Surgical Innovations shares dive on profit warning
Minimally invasive surgery technology company Surgical Innovations Group Plc (LON: SUN) has seen its share price dip dramatically on Friday morning, following their announcement that their annual profits were likely to fall.
The Company said that its predictions of a fall in profit were driven by Brexit uncertainty and NHS funding pressures, both of which had weighed sales down.
Surgical Innovations said that the UK market had remained relatively muted by the degree of activity in the NHS, but also more widely, the Company added that the modest sales growth that it saw in Q1 had been offset by lower-than-expected orders in Q2 across UK and EU markets. Further, new entrants were facing new challenges with regulatory approvals proving harder to achieve.
With all pressures considered, the Company reported that it was unlikely that H2 revenue growth would be able to fully mitigate the effects of a to-date stagnant second quarter.
Surgical Innovations Group comments
Following the investor update, the company said in its statement,
“The disruption to order patterns by distributors and end users caused by Brexit uncertainties has made visibility of true demand more difficult than normal,” Surgical Innovations said.
“It is anticipated that this volatility is likely to continue until matters are resolved.”
“Whilst a funding crisis was largely avoided last winter, hospitals continue to deliver a reduced level of elective procedures,”
“They also place an increasing burden on operational and technical resources, and we continue to build a strong and expert team in this area.”
“Recent redeployment of key personnel to support this activity has inevitably had a short-term impact on the introduction of new products, as well as line extensions of our current range.”
“Delays in the regulatory approval process are symptomatic of the severe contraction in the number of approved regulatory bodies in Europe.”
“In addition, extra resources will be put in place as we move towards medical device regulation.”
“This is likely to affect both the cost and timescale of introduction of new products across the industry.”
“Full year expectations for revenue will exceed those of the prior year by a more modest rate of growth than previously anticipated,”
“Whilst margins are expected to remain in line, overheads will reflect the investment in additional resources devoted to operational and regulatory matters.”
“Accordingly, adjusted profit before tax is expected to be below the level achieved in 2018.”
“The group currently holds net cash and continues to be cash generative.”
CVC Credit Partners European Opportunities secures £23.7m after placing
CVC Credit Partners European Opportunities announced on Friday that it has raised £23.7 million as a result of a share placing.
The company said that a total of 21,945,963 shares have been issued at the placing price of £1.0795 per share, which will be listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange.
The new shares are expected to commence trading on June 11th.
Following admission, the firm will have 359.2 million sterling shares and 127.9 million euro shares in issue.
The company also has 21 million sterling shares and 4.7 million euro shares in the treasury.
CVC Credit Partners European Opportunities has been listed in London as of 2013. It is incorporated in Jersey.
The firm has exposure to European senior secured loans and other sub-investment grade corporate credit.
Shares in the firm (LON:CCPG) are currently trading down -1.16% as of 11:00AM, as investors react to the announcement.
Elsewhere in the financial sector, AJ Bell (LON:AJB) shares tumbled on Friday on news that an investor had sold his £144.4 million stake in the firm.
Ferrexpo rallies on increased earnings expectations
Swiss-based commodity trading and mining firm Ferrexpo Plc (LON: FXPO) has seen its share price rally on Friday morning, following their announcement of an expected increase in first half earnings.
The Company released a more positive update than another mining group on Wednesday and said that it expected its H1 earnings to increase ‘materially’ on-year. This increase would be driven by higher sales volumes, production and pricing.
Ferrexpo said that it would likely benefit from lower input costs and while average production costs were likely to increase on-year, “has been lower than expected due to a fall in the Brent oil price and the European gas price partially offset by an appreciation of the Ukrainian Hryvnia versus the US Dollar,” the company said in its statement.
Ferrexpo comment
“Ferrexpo continues to be well positioned to supply a high quality iron ore product to the top steel mills in the world receiving a record price premium for its product. The Group’s balance sheet remains strong with net debt expected to further reduce compared to 31 December 2018,” said Steve Lucas, Chairman of Ferrexpo. “The Independent Review into how Ferrexpo’s donations to a third party charity in Ukraine were used remains ongoing. The Company will make an announcement to shareholders when the Independent Review Committee completes its work. To date, after a significant amount of work on the part of our forensic accountants and legal advisors, there has been no conclusive evidence of any wrongdoing.”Trading update
The Company’s share price has rallied during trading on Friday morning, up 10.2p or 4.27% to 249p a share 07/06/19 10:43 GMT. Analysts were unable to find a consensus on Ferrexpo stock, with Deutsche Bank reiterating their ‘Buy’ stance, Barclays Capital reiterating their ‘Overweight’ rating and Liberum Capital upgrading their stance from ‘Hold’ to Buy’.Less permanent staff hired in May as Brexit looms over UK jobs market
Employers across the UK hired less permanent staff in May as Brexit uncertainty weighs on the jobs market, according to the Recruitment and Employment Confederation’s monthly report.
