Moneysupermarket.com reveals 8% full-year revenue increase
Moneysupermarket.com (LON:MONY) announced its preliminary results on Thursday for the year ended 31 December 2018. Indeed, the British price comparison website posted an 8% rise in revenue as it significantly progressed its strategy in accelerating growth. Shares in the company were up by almost 5% during early trading on Thursday morning.
Group revenue was up 8% to £355.6 million compared to £329.7 million the year prior.
Operating profit was £108 million, a 14% jump compared to £94.9 million from the previous year.
Adjusted EBITDA was £129.4 million, 2% higher than the £127.2 million figure from 2017.
Total dividend was up 6% to 11.05p per share, reflecting its “progressive” dividend policy.
Tullow books profit and reinstates dividend
Tullow Oil Plc (LON:TLW) have announced a shift to an annual profit after a hike in revenues. The news has allowed the oil and gas exploration firm to reinstate its dividend for its shareholders.
The latest round of results announced that the company had produced 88,200 barrels of oil per day, and this informed their guidance for 2019, which stands at 94,000-102,000 bpd.
Tullow recorded a climb in revenues of 7.9% to $1.86 billion, with write-downs and costs – for instance impairments of property, plant and equipment – down from $539 million to $18 million on-year.
As a result, the company were able to post a pre-tax profit for the full financial year through December, with a figure of $85 million, up from negative $175 million the year before.
In response to a change in strategy, Chief Executive Paul McDade said,
“Tullow has worked hard over the past few years to become a self-funding, cash-generating business with a robust balance sheet, low-cost assets and a rigorous focus on cost and capital discipline,”
“This has allowed us to set a clear capital returns policy which will start with the 2018 final dividend announced today.”
“Our high-margin producing assets in West Africa, substantial development assets in East Africa and exploration licences in industry hotspots provide Tullow with a strong foundation for growth in the years ahead.”
Tullow as a portfolio candidate
The company announced a dividend of 4.8c per share, with share prices rallying in Wednesday trading, up 8.2p or 3.89% to 219.2p per share 13/02/19 17:09 GMT. Analysts from RBC Capital Markets have upgraded their stance on Tullow stock from ‘Sector Perform’ to ‘Outperform’, while Barclays Capital downgraded their rating from ‘Overweight’ to ‘Equal Weight’ and Morgan Stanley reiterated their ‘Overweight stance’.Serabi Gold maintains guidance despite miner fatality
Serabi Gold maintained its production guidance in an operational update released on Wednesday, despite a miner fatality halting operations.
The gold mining and development company said January gold production would be 3,671 ounces.
Serabi Gold added that its cash position at end of the month was $12.8 million.
It also said that a Geological Resource update drilling was close to completion at Coringa. The update is set to be published in March and June of this year.
Chief Executive Officer Mike Hodgson commented: “We are delighted to have started the year in much the same way as 2018 ended, with excellent production…”
He added: “At Coringa, we are close to concluding a drill programme, the results from which will be included in the resource update. As reported at the end of January the results to date have been excellent. We remain on schedule to publish an updated geological resource estimate before the end of the first quarter, and will follow this up with the preparation of a PEA, the results of which are expected to be available before the end of June 2019.”
On Tuesday, Serabi Gold issued a statement regarding a miner fatality at its Palito gold mine in Brazil.
As a result, production had been halted in anticipation of the outcome of an investigation by the police and the relevant authorities.
Serabi Gold’s operations are focused in Brazil. Its projects include The Palito Mining Complex and Coringa Gold Project.
Shares in Serabi Gold (LON:SRB) are up +9.59% as of 12:51AM (GMT).
UK inflation dips to 1.8% in January
UK inflation dipped to 1.8% in January as a result of falls in electric, gas and fuel prices, according to the latest official figures.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that the introduction Ofgem’s energy price gap helped ease inflation over the period.
This marks a two-year low for inflation, and below the Bank of England’s target of 2%.
Mike Hardie, ONS head of inflation, said: “The fall in inflation is due mainly to cheaper gas, electricity and petrol, partly offset by rising ferry ticket prices and air fares falling more slowly than this time last year.”
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js UK inflation levels have been falling since reaching a six-month high of 2.7% in August. In December, inflation fell to 2.1%, casting doubts on an impending rate hike by the Bank of England. Indeed, earlier this month, The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee unanimously opted to hold interest rates, after downgrading its economic outlook to 1.2% of GDP. This central bank had previously forecast growth of 1.7% back in November.The CPIH 12-month rate was 1.8% in January 2019, down from 2.0% in December 2018 https://t.co/mJHB1j4pH9 pic.twitter.com/xn5SjaV7wA
— ONS (@ONS) 13 February 2019
Dunelm shares rise amid half-year profit boost
Dunelm reported its interim results on Wednesday, with a boost in like-for-like sales sending profits higher.
