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
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
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:Boris Johnson insists Parliament is being prorogued in order to pass new legislation.
The PM says “there will be ample time on both sides of that crucial 17 October summit in parliament for MPs to debate the EU, debate Brexit and all the other issues” https://t.co/txTcvjXOFJ pic.twitter.com/4PQEm0kGH2 — Sky News (@SkyNews) August 28, 2019
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsIt would be a constitutional outrage if Parliament were prevented from holding the government to account at a time of national crisis. Profoundly undemocratic.
— Philip Hammond (@PhilipHammondUK) August 28, 2019
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
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⚪️🔵 The Club have released the following statement ⬇️ #buryfc https://t.co/eO65z4k45f
— Bury Football Club (@buryfcofficial) August 27, 2019
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
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
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.
TLOU Energy positive updates on drilling, approvals and project bids
South Africa-focused natural gas company TLOU Energy Ltd (AIM: TLOU) announced positive operational developments during the first half of 2019.
The coal bed methane project Group said that it had successfully drilled its production at its Lesedi CBM project, and that these wells were producing a sustainable flows of gas.
TLOU Energy continued by saying that it had secured environmental approval for its planned downstream development, and that it could commence commercial development. Finally, it noted that it had been identified as the preferred bidder for Botswana-based CBM gas-to-power proposal.
TLOU Energy comments
In a letter to shareholders, Company Chairman Martin McIver said,“During the last 12 months, Tlou has completed a work program including drilling of two dual lateral development wells in the Lesedi project. The wells (Lesedi 3 and 4) are located adjacent to the proposed central gas gathering and power generation facility and are currently producing gas.”
“In April 2019, the Company successfully completed targeted private placements to sophisticated investors in Botswana and Australia. Following the placements, local ownership increased significantly, with the Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund (BPOPF) now the Company’s largest shareholder.”
“This has been a highly active year for Tlou, following confirmation that the Company has been chosen as a preferred bidder for the development of the one of the first commercial CBM gas-to-power projects in Botswana, approval of the required Environmental Impact Statement and the successful drilling of two dual lateral development wells. We look forward to another successful year ahead.”
“With CBM development not previously established in Botswana, Tlou is pioneering CBM development in the region. Successful results from Tlou’s projects could potentially impact a whole new CBM basin and be a significant boost not only for Tlou, but for the whole region.”
Investor notes
The Company’s shares are currently trading up 1.19% or 0.054p to 4.60p a share. Neither the Group’s p/e ratio nor their dividend yield are available, their market cap stands at £21.16 million. 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).Eco Atlantic Oil and Gas spud the Joe-1 well
Oil and gas production company Eco Atlantic Oil and Gas Ltd (AIM: EOG) today announced the drilling of its Joe-1 well, its second exploration well on the Orinduik Block in offshore Guyana.
The well was drilled on the 25th of August using the Stena Forth drillship, which previously spud their Jethro venture. Eco Atlantic estimate the well to hold around 148.3mmboe of unrisked prospective oil resources, and is expected to take three weeks to drill. This is the Group’s second drill programme at the Orinduik Block; with the Company funded for a further six potential wells on the same Block.
Eco Atlantic Oil and Gas comments
Colin Kinley, Chief Operating Officer and co-founder of the company, stated,
“We are very pleased to have spudded on Sunday our second exploration well on Orinduik. After the discovery made on Jethro in the Lower Tertiary, which greatly derisked that age section throughout the block, we are now moving to an Upper Tertiary target in the Joe prospect where we are targeting over 100mmboe. If a further discovery is made, it will further enhance the value of the block with this shallower play. The estimated chance of success for Joe is the same as Jethro, although it is a completely different play, and we are confident in our 3D interpretation as we were ahead of the Jethro-1 discovery.”
“We look forward to continued success in our exploration efforts as we move forward to define the plays available to us in all the various geological ages and to develop this block.”
Investor notes
The Company’s shares have rallied 3.15% or 4.70p to 153.70p a share 27/08/19 15:45 BST. The Group’s p/e ratio stands at 60.70 and their market cap is £280.22 million.
Elsewhere in the oil and gas sector, there have been updates from; Valeura Energy Inc. (LON: VLU), 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).