The number of people appointed to permanent job roles dropped for the fourth time in the past five months in May, occurring at a quicker pace than in April.
Additionally, temp billings grew only marginally as growth reached a 73-month low, according to the report.
In many cases, hiring activity was said to be dampened by uncertainty, in addition to the weaker demand for staff compared to earlier in the year.
“Brexit uncertainty continues to dampen the jobs market as companies kept their recruitment decisions on hold in May. Permanent staff appointments fell at a slightly faster pace than in April, while subdued confidence ensured that growth in temporary billings hit a six-year low,” James Stewart, Vice Chair at KPMG, said in the report.
Recruitment agencies indicated a slightly stronger growth in overall vacancies throughout May, but this growth remains close to April’s 80-month low.
Moreover, the uncertainty surrounding Brexit and generally tight labour market conditions are considered key factors for weighing on candidate availability during the month.
“The survey again shows what uncertainty does to hiring plans. Total permanent placements fell again this month while temporary billings grew only marginally. Recruiters are reporting that demand for staff is slowing and their clients are reducing business activity on average,” Neil Carberry, Recruitment and Employment Confederation Chief Executive, commented on the results.
With the official Brexit departure date extended to 31 October, a rather poetic ending to Britain’s time in the EU, uncertainty continues to prevail across the UK.
“Worryingly, these trends are most pronounced in key sectors like retail and construction,” Neil Carberry continued.
In the retail sector, data from the British Retail Consortium shows that roughly 70,000 jobs were slashed in the final months of 2018.
Halfiax: UK house prices rise in latest quarter
UK house prices rose 5.2% during the three months to May 2019, according to data posted by Halifax.
This increase occurred at the fastest annual rate since the start of 2017.
House prices in the three months to May were 5.2% higher than in the same three months a year prior. The nation’s largest mortgage lender added, however, that May’s annual change does come against a backdrop of particularly low growth rate during the same period in 2018, which has therefore impacted year-on-year comparisons.
In the latest quarter, house prices were 2.5% higher than in the preceding three months. Equally, on a monthly basis, house prices grew by 0.5%.
“We saw a slight increase in house prices between April and May, but the overall message is one of stability. Despite the ongoing political and economic uncertainty, underlying conditions in the broader economy continue to underpin the housing market, particularly the twin factors of high employment and low interest rates,” Russell Galley, Managing Director at Halifax, commented on the data.
Indeed, Halfiax’s figures for January reveled that UK house prices were down 2.9%, and it was thought that buyers may have been deterred by the prevailing Brexit-related uncertainty.
2019 also began with data from the Office for National Statistics revealing that house prices in London specifically dropped 1.2% month-on-month in November.
“This is supported by industry-wide figures which suggest no real change in the number of homes being sold month to month, while Bank of England data show the number of mortgages being approved rose by almost 6% in April, reversing the softness seen in the previous month,” the Managing Director continued.
“Looking ahead, we expect the current trend of stability based on high employment and low interest rates to persist over the coming months, though clearly any downturn in the wider economy would be keenly felt in the housing market.”
The data from Halifax also shows that the average price for a home during the period amounted to £237,837.
Amino Technologies expects H1 revenue dip
Media technology company Amino Technologies Plc (LON: AMO) have noted that they are expecting revenues for the first half of the financial year to fall 15%, on the back of the Company having made ‘good progress’ with its transformation programme which is targeting $5 million in cost savings.
The Company announced that its turnaround programme, which after being announced in February and completed in April this year, was expected to deliver annual cost savings of $5 million as planned.
As of May 31st, the Company had accrued net cash of $19.3 million, from $15 million a year earlier and reflecting what the Company described as strong margins and cash conversion.
For the half which ended May 31st, Amino expected revenues to fall approximately 15% to $35 million, down from $41.2 million a year earlier.
Amino Technologies Comments
“We have made good progress on our new strategic focus, which is intended to support a more resilient business model, improved operating margins and recurring revenue in the medium term,” said Donald McGarva, Amino Chief Executive Officer, “The first half of 2019 has provided further evidence that Amino offers pay TV operators the ability to deliver cost effective modern TV experiences.”Disappointing results continue
This latest announcement only serves to compound the bad news of 2018, with the Company releasing last year’s results in February. Keith Todd CBE, Non-Executive Chairman, commented, “The Board remains confident in the strength and strategic direction of the Company and has committed to continue its dividend policy for this financial year and maintain this dividend level for at least two years thereafter. The diversity and depth of change in our industry this year has created difficult trading conditions in the short term, however the Company remains well positioned to take advantage of the all IP future, and remains profitable and cash generative. “To support a higher quality of earnings and de-risk the business, we are accelerating our strategy to improve growth in recurring revenues from software and services, reinforce our focus on value-add hardware, and remove our exposure to low margin hardware activities. This will increase the quality of our earnings and our resilience going forward.”Trading Update
In spite of revenue fears, the company’s shares rallied during trading on Thursday, up 8.95p or 9.68% to 101.45p a share 06/06/19. Analysts from finnCap are ‘unchanged’ in their ‘Corporate’ stance on Amino stock.Amino Technologies shares rally on trading update
Amino Technologies shares rallied on Thursday after the company posted a trading update on the six months to end of May.
