Greatland Gold investors were dealt a blow on Tuesday after the company said the Havieron feasibility study would be delayed until late 2024

Greatland Gold shares were down around 11% at the time of writing on Tuesday as investors reacted to the prospect of a long wait for a key milestone in the Havieron project’s development.

The delay is a result of paused decline development at the Havieron gold-copper project in Western Australia as further work around managing groundwater is completed.

The company is nearing a key milestone of reaching the lower confined aquifer (LCA) with its decline tunnel, which is now at over 2,000 meters. But Greatland wants more data on expected water volumes and management before intersecting the LCA, likely later this quarter.

Greatland said the temporary pause will allow them to boost confidence in handling LCA water volumes before restarting decline work. Other underground activities like ventilation development continue.

“Havieron is an outstanding orebody which has been developed on an expedited basis in parallel with finalisation of the Feasibility Study. Through this approach production can be brought forward to enhance the value of the asset. At the same time it is essential that we continue to set the project up for long-term success by optimising and de-risking the current development phase, while maintaining an accelerated pathway to production,” said Greatland Managing Director, Shaun Day.

“We view Newmont’s imminent involvement as our Havieron Joint Venture partner as a tremendous positive and look forward to working together to deliver the full potential of Havieron for all stakeholders.”

Barclays shares were materially lower on Tuesday after the bank lowered its net interest margin guidance for 2023 and investment banking activities underwhelmed.

Barclays shares were down around 6% at the time of writing.

Net interest margin is a key measure of profitability in retail banking activities and Barclays now say this is set to be 3.05% – 3.10% for the full year, a reduction from previous guidance.

The lowering of net interest margin guidance is important because it marks an end to improving trading conditions as a result of higher interest rates.

“This was a mixed quarter for Barclays. Higher rates are still providing a healthy tailwind, more than offsetting the impact of a weaker mortgage market and a shift in deposit levels. But it well and truly looks like net interest margin has peaked for the UK arm, with full-year guidance pulled lower,” said Matt Britzman, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

“Consumers are no longer happy to park their cash in low-rate current accounts and are going shopping for higher yields, be that from money market funds, cash savings platforms or term deposit accounts – all of which are a hit to banking profit margins and deposit levels.”

Although net interest margins will drive Barclays shares on Tuesday, there was a small win in better-than-expected £6.4bn profit before tax in the last quarter.

In addition, resilience among their customers meant Barclays only put aside £433m in bad debt provisions.

“Profit came in ahead of expectations as losses for expected bad loans were better than feared. Credit card delinquencies in both the UK and the US remain at relatively low levels for now, despite increasing pressure on disposable incomes. Though keep an eye on the US, where things look to be trending in a more precarious direction,” said Britzman

Britzman concluded by highlighting Barclays trades at a reasonable discount to European banking peers and maybe a share to keep an eye on through the winter.

“Pulling back a bit, Barclays continues to trade at a discount to European peers, largely a result of poor image from a slew of mishaps and a lack of faith that recent returns are sustainable. It’s a valid perspective, but one that’s now perhaps been a little overdone. Return on tangible equity is starting to consistently surpass the key 10% level, the structural hedge should be a healthy income tailwind and while the investment banking arena continues to look dicey, green shoots are emerging.”

The Legal & General share price has been ravaged by the global interest rate hiking cycle. Truss’s doomed mini-budget and subsequent fallout in UK debt markets a year ago exacerbated the company’s awful performance.

After the recovery from the pandemic, Legal & General shares were trading above 300p in early 2022. Since then, the company has suffered a string of external setbacks that have culminated in a Legal & General share price just above 200p.

Legal & General’s operating profit fell 2% to £948m in the first half of 2023 as the company navigated challenging conditions. Their investment and retail segments were the most heavily impacted as interest rates hit the value of investments.

Nonetheless, the company pushed on with a 5% dividend hike. Legal & General dividend now yields 9.3%.

Investors will be concerned the dividend has failed to bring meaningful interest into the stock, with shares continuing to slide despite the dividend being covered around 2x.

It is all too apparent the macroeconomic environment is driving the Legal & General share price. Considering that markets are pricing in another rate hike by the Bank of England, further declines in Legal & General are entirely plausible.

From a valuation perspective, Legal & General is trading at 10x forecast earnings which isn’t overly good value, especially in the current climate. This could fall to 7x – 8x before bargain hunters flood in. This would suggest a price of around 140p -160p if earnings forecasts remain the same.

Indeed, if 200p is broken, the next major support levels stand at around 180p, 160p and 140p, based on previous price action. 180p is certainly a level many investors will have limit orders.

For 180p to break, it would assume severe disruption in financial markets that would bring 160p and 140p into play.

