88 Energy announces total depth reached in Alaska, shares rise
88 Energy shares rose on Wednesday after the company announced it had reached total depth at its operations on the North Slope of Alaska.
According to the update, the gas and oil exploration firm said that the total depth of 6,800 was reached on the 3rd of March.
88 Energy said that all pre-drill targets were ‘successfully intersected’, with ‘multiple potential pay zones identified, including in primary target zone’.
88 Energy’s Managing Director, Dave Wall, commented: “The operational performance by the team in Alaska during drilling has been outstanding, with a safe and efficient execution of the program.
Encouragingly, we have also encountered multiple potential pay zones in the primary target as well as one of the secondary targets. Whilst it is still early days, we are well placed and look to the wireline program with measured optimism.”
88 Energy has three operations in Alaska. These include Project Icewine, Yukon Gold and Western Blocks. It is listed on both the London and Australian Stock Exchange.
On Monday, the firm revealed its interim results from drilling at the Winx-1 exploration well.
In the update, the company said it saw ‘signs of encouragement’ at the well, however it would be too early to determine whether this would result in a commercial discovery.
88 Energy shares (LON:88E) are currently +29.73% as of 11:44AM (GMT).
Just Eat profits rise as merger pressure mounts
Just Eat (LON:JE) posted its full-year results for 2018 on Wednesday, returning to profit.
The food delivery service reported profit before tax of £101.7 million, compared to a loss of £76 million in 2017.
Revenue was up 43 per cent year on year to £779.5 million, however cashflow fell 6% to £157.3 million after it acquired rival Hungry House.
Earnings per share climbed to 12.1p, up from a loss of 15.2p a year ago.
Looking ahead, Just Eat it expects full-year revenue in 2019 to be in the range of £1 billion to £1.1 billion.
The company’s interim chief executive Peter Duffy commented: “We are creating a leading hybrid offering founded on our unrivalled marketplace, combined with the targeted roll-out of delivery. This gives our growing customer base access to the greatest choice of restaurants and drives even more orders to our restaurant partners, ultimately strengthening the network effects of our business.
“We have a clear plan for the year ahead as our highly experienced team works hard to accelerate the execution of our strategy and we remain focused on long-term returns for shareholders.”
Meanwhile, chairman Mike Evans said: “The strategy set out last year is working and already delivering strong results. Our experienced management team, led by Peter Duffy, is working to accelerate the implementation of that strategy.
“Our leading hybrid marketplace gives Just Eat a real competitive advantage and we are pleased with the speed at which this is now being rolled out. The board’s search to identify Just Eat’s next permanent chief executive is underway and we will provide a further update when a decision has been taken.”
Cat Rock Capital, which owns a 1.9% stake in the business, has been encouraging Just Eat to merge with a rival.
Just Eat is also under pressure from rivals in the food delivery marketplace such as UberEats and Deliveroo.
Shares in Just Eat are currently -0.74% as of 11:23AM (GMT).
UK car sales up 1.4% in February
UK car sales recovered slightly in February, rising 1.4%, offering some respite to an ailing car industry facing a host of challenges.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said 81,969 new cars were registered in February, up 1.4% from a year earlier.
Nevertheless, diesel car sales continued to plummet, with sales down by 14% to 24,284 vehicles. Meanwhile, petrol car sales rose by 8% to 53,164.
However, the biggest growth in sales was for alternative fuel vehicles, up 34% to 4,521 in February, as consumers turn to more eco-friendly models.
Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said: “It’s encouraging to see market growth in February, albeit marginal, especially for electrified models. Car makers have made huge commitments to bring to market an ever-increasing range of exciting zero and ultra low emission vehicles and give buyers greater choice.”
According to an analysis fo the result by EY, a key worry for the UK car industry is that the uncertainty of Brexit may deter buyers.
Earlier this year, Honda announced the closure of its Swindon plant in 2021, placing as many as 7,000 jobs under threat. One of the key reasons cited for the move was challenges in the car industry.
Howard Archer, chief economic advisor to the EY ITEM Club, commented:
“The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) reported that new UK car registrations rose 1.4% year-on-year in February to 81,969 vehicles, which was the first rise for six months. This followed a drop of 1.6% year-on-year in January, which had been the smallest drop since August.
“Consequently, new car sales were down a modest 0.6% year-on-year over the first two months of 2019 at 242,982 vehicles.”
Huntsworth shares down despite dividend hike
Huntsworth reported its full-year results for 2018 on Tuesday, sending shares downwards during morning trading.
The healthcare and communications firm said revenue rose 14%, and 1.4% on a like-for-like basis, totalling £225 million compared to £197 million a year before.
Operating profit jumped 26% and 12% on a like-for-like basis to £33.2 million, up from 26.4 million in 2017. The firm said this represented a margin of 14.8%.