The FTSE-250 furniture maker said pre-tax profit for the six months to 29 December, was £70 million, an increase of 16.7% year on year. The company also said it had free cash flow of £91.2 million.
Accordingly, Dunelm increased its interim dividend increased by 7.1% to 7.5 pence per share.
Brexit
Alongside updated the market on its interim results, Dunelm also revealed it has commenced stockpiling some of its best-selling items ahead of Brexit.
Whilst the company said it imports less than 1% of its goods from EU countries, it said it had nonetheless ‘identified some risks arising from potential disruption at ‘deep-sea’ ports in the period following exit’.
Dunelm also said that approximately 2.5% of employees are EU nationals, and that the company will support its employees obtaining ‘settled status’ when needed.
Nick Wilkinson, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
“It’s been a good first six months with our strong performance reflecting the focus we have placed back on the core Dunelm business. The like-for-like revenue growth, both in stores and online, demonstrates the progress we are making in improving our multichannel proposition whilst maintaining the breadth and depth of our specialist customer offer in homewares. On top of this, good operational discipline and keeping things simple, is driving a better financial performance.”
“We traded well through our key Winter Sale period and remain pleased with our performance to date. As previously highlighted, we are cautious about the outlook for the remainder of the financial year due to the continuing political uncertainty in the UK. We are confident in delivering market expectations(5) for the full year assuming no material change in the macro-economic environment.”
“Looking to the future, we will continue to grow the business as we become a truly multichannel homewares destination, making Dunelm the first choice for even more customers, and further strengthening our market leading position.”
Dunelm shares are currently trading +3.21% as of 11:23AM (GMT).
Bushveld Minerals shares rise after Imaloto update
Bushveld Minerals (LON:BMN) issued an operational update on its subsidiary, Lemur Holdings, sending shares up.
The company said it has finished reviewing the power part of Imaloto, and has now commenced evaluating the coal mine aspect.
Bushveld Minerals also said that it had completed due diligence for the project preparation finance with a lender, and continues to engage with lenders on project financing.
Lemur Holdings is the company’s coal and power subsidiary.
Prince Nyati, CEO of Lemur Holdings Limited, commented:
“The completion and review of the Bankable Feasibility Study for the power component of the Imaloto Project represents a key milestone achieved as we press ahead in ensuring Lemur delivers on the potential of the Imaloto Project. The Project’s bankable feasibility study shows that the Imaloto Project is feasible and can deliver significant economic returns. More importantly, the Imaloto power project is the most advanced Independent Power Project (“IPP”) baseload project in Madagascar.
He continued: “It will have transformational developmental benefits for the country’s southwest region, where the government has already implemented significant road infrastructure expansion. The coal reserve and transmission line is capable to support the generation capacity in excess of 60MW in the medium to long term as suppressed demand is unlocked in the region.
Bushveld Minerals is a vanadium producer. The firm is listed on the AIM-market of the London Stock Exchange. Its operations are focused in South Africa and Madagascar.
Shares in Bushveld Minerals are currently +1.74% as of 10:41AM (GMT).
Shefa Yamim: Preparing for diamond and precious stone production
Shefa Yamim (LON:SEFA) is targeting gem stone prospects in the Kishon region of Northern Israel, in particular diamonds, sapphires and ruby.
The company has recently hit significant milestones such as the recognition of a new mineral in their Carmel Sapphire and a technical economic evaluation that puts their mining process towards the lower end of costs when compared to their peers.
Michael Rosenberg of Shefa Yamim presented at the UK Investor Magazine Investor Evening 31st January and detailed this year’s plans and their pursuit of a mine-to-market strategy.
Nissan cuts profit forecast amid Ghosn scandal
Nissan cut its profit forecast for the year ahead as the Japanese car company continues to suffer the fall-out from the Ghosn scandal.
The car-maker revised its 2018 operating profit forecast to be 450 billion yen (£3.2 billion), down from 540bn yen, citing weaker car sales.
It now expects revenues of 11.6 trillion yen, as opposed to 12 trillion yen.
Nissan reportedly sold 4.02 million vehicles over the course of the first nine months of the year, marking a fall of 2.1%.
Whilst the firm enjoyed growth in Japan, China and other markets, Nissan suffered a decline in sales across America and Europe.
Nissan is also facing a one-off compensation charge of 9.2 billion yen (£64.7 million) to former chief executive and chairman Carlos Ghosn between 2009 and 2017.
