves Lansdown PLC (LON: HL) have seen their share price rally after posting a set of largely impressive fundamentals for the full-year. The Company published an 8% on-year rise in Assets Under Administration,, up to £99.3 billion. Similarly, revenues were up 7% to £480.5 million and profit before tax grew 5% to £305.8 million. However, Hargreaves Lansdown did note that new business inflows were down 4% on a year-on-year comparison, down to £7.3 billion. Its shareholders enjoyed similar success; its diluted EPS grew 5% to 52.0p a share, and its ordinary dividend per share and total dividend per share both rose 5% to 33.70p and 42.0p respectively.

Hargreaves Lansdown comments

Chris Hill, Chief Executive Officer, stated,

“We are pleased with the underlying strength and resilience of our business and our increase in market share. We continue to focus on our clients’ evolving needs and where we see opportunities for growth. We now have a record 1,224,000 clients and Assets Under Administration (AUA) of £100 billion.”

“The second half of the financial year was particularly strong, supported by our best ever tax year end with clients continuing to use their ISA and SIPP allowances. Our Active Savings launched with a full tranche of term deposits and through considerable momentum, now has over £1bn AUA. Our HL Select Global Growth Shares fund now has over £350 million Assets Under Management and is our most successful Select fund launch to date.”

“I have apologised to all clients who have been impacted by the recent problems around the Woodford Equity Income Fund, because we all share their disappointment and frustration. In these difficult times we recognise the financial and personal impact the gating of the fund has had on them. Our priority is to support them, keep them informed and ensure that the fund reopens as soon as is practicable.”

“We recognise that there are industry headwinds, but we continue to execute our strategy and remain on track. We are confident that we are well placed to help our clients prosper, whilst continuing to deliver strong and sustainable returns for shareholders.”

Investor notes

Following the announcement, the Company’s shares rallied 9.05% or 165.93p to 1,998.93p per share 08/08/19 14:53 BST. Peel Hunt upgraded its rating from ‘Hold’ to ‘Add’, while Shore Capital analysts reiterated their ‘Hold’ stance on Hargreaves Lansdown stock. The Group’s p/e ratio stands at 36.88 and their dividend yield is 1.61%. Elsewhere in large financial player and investment trust news, there have been updates from; London Stock Exchange Group (LON: LSE), RIT Capital Partners plc (LON: RCP), F&C Investment Trust PLC (LON: FCIT), River and Mercantile Group PLC (LON: RIV) and Hansard Global plc (LON: HSD).
1...1,3341,3351,336...1,796Page 1,335 of 1,796