The FTSE 100 was slightly stronger on Monday as a poor session in Asia overnight saw London’s leading index flutucate between gains and losses after a storming week last week.

“A weak showing from Hong Kong’s Hang Seng cast a dark cloud over the start of the new trading week, with the index falling 2.3% as investors dumped holdings in real estate, consumer cyclicals and basic materials companies,” said Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell.

“China’s post-Covid economic reopening is proving to be less robust than hoped at the start of the year, and now it seems that investors are growing tired of waiting for the Chinese government to announce new stimulus measures.

“There are concerns that the Chinese housing market will remain sluggish and that has weighed on sentiment towards all things related to real estate and construction, including miners over fears that commodities demand could weaken.

“Names like Glencore and Anglo American acted like an anchor on the FTSE 100, dragging the UK index down 0.2% to 7,647. Prudential was also caught up in the negativity around China, given it is a key territory for the life insurer. It was the same story for HSBC, slipping 1.3%.

“UK housebuilders and banks gave up some of their recent gains as investors locked in some profits after one of the best weeks for the FTSE in a long time.”

Housebuilders have staged a monumental rally after UK inflation slipped and boosted chances of slower rate hikes.

FTSE 100 movers

Ocado has found its way into the headlines one way or another lately, and on Monday, a 12% gain in the food retailer meant the spotlight was firmly back on the company.

On Monday, Ocado announced litigation between Ocado and AutoStore had been settled, and action against each other was being dropped. Ocado was the FTSE 100 top gainer at the time of writing.

Tim Steiner, Chief Executive Officer of Ocado Group plc, said: 

“I am pleased that we have worked together to resolve our differences and can now continue to focus on what we do best – innovating, developing and enabling partners to access world beating technology”

Vodafone was 2.5% higher amid a bout of optimism emanating from their Q1 results.

Itsarm plc announced that its board of directors has entered into agreements to avoid the proposed compulsory liquidation which sent shares in the cash shell into freefall.

The key elements of the proposal are the appointment of David Craven and Jean-Paul Rohan as directors, the resignation of current directors James Sharp and Richard Monaghan, and the waiving of certain fees and notice periods by the outgoing directors.

This significantly reduces Itsarm’s liabilities and contingent liabilities, which provides the opportunity for the company to avoid the proposed compulsory liquidation and pursue a deal for the cash shell.

Itsarm shares were up 150% at the time of writing on Monday.

The current directors will request the withdrawal of the winding-up petition originally filed on June 5 at the scheduled court hearing on 26th July or by 31st July.

As of 20th July, Itsarm had approximately £223,000 in cash and liabilities reduced to around £140,000 through the waiving of fees.

Itsarm disposed of its operating assets related to the In The Style fashion website earlier this year for a consideration of £1.2m. Itsarm is now operating as a cash shell and has until 27th September to secure a deal.

Canadian Overseas Petroleum has entered into a letter of intent (LOI) with an established energy company to negotiate a joint venture agreement to develop and begin oil production from COPL’s Cole Creek project in Wyoming.

The LOI grants the company exclusivity for a period of time to negotiate the terms and structure of the joint venture, which will require consent from COPL.

Canadian Overseas Petroleum shares were over 14% higher at the time of writing on Monday.

The companies had previously signed a confidentiality agreement in October 2022 related to the potential joint venture, with confidentiality provisions that will terminate concurrently with the exclusivity period. The joint venture will focus on the Cole Creek project and does not include COPL’s Barron Flats Shannon miscible flood EOR project.

Arthur Millholland, President and CEO commented: 

“We have been working on this project for some time. We first identified the potential at Cole Creek before completion of our Atomic acquisition in March 2021. Our acquisition of the complimentary assets of Cuda in July 2022 gave our Company full control of the Cole Creek project. This LOI is the first step completed in a process initiated in October of last year after the Cuda acquisition.

“The company that has entered into the LOI with us is the best partner we could have of the ones we have considered. Our Company brings considerable experience and understanding of Cole Creek, including operating the early stage enriched gas miscible EOR project at the neighboring Barron Flats Shannon Unit. This EOR experience can be directly applied to Cole Creek as they have many similar reservoir characteristics. We look forward to updating our stakeholders when able as the process proceeds.”

UK-based telecom giant Vodafone reported its first quarter results on Monday, showing improved revenue growth in most of its major markets.

Vodafone shares were 3.4% higher just after 8am in London.

Group service revenue grew 3.7% in Q1 compared to 1.9% in Q4 last year. Excluding Turkey, service revenue was up 1.8% versus just 0.5% in Q4. This broad-based improvement was seen across nearly all of Vodafone’s European operations.

In Germany, Vodafone’s largest market, service revenue declined 1.3% which was an improvement over the 2.8% drop seen in Q4. This was supported by price increases for broadband services.

Vodafone Business, the company’s enterprise segment, saw accelerated service revenue growth of 4.5% compared to 2.9% in Q4. This was attributed to strong performance in digital services offerings.

Africa remains a bright spot, with Vodacom service revenue expanding 9.0% compared to 7.0% in Q4. Trends improved in South Africa while growth remained robust in markets like Egypt.

For fiscal 2024, Vodafone reiterated its guidance of adjusted EBITDA after leases of around €13.3 billion and adjusted free cash flow of approximately €3.3 billion.

While challenges remain in some markets like Germany, the company appears to be stabilising commercial performance as it continues investing in next-generation networks and digital services.

Margherita Della Valle, Group Chief Executive, commented:

“As we progress our plans to transform Vodafone, we have achieved a better service revenue performance across almost all of our markets. We have delivered particularly strong trading in our Business segment and returned to service revenue growth in Europe.

“Looking ahead, we have taken the first steps of our action plan focused on customers, simplicity and growth, but we have much more still to do.”

Greencoat UK Wind has expanded its portfolio of offshore wind assets in the UK with the acquisition of a stake in the London Array wind farm located off the Nort Kent coast.

Greencoat UK Wind PLC has agreed to acquire 13.7% stake in the 630MW London Array offshore wind farm in a deal which involves other funds managed by Schroders Greencoat LLP. The group of funds will acquire a total stake of 25% for £717 million.

The wind farm is thought to generate enough electricity to power 500,000 UK homes.

The company will invest £444 million for a 13.7% net stake in the wind farm, which was commissioned in 2013 and is operated by RWE.

“We are delighted to invest in London Array. The transaction was originated and negotiated on a bilateral basis and reflects the Company’s ability to continue to generate significant shareholder value through selective off-market investments,” said Lucinda Riches, Chairman of UKW.

Greencoat expects to present its half-year results on 27th July.