Ghosn was initially arrested on suspicion of underreporting his pay between 2011 and 2015.
In December, Mr Ghosn was re-arrested by Japanese authorities on suspicion of aggravated breach of trust.
Since 1999, Nissan has been a member of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsibushi Alliance, of which Mr Ghosn had been a key proponent.
At the time of his initial arrest, Nissan released the following statement, stating that Ghosn had been “reporting compensation amounts in the Tokyo Stock Exchange securities report that was less than the actual amount, in order to reduce the disclosed amount of Carlos Ghosn’s compensation”.
“Numerous other significant acts of misconduct have been uncovered, such as personal use of company assets, and Kelly’s deep involvement has also been confirmed.”
“Nissan deeply apologises for causing great concern to our shareholders and stakeholders. We will continue our work to identify our governance and compliance issues, and to take appropriate measures.”
Shares in the company (TYO: 7201) are currently trading +1.87% as of 14:32PM (GMT).
Cabot Energy shares crash amid $3.7 million capital raise
Cabot Energy announced plans to raise $3.7 million in capital through a discounted share rights issue on Tuesday, sending shares downwards.
The oil and gas company said it had already conditionally raised £2,082,899 (approx. $2.7 million) at an issue price of 10 pence per share.
It said it is also proposing to raise the additional £770,000 (approx. $1 million) through the issue of up to 7,700,000 shares at the same price per share.
Scott Aitken, Chief Executive Officer, said: “This Fundraising will facilitate the partial settlement of amounts owed to the Group’s creditors, predominantly trade creditors of Cabot Canada, following cost overruns of the Canadian work programme early in 2018, before the new executive team took over. We continue to engage in constructive discussions with our creditors and would like to thank them for their continued support as we secured discounts and rescheduling of payments due.”
James Dewar, Independent Interim Non-Executive Chairman of Cabot Energy, added: “The proposals outlined today deliver the short-term capital required to safeguard Cabot Energy’s future. It follows a forensic assessment of the Company’s financial position and consideration of all available options, including asset sales, and what is being recommended by the Board we believe is in the best interest of all Shareholders. The funds will enable the Company to deliver on its creditor settlement agreements and provide a platform for the growth financing plan by the end of Q1 2019.”
Cabot Energy is an AIM-listed company. It has operations in Australia, Canada as well as Italy.
Shares in the firm (LON:CAB) are currently trading -41.50% as of 12:16PM (GMT).
Elsewhere across the markets, Kodal Minerals shares (LON:KOD) rose after the company said it had completed drilling at its Bougouni Lithium Project.
In the Retail sector, Debenhams shares (LON:DEB) were up after the department store said it had secured an additional £40 million in funding.
Kodal Minerals completes drilling at Bougouni
Mineral exploration and development company, Kodal Minerals (LON:KOD), has announced its final assay results for the drilling completed at its Bougouni Lithium Project.
The Bougouni Lithium Project is based in Southern Mali. Kodal Minerals’ primary focus is on the development of this project, advancing it towards production. The recently completed Maiden JORC Resource Estimate placed the Bougouni Lithium Project in the top 15 hard rock lithium projects globally.
CEO of Kodal Minerals, Bernard Aylward, commented on the announcement:
“The final assay results for the Bougouni drilling programme, completed in November and December 2018, reported today highlight the excellent continuity and width of the pegmatite mineralization at the Sogola-Baoule and Boumou prospects. These results will be incorporated into the geological and mineralization model that will update our JORC Mineral Resource.”
“Kodal is continuing the fast track development of the Bougouni lithium project and has recently met with both the Mali Minister of Mines and delegation to provide an update on the Project. The first step is to complete the update of the JORC Mineral Resource as this will be utilized for the future mine design and scheduling. The Company is also finalizing the metallurgical testwork and the engineering design of the proposed processing plant.”
Highlights from the Sogola-Baoule prospect on Bougouni includes an intersection of up to 31 meters at 1.33% lithium oxide, 27 meters at 1.06% and 30 meters at 1.06%.
Highlights from the Boumou prospect includes 11 meters at 1.32% lithium oxide and 11 meters at 1.03%.
Mineral resource estimate remains on schedule for announcement by the end of February 2019, the company said.
In January, the lithium mining firm confirmed a new deal that gives exclusive rights to expand its operation at a lithium mining opportunity in Mali. Kodal said that the new project would be close to the existing Bougouni Project.
At 10:19 GMT on Tuesday, shares in Kodal Minerals plc (LON:KOD) were trading at +2.84%.