The technology solutions specialist said that revenues for the first half of 2019 expected to be approximately $35 million.
Net cash at the end of May totalled $19.3 million, which the firm said reflected strong margins and cash conversion.
In addition, the company said it completed a cost-saving programme in April, with savings of $5 million. As a result, the board said expectations for the full-year remain unchanged.
Donald McGarva, Amino Chief Executive Officer, commented:
“We have made good progress on our new strategic focus, which is intended to support a more resilient business model, improved operating margins and recurring revenue in the medium term. The first half of 2019 has provided further evidence that Amino offers pay TV operators the ability to deliver cost effective modern TV experiences.”
Amino Technologies provides hybrid TV and cloud services to companies such as T Mobile, Vodafone and Hickory Tech.
Back in February, shares fell after the company posted a disappointing set of results for the year, with revenue falling 7%.
At the time of the results, the group blamed ‘unprecedented macro-economic headwinds’ for the decline.
Shares in the London-listed firm (LON:AMO) are currently trading +9.68% as of 14:45PM (GMT).
Templeton Emerging Markets reports positive performance
The UK’s largest global emerging markets investment trust, Templeton Emerging Markets Investment Trust plc (LON: TEM) reported a positive annual performance ahead of its benchmark.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index total return was 0.1% for the full year through March. For the same twelve month period, the company posted a net asset value total return of 1.8%.
Templeton Comment
“At the time of writing, the company’s net asset value and share price have experienced a substantial recovery following the volatility experienced in late 2018,” Templeton Chairman Paul Manduca said. “The board continues to support the investment manager in taking a long term view of investment.” “We are encouraged by the resources which Franklin Templeton brings to bear on shareholders’ behalf and on the value that their analysts and portfolio managers are currently finding in emerging markets.” “While there will inevitably be periods of volatility and setbacks along the way, as we consider a continuation vote that will in effect renew the mandate for the coming five years, the board remains confident that an investment in TEMIT should prove rewarding over the long term.”Investment considerations
The Company has declared a full-year dividend of 16p per year, up on-year from 15p a share. Templeton Emerging Markets shares are currently trading at 751p per share 06/06/19 14:05 GMT.ECB opts to leave rates on hold until 2020
The European Central Bank (ECB) have opted to leave rates unchanged until 2020.
The central bank have opted to prolong raising rates, amid concerns over inflation, geo-political uncertainties such as protectionism, as well as vulnerabilities in emerging markets.
In addition, the governing council said it had opted to continue reinvesting the principal payments from maturing securities purchased under the asset purchase programme beyond when it begins to raise interest rates.
Following the announcement of the decision, Mario Draghi, the president of the bank, held a press conference.
In his introductory statement, Draghi outlined the reasons for the council’s decision. He said:
“Today’s monetary policy decisions were taken to provide the monetary accommodation necessary for inflation to remain on a sustained path towards levels that are below, but close to, 2% over the medium term.
Despite the somewhat better than expected data for the first quarter, the most recent information indicates that global headwinds continue to weigh on the euro area outlook. The prolonged presence of uncertainties, related to geopolitical factors, the rising threat of protectionism and vulnerabilities in emerging markets, is leaving its mark on economic sentiment.
At the same time, further employment gains and increasing wages continue to underpin the resilience of the euro area economy and gradually rising inflation. Today’s policy measures ensure that financial conditions will remain very favourable, supporting the euro area expansion, the ongoing build-up of domestic price pressures and, thus, headline inflation developments over the medium term.”
Draghi is set to leave his post at the bank in October later this year, after completing his eight-year term. Draghi has been President of the ECB since 2011.
Prior to this, he served as Chairman of the Financial Stability Board from 2009 to 2011, Governor of the Bank of Italy from 2005 to 2011. He also worked at Wall Street giant, Goldman Sachs.
Altus Strategies identifies gold prospects and wins Zager licence
Copper ore and gold mining company Altus Strategies Plc (LON: ALS) announced that it had identified drill targets at three prospects over two sites, alongside its other announcement that it had secured a licence for multi-mineral and gold operations in Zager.
Altus Resources and Zager
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsAltau Resources, a local subsidiary of British group Altus Strategies, was granted a licence for multi-mineral and gold operations in Zager. https://t.co/S8eCsllmyw
— Ambassade d’Ethiopie en France (@AmbEthioFR) June 6, 2019