Headline profit before tax was up 26% and 15% on a like-for-like basis, totalling £30.9 million and proving ahead of expectations.
The company also proposed a final dividend up by 10% to 1.6p per share from 1.45p per share in 2017. Total dividend for the year of 2.3p is set to be per share.
Paul Taaffe, CEO of Huntsworth, commented:
“Huntsworth has had another year of strong progress, led by stronger growth in its Healthcare divisions. Our strategy to position ourselves as a leading healthcare services-focused business continues to gain traction and was further enhanced this year with the acquisitions of Giant, Navience and AboveNation in our Marketing division. We are well positioned for additional growth in 2019 and beyond.”
Huntsworth is listed on the London Stock Exchange. It specialises in healthcare PR and communications. It operates from 62 offices in 29 countries.
Shares in the firm (LON:HNT) are currently -3.13% as of 12:18PM.
Thor Mining shares soar after new copper company announcement
Thor Mining shares ticked up on Tuesday after the company announced it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for its Kapunda Copper Project.
The MOU will see the creation of a new company named Enviro Copper, and it will will hold earn in rights for up to 75% of both the Kapunda Copper Project and the Moonta Copper Project.
Thor Mining added that the new entity will seek a listing on a recognised securities exchange in the near future.
Thor will hold up to a 30% equity stake in Enviro Copper prior to any listing.
Mick Billing, Executive chairman commented: “This is a very exciting development in our copper strategy, potentially adding significant scale to our copper interests by bringing the Moonta Copper Project together with our existing interest in the Kapunda Copper Project, into a potentially large ISR focussed copper business, initially in Australia.”
“While Kapunda is comparatively more advanced, the Moonta project, albeit at an earlier stage, provides potential for a much larger, and longer-term copper production entity”
“The opportunity for eligible Thor Mining shareholders to have a priority investment opportunity in the new vehicle is seen as a core ingredient in the establishment and listing of this new entity.”
Thor Mining is an exploration and development company. The firm focuses on developing tungsten/molybdenum, a tungsten resource, as well as copper and lithium.
The company is listed on both the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange as well as the Australian Stock Exchange.
Shares in Thor Mining (LON:THR) are currently +18.69% as of 11:22AM (GMT), on the back of the announcement.
Debenhams warns on profits as sales slow
Debenhams (LON:DEB) has issued another profit warning as sales continue to slow.
The retailer warned that its previously released profit projections “were no longer valid”.
Back in January, the retailer said in its Christmas trading update that it was “on track to deliver current year profits in line with market expectations”.
However, Debenhams has now withdrawn this outlook, citing financing costs as well as an uncertain trading environment.
Sergio Bucher, the chief executive of Debenhams, said: “We are making good progress with our stakeholder discussions to put the business on a firm footing for the future.
“We still expect that this process will lead to around 50 stores closing in the medium term.”
He continued:
“Our priority is to secure the best outcome for the business and all our stakeholders, whilst minimising the number of store closures and job losses. To do this, as we have said before, we will need the support of both landlords and local authorities to address our rents, rates and lease commitments. I would like to thank our staff – and all our stakeholders – for their continued support through this period, as we work to deliver a sustainable future for the company.”
Debenhams is one of many high street retailers which have been struggling as of late. Last year, House of Fraser narrowly avoided falling into administration after an eleventh hour rescue deal by Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct.
Meanwhile, high street music and film retailer HMV was recently bought out of administration by Canadian businessman Doug Putman, after racking up heavy profit losses.
Shares in Debenhams are currently trading -6.83% as of 10:26AM (GMT).
Oxford University’s Refeyn receives £1 million EIS fund investment
Refeyn has received a £1 million equity investment from Foresight Williams Technology EIS fund as part of a £2.55 million round. The investment will be used to scale up the manufacture and distribution of current products in addition to the development of new ones.
Refeyn will join Open Bionics, FreeFlow Technologies and Inovo, just to name a few, on the fund’s investment portfolio.
Refeyn is the spin out company of the University of Oxford’s Chemistry Department. It was founded in order to commercialise a new technology application in molecular mass measurement. Growing to twelve employees, the company is currently developing new scientific instrumentation.
“This investment offers a very exciting opportunity to apply Williams Advanced Engineering’s product design and manufacturing expertise to help Refeyn scale rapidly,” Matthew Burke, head of technology ventures at Williams Advanced Engineering, said in a statement.
The Foresight Williams Technology EIS Fund represents a collaboration between Foresight and Williams. Headquartered in London, Foresight is a leading independent infrastructure and private equity investment manager with over thirty years of experience. Additionally, Williams Advanced Engineering Limited operates a technology and engineering services business that forms part of the Williams Group.
