The financially troubled ‘strategic infrastructure projects’ group has announced that it has been awarded an additional $25m funding facility.

That now takes its total commitment up to $140m under that facility.

It has also taken a number of corporate decisions to help to stabilise its operations.

The group announced that it is immediately ceasing the operation of all of its passenger services between the Isles of Scilly and Penzance, reducing its services to those just based out of its Appledore, Arnish, Methil and Belfast delivery centres.

Additionally, the group will not be proceeding with its ‘fast ferry service’ with the fast ferry expected to be out for disposal.

Importantly, it is noted that the company has formally engaged Rothschild & Co as financial adviser to assess strategic options for the group.

Embattled Chairman Malcolm Groat stated that:

“We are grateful to our lenders in continuing their funding commitment to support Harland & Wolff Group’s ongoing stabilisation and long-term strategy objectives.

We also look forward to working with the very experienced team from Rothschild & Co to help us achieve that objective.

It is regrettable that we have taken the tough decision to terminate the fast ferry, but we need to focus our energies and resources in continuing to grow the core business across our four delivery centres.

This decision aligns with and brings us back to our fundamental five markets and six services strategy.

Our ferry service team will be working closely with passengers and other counterparties to ensure a smooth transition out of this business.”

The group’s shares are currently trading at around the 8p level, at which the group is capitalised at £14.7m.

British engineering giant Rolls-Royce has posted strong financial results for the first half of 2024, overcoming ongoing supply chain difficulties to significantly boost its profits and raise its full-year guidance.

Investors can now also look forward to distributions for the full year as the company reinstates payouts.

Underlying operating profit skyrocketed to £1.1 billion, a staggering 74% increase compared to the same period last year. Increased profitability saw underlying margin up by 4.4% to 14.0%. These figures reflect the early success of Rolls-Royce’s transformation programme and strategic initiatives designed to streamline the business.

Rolls Royce has been one of the best-performing FTSE 100 stocks since the pandemic, and today’s results are a validation of the sharp rally.

“Our transformation of Rolls-Royce into a high-performing, competitive, resilient, and growing business is proceeding with pace and intensity. We are expanding the earnings and cash potential of the business in a challenging supply chain environment, which we are proactively managing. We are on track to deliver our mid-term targets,” said Tufan Erginbilgic, CEO of Rolls Royce.

The Civil Aerospace division emerged as a standout performer, with its operating margin soaring to 18.0% from 12.4% in H1 2023. This leap was fuelled by a resurgence in large engine flying hours and a stronger showing in the business aviation sector. Defence and Power Systems divisions also reported significant margin improvements, contributing to the overall stellar performance.

Free cash flow more than tripled to £1.2 billion, driven by the surge in operating profit and continued growth in long-term service agreement (LTSA) balances. This financial strength has allowed Rolls-Royce to slash its net debt to a mere £0.8 billion – this progress shouldn’t be underestimated.

In light of these achievements, Rolls-Royce has raised its full-year guidance for 2024. The company now expects underlying operating profit to reach between £2.1 billion and £2.3 billion, up from the previous forecast of £1.7 billion to £2.0 billion. Free cash flow projections have also been revised upwards to £2.1 billion to £2.2 billion.

However, it’s not all smooth sailing. Rolls-Royce acknowledges the persistent challenges in the supply chain, which are expected to impact free cash flow by £150-200 million this year. The company anticipates these hurdles to continue for another 18-24 months but is actively working to mitigate their effects.

In a move that will surely please investors, Rolls-Royce has announced plans to reinstate shareholder distributions for the 2024 financial year. The company will start with a 30% pay-out ratio of underlying profit after tax, with the potential to increase this to 30-40% in subsequent years.

The FTSE 100 surged higher on Wednesday as heavyweight HSBC and mining gave investors something to shout about. HSBC earnings significantly beat expectations, and miners jumped on the tailcoats of a commodities rally.

Today’s rally takes the FTSE 100 within touching distance of the all-time record high of 8,445 set in May this year.

While US technology shares have been under the spotlight after a rip-roaring rally left the sector with frothy valuations, the FTSE 100’s more defensive sectors have quietly held their own, giving cyclical mining and banking sectors the opportunity to rocket higher on Wednesday and take London’s leading index 8% higher year-to-date.

“Commodities came to the rescue, driving strong gains for the FTSE 100 and helping the UK stock market to buck the sell-off that gripped Wall Street yesterday,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

“A 1.2% gain from the FTSE 100 was driven by Shell, BP and Glencore following a bounce in the oil price. Brent Crude jumped 2% to $79.61 per barrel, rebounding after declining for five days straight. 

“The index was also propelled by a positive reaction to HSBC’s latest share buyback news and a bounce-back from Diageo after yesterday’s troublesome financial results.”

HSBC added the most points to the FTSE 100’s gain on Wednesday after a massive profit and bumper share buyback beat fired-up investor demand for the global bank.