Trade in London’s leading shares reflected ongoing concerns about the conflict in the Middle East although tentative signs of de-escalation sent oil prices lower.

The FTSE 100 was down 0.3% to 7,376.

Equities were heavily hit last week on fears forces aligned with Iran would enter the conflict and risk a region-wide war.

“Markets remain edgy amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, with the FTSE 100 pulled lower by commodity stocks,” said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

“This followed a reverse in oil prices on reports Israel plans to delay its ground invasion of Gaza. Any sign of de-escalation would be received positively for humanitarian reasons but also by investors wary of the risks of the war in Gaza spreading to other parts of the region or bringing in other actors.”

In addition to concerns about the Middle East, the continued march higher in US treasury yields weighed on global equity markets and sent US futures lower.

Looking past the gloom, Mould pointed to US earnings this week and a raft of earnings releases from technology companies that have previously provided support for markets.

“This week the US earnings season really hots up with earnings reports from a good chunk of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ of tech stocks who, like their cinematic counterparts, have been standing tall alone against a wave of malign forces this year.”

FTSE 100 movers

The FTSE 100 top fallers were dominated by commodities companies, including Glencore, Anglo American, and Fresnillo, as iron ore futures slipped back from recent highs.

However, there was selling across a variety of sectors on Monday, with names such as Segro, Unite Group and BT suffering on the day.

Flutter Entertainment was the top riser gaining 2.5% as bargain hunters stepped in after a prolonged period of selling.

Belluscura has received an 89.6p ($1.09, GBP/USD: 1.2164) midpoint valuation from Stonegate Capital in a research note issued last week.

Stonegate Capital used a blended approach to their valuation, encompassing EV/Sales, EV/EBITDA, and BV/Share ratios, and comparing Belluscura to a group of their peers.

The peer group includes Axonics, Inc, Penumbra, Inc, and Glaukos Corporation.

“We are using a comparison analysis to help frame valuation. Given the current stage of the product life cycle we are looking forward to 2025 for our valuation metrics. When comparing Belluscura to its peers we look at it through a EV/Sales, EV/EBITDA, and a BV/Share lenses. By averaging these valuations, we arrive at a valuation range of $0.72 to $1.10, with a midpoint of $1.09.”

Belluscura shares were 2% higher at 27.5p at the time of writing on Monday.

After receiving orders, securing a royalty agreement and announcing further indications of orders totalling $85m, Belluscura has recently announced a funding package including the takeover of TMT Acquisitions, and an equity and convertible loan note issue.

MISSION Group shares tanked on Monday after the marketing company said it now expects full-year profits to be “materially below market expectations,” as challenging trading conditions persist.

The marketing communications group forecasts headline pretax profits of no more than £3.1 million for 2023. This includes £1.2 million in costs from a business to be divested.

MISSION Group shares were down 67% at the time of writing.

The downgraded guidance comes as key clients in consumer, property and automotive sectors reduce or defer ad spending. Recent trading has been “more challenging than anticipated.”

While full year revenue is still expected to grow 8-9%, MISSION has commenced an operational review to cut costs. This includes headcount reductions to benefit 2023 and 2024.

The group also cancelled its 0.87p interim dividend to preserve cash. Net debt jumped to £25.5 million in October from £14.9 million in June.

MISSION remains in talks with NatWest bank regarding a covenant waiver, as higher debt pushes leverage ratios above current limits.

The board said it is “extremely disappointed” by the change in trading. But it believes MISSION is positioned to benefit as markets improve given continued investment in capabilities.

AFC Energy’s next-generation ammonia cracker technology has successfully achieved 99.99% hydrogen from single reactor testing, meeting international standards for fuel cell applications, new test results show.

AFC Energy shares were 4% higher at the time of writing on Monday.

Independent analysis by the UK’s National Physical Laboratory confirmed the hydrogen derived from AFC Energy’s ammonia cracker and purifier contains ammonia at levels below limits in the ISO 14687:2019 standard for fuel cell grade hydrogen.

The results highlight AFC Energy’s ammonia cracking technology can deliver fuel cell grade hydrogen on a modular, scalable basis.

The ability to meet the ISO standard for residual ammonia “parts per billion” in hydrogen is a key milestone for the cracker technology. It demonstrates potential to support growing “ammonia to power” uses in stationary and maritime applications.

Cracking ammonia into hydrogen also enables use for refueling heavy duty hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. This provides an alternative to small scale electrolysis for distributed hydrogen production.

The ammonia cracker converts ammonia into discrete hydrogen and nitrogen molecules. The trace ammonia presence can damage fuel cells if not removed.

Meeting the ISO standard was tested based on individual ammonia cracker reactors. Independent analysis by the UK’s National Physical Laboratory confirmed the residual ammonia results.