Wireless tracking company Starcom (AIM: STAR) is one of the biggest movers on the AIM market this morning, trading up over 75 percent after announcing a new supply agreement with Pinnacle Systems.
Starcom, who specialise in the development of wireless solutions for the remote tracking, monitoring and protection of assets and people, have committed to sell thousands of Helios units to Pinnacle, a market leader in road safety, fleet management and vehicle security systems in Eastern and Central Africa regions. The contract will be worth around $5.5 million over three years.
Avi Hartmann, CEO of Starcom, commented, “This is our largest contract to date and we are delighted to be working with Pinnacle Systems on this major supply and support agreement. We are working hard to win and fulfil similar large high value contracts currently under discussion.”
Starcom are currently trading up 91.11 percent at 4.30 pence per share. (0806GMT)
British RAF jets have made their first strikes on Syrian targets, just hours after MPs voted in favour of intervention by 397 to 223.
According to a BBC source, four Tornado jets left a British RAF base in Cyprus in the early hours of this morning to carry out air strikes on six targets in an oilfield under IS control.
After more than 10 hours of tense debate in Parliament on Wednesday, members of parliament voted in favour of the air strikes, with Prime Minister David Cameron urging MPs that the use of British high-precision, laser-guided Brimstone missiles could make a real difference in cutting off IS’s financial sources and depriving them of funding.
However, the move has been met with opposition by many, with Professor Malcolm Chalmers of military think-tank the Royal United Services Institute saying to the AFP news agency that, “it will not make a big operational difference. It is important symbolically, useful operationally, but not transformative.”
The British vote was immediately commended by US President Barack Obama, who said that America would “look forward to having British forces flying with the coalition over Syria”.
Crowdfunding platform Crowd2Fund is once again leading the way in the crowdfunding sector, this time by developing a ‘smart money’ loyalty scheme to make investing even easier.
‘Smart Money’ is a crowdfunding coin exclusively for members of the Crowd2Fund Investor Club, the size of a £2 piece with a radio frequency identifier chip built into it. It will enable investors to link their Crowd2Fund account to the coin, allowing funds to be spent directly from the platform, just like a contactless credit card. Crowd2Fund hope to increase the ease of investing in crowdfunding, as well as encouraging participation and loyalty from frequent investors with this new rewards-based scheme.
An image of the new coin; www.crowd2fund.com
Chris Hancock, Crowd2Fund’s CEO says of the new project:
“The launch of the Investor Club will allow us to offer a highly personal experience to our best customers. The crowdfunding industry is growing up, and it is important that the industry accommodates sophisticated investors who understand the risks of lending and investing online and have expectations of receiving a high level of service.
“There has been a lot of talk amongst investors about the ‘Smart Money coin and we are proud to be able to finally reveal it and it’s benefits on Wednesday. We know investors will not be disappointed.”
The first event, to launch the ‘Smart Money’ coin and Investor Club, will take place on 2nd of December at the exclusive Erata Galleries in Mayfair. Benefits of Club membership will include rewards and special offers from luxury brands and businesses that have been funded via the platform, as well as exclusive networking events.
Crowd2Fund was launched in 2014, and has since raised more than £4 million for new businesses. They have recently launched an eBay style trading site for investments bought from the site, the first of its kind, and has a 0% default and late payment rate.
For more information on Crowd2Fund’s opportunities, visit their online platform here.
Shares in brewing company Greene King (LON:GNK) have risen 8 percent this morning, after interim results showed strong growth in all areas.
Revenue and profit grew across all divisions, with group revenue up 49.2 percent to 917.7 million and group operating profit rising 46.1 percent to 180.2 million.
Greene King like for like sales also rose 2 percent, with the performance being good news for its shareholders – adjusted earnings per share were up 15.4 percent.
Rooney Anand, Greene King’s chief executive, said in a statement:
“It has been a strong first half, with the Greene King business strengthening and significant progress made in the Spirit integration. Like-for-like sales growth in Greene King Retail improved during the half and both Pub Partners and Brewing & Brands delivered profit growth and margin expansion.”
Expect to outperform initial cost synergy guidance; target raised to GBP35m
In July, the company completed a £773.6 million takeover of Spirit Pub Company, bringing Greene King’s total estate to 3,116 pubs, the largest managed pub group in the UK. The acquisition seems to have paid off – the company now expects to outperform initial cost synergy guidance, with the target being raised to £35 million.
“We believe we have the best portfolio of retail pub brands, the best pub assets and the most talented team which, when combined with the strong contribution from synergies and the benefits of our enlarged scale, will ensure we continue delivering value to our customers and our shareholders,” Anand commented.
Greene King currently have a 52 week range of between 712 – 922.50, and are currently trading up 8.28 percent at 922 pence per share (0849GMT)
British shop prices fell in November to the joint weakest level on record, according to the British Retail Consortium’s latest figures.
Prices in British shops fell by 2.1 percent over the 12 months to November, an even steeper fall than the 1.8 percent published in October. Food prices were leading the figures down, seeing a 3.3 percent drop.
BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson commented on the results, saying, “Although the survey period does not cover Black Friday, it is likely that some retailers were discounting early in November in order to spread consumer spending over a longer period.”
Black Friday, traditionally a big sales day in America, continued to grow bigger in the UK this year, which is likely to impact on shop prices for December too.
The BRC price index has shown deflation for 31 consecutive months, pushed down by a price war among supermarkets and they struggle to compete in an increasingly challenging market.
The Bank of England has once again subjected Britain’s major banks to ‘stress tests’, in order to ensure that financial institutions can withstand future economic crises, with the Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Chartered showing the weakest results.
This is the second time the test has been conducted, this year involving oil falling to $38 a barrel and a slump in the global economy. No bank was ordered to come up with a new capital plan, but out of the seven banks tested, RBS and Standard Chartered were both found not to have enough capital strength.
RBS chief financial officer Ewen Stevenson commented on the results: “We are pleased with the progress we have made relative to the 2014 stress test, but recognise we still have much to do to restore RBS to be a strong and resilient bank for our customers.”
After the test, all banks were told they would have to set aside more capital as part of a new measure that the Bank of England is introducing, called a “countercyclical capital buffer”, with the extra cash allowing more room to absorb losses in the case of a future financial crash.
Shares in the major banks have risen today on the results, with Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY), Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) and Barclays (LON:BARC) in the top five risers on the FTSE 100, each rising more than 2 percent.
Shares in construction services group ISG Plc (LON:ISG) have fallen nearly 30 percent this morning after a trading update showed disappointing losses for its UK construction arm.
The company said in a statement:
“We anticipate the results for the full year being in line with the Board’s expectations for all divisions except UK Construction.
“Despite the many positive steps we have taken, we have continued to experience disappointing project outcomes on some older contracts. In addition, with margin and risk control remaining our priority rather than volume and some customers delaying the start on site of their projects, volumes this year will be below our expectations with profit deferred to later periods.”
ISG announced that UK Construction will end up in the red this year, impact the Group’s finances by up to £5 million.
However other parts of the company are performing well, with its total order book increasing by 12 percent to £1,130 million, and results on track to end the year with a net cash position in excess of £50 million, up nearly £12 million on 2014.
ISG plc have a 52 week range of between 140 and 356, and are currently trading down 26.81 percent at 150.40 pence per share.
Key economic indicators across Asia continue to show disappointing results, with the latest factory activity survey showing deterioration and little sign of recovery in November.
China’s factory data sunk to a three-year low, as the the official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) fell to 49.6, down from the previous month’s reading of 49.8. These figures mark the fourth month of shrinking factory activity in the world’s second largest economy. A reading below the 50-mark on the PMI survey indicates contraction in the sector, while one above suggests growth.
Recent figures also shown that South Korea’s exports fell by 4.7 percent from a year earlier, contracting for the 11th month.
The figures come as speculation increases over the US rate rise, which is expected to be announced at the Federal Reserve’s December meeting later this month. There is hope that this may remove some of the uncertainty in currency and stock markets.However, Asian exporters will be hoping that the move benefits the US, and doesn’t risk damaging their economy and affecting demand for exports.
However, Asian shares seemed to have shrugged off the news this morning, with the Shanghai Composite reversing early losses to rise 0.2 percent, with the Hang Seng index also up by 1.9 percent. Japan’s benchmark index closed up 1.3 percent, breaching the key psychological level of 20,000 for the first time in over three months.
According to the Statistics Ministry, India’s economic growth outpaced China’s in July-September, at 7.4%, compared to 7% in April-June. An acceleration that could persuade the country’s central bank at its Tuesday meeting to keep interest rates unchanged.
Indranil Pan, the chief economist at Mumbai-based IDFC Bank, has said;
“Growth is on a relatively stable path. There will be enablers to improve growth through consumption and low interest rates in the economy.”
India managed to stride ahead due to its divergent economy and windfall gains from a plunge in commodity prices, whilst other emerging economies such as Russia and Brazil are struggling amid China’s slowdown.
Whilst this data shows India to be the fastest growing economy in the world, it is still not enough for its large population. To create jobs for its population, India will require big investments and therefore a business friendly environment.
However, economist Pan doesn’t think that growth will continue at this rate;
“Growth is likely to moderate in the next few quarters as government expenditure was front-loaded, and it will get slower going ahead,”
Nikkei Inc., publisher of Japan’s leading business daily said on Monday that it will purchase the Financial Times in a $1.3 billion (£866 million) deal.
The chairman,Tsuneo Kita, has said that the acquisition hopes to use data to win new clients and harness the British newspaper’s skill at getting subscribers to pay for content.
Tsuneo Kita has said;
“Our management objectives at Nikkei are global and digital – those are the two key words – and so for the future, in order to grow as global media and to further promote our digital media business, the best partner is definitely the FT,”
Nikkei and the Financial Times together will now become the world’s largest business media group by number of subscribers, after purchasing all shares in the Financial Times Group following approval from from antitrust authorities in the U.S., the U.K. and other countries.
Combined, the two newspapers have a circulation over double than The Wall Street Journal at approximately 2.97 million.
