David Beckham-backed Guild Esports (LSE: GILD) has announced the signing of a letter of intent (LOI) with DCB Sports LLC to dispose of all Guild assets and liabilities.

Guild Esports was listed at 8p in 2020 in the midst of the pandemic and a spike in interest in virtual gaming. However, the buzz has died down as gamers returned to the real world and shares now trade at just 0.2p.

Last week, Guild Esports shares plunged after announcing cash constraints, leaving them with just £25,000 in cash and relatively large receivables and liabilities.

With the company on the ropes financially, management has opted to throw in the towel and dispose of all its assets effectively ending its time as a London-listed company. The potential amount has not been disclosed.

DCB Sports intends to maintain and elevate the Guild brand and has pledged to provide robust financial backing, including backing up future working capital needs and supplying ongoing capital.

DCB Sports’ ventures span from a stake in Ice Cube’s Big3 basketball league to co-ownership of The Bay Golf Club alongside NBA stars Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. With investments in Venezia FC, the National Thoroughbred League, and TMRW Sports (co-founded by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy), DCB Sports has demonstrated a knack for identifying unique opportunities in the sports and entertainment sectors.

The deal remains subject to the successful negotiation of a definitive legal agreement and the completion of due diligence. Furthermore, Guild’s directors have made it clear that they are still in discussions with other potential suitors, leaving the door open for a rival bid for the assets

Guild’s shares were 66% higher at the time of writing.

In a move to advance its recently announced hydrogen storage projects, UK Oil & Gas PLC (LON:UKOG) has successfully raised £1 million through a share placing. The AIM-listed company announced the conditional placement of 2 billion new ordinary shares at 0.05p each, a 37% discount to the closing price on 2nd August 2024.

UKOG has also revealed plans for a separate Retail Offer in addition to the £1 million placing. The company intends to release further details regarding this offer in a separate announcement.

Although all investors have had the opportunity to participate in the round, the shareholder base may be a little perturbed that the company used a recent rally to secure a placing.

This fundraising effort’s primary purpose is to finance crucial activities that will significantly progress UKOG’s hydrogen storage projects, including initiating essential environmental surveys, engineering studies, and other necessary works.

Furthermore, the newly acquired funds will enable UKOG to advance negotiations with potential strategic joint venture partners and finalise a land option agreement for an additional hydrogen storage site. The company plans to bolster recognition of its hydrogen projects after already receiving from major industry players such as RWE, Sumitomo, and SGN.

CMC Markets UK Plc, operating under the name CapX, served as the sole placing agent for this significant funding round.

“The funding, together with the support from leading UK energy and hydrogen-space infrastructure players, RWE, Sumitomo and SGN, means we can now materially advance our nationally significant projects towards the goal of a competitive Revenue Support application,” said Stephen Sanderson UKOG’s Chief Executive.

“It will also greatly help us to secure at least one major strategic partner as a joint venture participant and to enhance our lobbying efforts with our new Labour government, who to date seem motivated and committed to making hydrogen and its storage a fundamental part of Britain’s renewable superpower ambition.”

IAG was flying high at the top of the FTSE 10 on Friday after the airline announced its first dividend since before the pandemic and abandoned its pursuit of rival Air Europa.

Shareholders will be delighted that IAG’s progress has cleared the way for the airline to pay a dividend after revenue and operating profit grew in the first half of the year.

IAG shares were 6% higher at the time of writing.

“British Airways owner IAG has maintained a steady flight path in 2024 with the international carrier faring considerably better than its national counterparts. Long haul travel has held up well with robust demand for air travel fuelling increased free cash flow, boosting shareholder returns as a result,” said Mark Crouch, Market Analyst at eToro

“While profits were down a touch from last year, the company’s balance sheet is in a far healthier state. Investors would need to go back to before the pandemic for the last time IAG paid a dividend, so today’s announcement of an interim dividend is a strong statement that the business has at last broken free of the pandemic fallout.”

Although investors were clearly encouraged by the reinstatement of the dividend, they will also be reassured by IAG’s prudent approach to capital allocation with the calling of the takeover of Air Europa.

“Walking away from a proposed takeover of Air Europa also shows the company has discipline and isn’t prepared to spend a long time fighting antitrust regulators to get the deal over the line. Management has clearly decided its time is better spent elsewhere and to just move on. Investors often like companies that take decisive action,” said AJ Bell’s Russ Mould.

“While the likes of Jet2 and EasyJet are heavily dependent on people flying off for their summer holidays, International Consolidated Airlines has a much wider range of customers as it has a mixture of short and long-haul destinations. That broadens its opportunities to make money.”

The FTSE 100 continued yesterday’s decline early on Friday after optimism around a rate cut was quickly replaced by concerns about global growth.

London’s leading index was down 0.4% at the time of writing. “So much for the big equity rally when interest rate cuts take centre stage,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

“Investors thought rates cuts – which have just happened in the UK and looked poised to take place next month in the US – would energise stock markets. The opposite has happened with a bad day on Thursday and weakness extending into Friday, meaning August is so far off to a bad start.

“Weak economic data from the US spooked the market and reminded investors there are negative reasons why central banks might cut rates, not simply lowering the cost of borrowing because the rate of inflation is easing.”

We have previously alluded to global markets’ capacity to focus on only one big theme at a time. The fixation on global interest rates and when they will be cut diverted attention away from underlying growth rates and the consequences for equities.

Now that two major central banks, the Bank of England and the European Central Bank, have cut interest rates, and the Federal Reserve looks set to cut rates in the very near future, investors have quickly shifted their focus to growth rates, which aren’t fantastic.

The UK’s unemployment rate is slowly ticking higher, Europe’s GDP is growing at a snail’s pace, and the US manufacturing sector is in contractionary territory. 

With markets free of the preoccupation of when central banks will cut rates, they are now looking at growth, and they don’t like what they see. The result is sharp declines in US equities that spilt over into the European session on Friday morning. Poor results from Amazon overnight has further dampened sentiment.

Investors will do well to hold on to their hats for the rest of the session. The Non-Farm Payrolls report, due for release at 1.30pm this afternoon, promises fireworks. A miss of expectations could see further downside, while a much better-than-expected read has the potential to spark a sharp rally after all the losses of late.

The risk-off approach to Friday’s trading was evident in a clear divide between the winners and losers. Safer defensive sectors such as pharmaceuticals, utilises, and precious metals were well-bid, while pretty much everything else was in the red.

Endeavour Mining, GSK, Haelon, and Fresnillo were among the top gainers. The only anomaly in the risk positioning was IAG’s decision to abandon its pursuit of the takeover of rival Air Europa. IAG shares were 6% higher.

Mondi was the top falling following the slashing of its price target by a plethora of brokers.