The UK Government’s Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) gives investors the opportunity to qualify for financial assistance to fund small and medium sized enterprises during their early stages.
EIS Funds allow investors to build a portfolio of businesses or startups in their early-stages. They are currently available in two different forms – HMRC ‘Approved’ and HMRC ‘Unapproved’. The most significant different between these two is that with an Approved fund, it is almost impossible to carry back Income Tax relief to the previous tax year.
“We are delighted to have the Foresight Williams Technology EIS Fund on board. Foresight’s backing will be instrumental in enabling us to achieve our ambitious commercial goals, while the expertise of Williams in engineering and design will accelerate the maturation of our technology,” Professor Phillipp Kukura, Founder and Director of Refeyn, commented.
Over a period of two years, the Foresight Williams Technology EIS Fund will invest between £0.25 million and £2 million in at least ten small businesses that meet the specific investment criteria. In addition to Oxford University’s Refeyn, the fund has also invested £1.5 million in Open Bionics, the award-winning designer, manufacturer and supplier of bionic limbs, and a further £1.5 million in Inovo, the early stage collaborative robot development company.
888 acquires BetBright’s sports betting platform for £15 million
888 (LON:888) announced mon Monday that it had acquired BetBright’s sports betting platform for £15 million.
Listed on the London Stock Exchange, the Gibraltar based company acquired the sports betting platform in order to support its long term development strategy for 888Sport.
Under the acquisition, BetBright’s Dublin office is set to be integrated into 888. Additionally, the company will receive complete ownership over its technology and product development across its four key betting verticals – Casino, Sport, Poker and Bingo.
888 is one of the world’s leading online gaming and entertainment providers. Founded in 1997, it also operates in three US states – Nevada Delaware and New Jersey.
“This acquisition of a high-quality and scalable sportsbook is an exciting milestone for 888. It gives the Group the missing piece in our proprietary product and technology portfolio and will enable 888 to own proprietary, end-to-end solutions across the four major online gaming verticals,” Itai Pazner, the Chief Executive commented in a company statement.
“With 888Sport becoming an increasingly established and popular worldwide sports betting destination, we believe it is the right time to take ownership of our full sports betting proposition. We are confident that this acquisition will increase the Group’s long-term prospects and differentiation in the growing global sports betting market,” he continued.
Last year sports betting was legalised across the US following a supreme court ruling. Federal law previously barred gambling on football, basketball, baseball and other sports in most US states under the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act. Established in 1992, only some exceptions qualified under the law.
888 revealed its plans to expand into the US in its full-year financial results posted in December. It had purchased the remaining 53% of shares in All American Poker Network for $28 million. The US Supreme Court’s ruling that removed the law that banned sports betting has created opportunities across the Atlantic for the company to exploit.
At 09:41 GMT today, shares in 888 Holdings (LON:888) were trading at -3.61%.
Ryanair February traffic up 13%
Ryanair (LON:RYA) announced that it flew 13% more passengers in February on-year.
Passenger volumes for the month of February reached 9.6 million customers, with a load factor of 96%.
These statistics bring the budget carrier’s financial year-to-date growth to 9%.
Elsewhere in the industry, Wizz Air (LON:WIZZ) also announced its passenger volumes statistics on Monday. The largest low-cost airline in Central and Eastern Europe flew roughly 2.4 million passengers over the month, expanding its full capacity by 9.3%. It expanded its network by offering five new routes to and from Poland, Ukraine and Budapest, with two new destination airports to Spain and Norway.
Ryanair faced baggage-policy chaos in 2018, altering its baggage policy twice in one year. The flyer dramatically reduced the amount of free luggage that passengers are able to take on board with them, introducing a reduced ‘medium’ sized bag option.
It was also hit by staff strikes with walkouts staged in Portugal, Germany, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands. By claiming to close bases and relocate staff, Ryanair has been attempting to limit the power of its staff unions.
Ryanair posted its third quarter results in early February, outlining that it had suffered over the period. As average fares decreased and costs increased, low-cost airline announced a €19.6 million loss for the period.
Much of the increasing costs were as a result of higher fuel prices and staffing.
Tough conditions have had a sector wide impact, with EasyJet (LON:EZJ) announcing that the Gatwick drone sightings cost it £15 million. EasyJet did, however, team up with Delta (NYSE:DAL) and Italy’s state controlled railway to discuss a rescue deal that would save the struggling Italian airline Alitalia.
With less than a month before the UK departs from the European Union, complicated passport rules could come into effect and complicate air travel if the UK leaves without a deal.
At 09:10 GMT Monday, shares in Ryanair Holdings plc (LON:RYA) were trading at -0.2%. Its share price has, however, been on the rise since beginning of February.