“HSBC delivers a massive profit beat as Noel Quinn says goodbye. The beat was split evenly across strength in underlying profitability and lower impairments. Borrowers are clinging on, even improving in some places, despite interest rates that many haven’t had to handle for quite some year, or ever in the case of younger borrowers. The outlook on loan losses is decent too, with management signalling the worst of the Chinese commercial real estate drama now in the rear-view mirror” said Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

“A greater focus on Wealth Management is bearing fruit and should allow HSBC to take advantage of the burgeoning middle class in regions like China. There’s also the added bonus of diversification away from interest rates, a key strategic priority over the past few years. With rate cuts expected around the globe, these actions should give Georges Elhedery a strong foundation to work from when he steps up to the CEO seat in September.”

GSK

Long a disappointing investment for shareholders, GSK has shown signs of life in recent quarters. A 13% increase in underlying revenue in Q2 and increased guidance threatened to signal momentum for the pharmaceutical giant on Wednesday. However, investors were unimpressed with the better-than-expected results, and GSK shares were down 2% at the time of writing.

Taylor Wimpey

Taylor Wimpey was also among the better performers on Wednesday after revenue and completions fell less than expected in the first half of the year.

“Despite interest and mortgage rates remaining high, Taylor Wimpey’s had a solid first half. Operating profit landed 12% ahead of market forecasts, although this figure benefitted from increased land sales versus the prior year,” expalined Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown

“The net private sales rate moved slightly higher too, indicating a small improvement in consumer confidence and their ability to commit to big purchases. 4,728 new homes were completed in the period, with the full-year total now expected to come in at the top end of the group’s prior 9,500-10,000 range. That’s given management the confidence to issue full-year operating profit guidance, which is now expected to be in line with current market expectations of around £416mn, or only a decline of around 10% year-over-year.”

Taylor Wimpey shares were 1.2% higher at the time of writing.

The UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has issued final guidance recommending the use of Genedrive’s CYP2C19 genotyping to guide clopidogrel treatment in patients who have suffered an Ischaemic Stroke (IS) or Transient Ischaemic Attack (TIA). NICE specifically recommends the Genedrive® CYP2C19-ID test as the preferred point-of-care testing solution.

Genedrive plc’s CYP2C19-ID test, which uses a non-invasive cheek swab, quickly identifies six genetic variants of the CYP2C19 gene. This information helps clinicians optimize treatment plans for stroke patients.

The NICE committee’s decision was based on a systematic review of clinical and economic impacts. They concluded that CYP2C19 genetic testing is both beneficial for patients with certain genetic variants and cost-effective compared to not testing.

With this recommendation and existing UKCA certification, Genedrive plc is now poised to commercialise its product in the UK and select Middle Eastern countries.

“We are delighted with this final guidance from NICE recommending implementation of CYP2C19 genotype-guided use of Clopidogrel in IS and TIA patients in the NHS to reduce risk of recurrent strokes, and recommendation of our CYP2C19 ID-kit as the point-of-care interventional platform of choice,” said James Cheek, CEO of genedrive plc.

“This represents a key milestone in our commercialisation plans for the product, and further solidifies our business strategy of leading provision of cost-effective solutions for pharmacogenetics in time critical emergency healthcare situations. We are proud to be at the forefront of the emergence of near-patient genetic testing in emergency healthcare to facilitate optimal personalised therapeutic choices and ultimately improve patient outcomes.”

Taylor Wimpey has reported a decrease in completions and revenue for the first half of 2024, reflecting ongoing challenges in the housing market.

The impact of higher interest rates is all too evident in Taylor Wimpey’s numbers as falling sales continued in the first half of 2024.

In the first half of 2024, Taylor Wimpey’s group completions, including joint ventures, fell to 4,728 homes from 5,120 in the same period last year. This decline in completions contributed to a decrease in group operating profit, which fell to £182.3 million from £235.6 million in H1 2023.

The company noted £18.6 million of profit generated from land sales, compared to just £2.7 million in the previous year.

Despite significant headwinds, Taylor Wimpey reported a slight improvement in its net private sales rate, which increased to 0.75 in H1 2024 from 0.71 in H1 2023. It may be too early to call the data green shoots but it will be of some solace for investors.

Looking ahead, Taylor Wimpey remains cautiously optimistic. The company expects full-year UK completions, excluding joint ventures, to be towards the upper end of its previous guidance range of 9,500 to 10,000 homes. This positive outlook is supported by a robust order book, which stood at £2,102 million as of July 28, 2024, representing 7,667 homes.

“Looking to the second half, our performance to date means we now expect to deliver 2024 full year UK completions towards the upper end of our previous guidance range of 9,500 to 10,000 and Group operating profit in line with current market expectations,” said Jennie Daly, Chief Executive.

The company is focusing on building its order book to optimize value and position itself for growth from 2025, assuming supportive market conditions. Taylor Wimpey reports excellent visibility for 2025 completions, owning and controlling all necessary land, with most having detailed planning permission.

In the medium term, Taylor Wimpey is actively preparing for potential planning changes and developing high-quality planning applications. The company has approximately 30,000 applications in the planning process and additional applications ready if proposed changes to green belt regulations come into effect.

Despite the current challenges, Taylor Wimpey remains committed to shareholder returns announcing a 2024 interim dividend of 4.80 pence per share, slightly up from 4.79 pence per share in H1 2023, which will be paid in November.