National Grid shares were flat at 1,183p in early morning trading on Thursday, after the group projected moderately above-expected profit returns in its pre-close trading update ahead of its financial results for the last year.

The company confirmed that its New England, New York and National Grid Ventures business units were on track to deliver underlying operating profits in line with management guidance.

However, the firm anticipated a boost in underlying profit in its UK Electricity Distribution business units, with rising inflation driving projected profits above expectations.

The National Grid added that it expects to take on a 25% underlying effective tax rate due to an additional tax charge of approximately £100 million, reflecting the impact in its income statement of deferred tax reversing at a higher rate in future company statements.

The company projected its average expected underlying effective tax rate at a reduced level of 23% for FY 2023.

The group mentioned that it currently expects its 2022 earnings per share to deliver slightly above management guidance.

The National Grid also highlighted a selection of sales and acquisitions across its financial year, including its acquisition of Western Power Distribution on 14 June 2021.

The company confirmed that the contribution from its acquisition had been included in its financial results for the year.

The group noted that it continued to hold its UK Gas Transmission and legacy Metering businesses as discontinued operations since the sale of a majority stake in National Grid Gas on 27 March 2022, and will reportedly continue to hold the entities until the transaction closes later this year.

The National Grid also listed the ongoing sales of its Rhode Island business to PPL, with the transaction projected to close in the first quarter of the firm’s FY 2023.

The company is set to report the asset under its New England business unit until the agreement closes.

The National Grid added that it was currently working with the UK Government to manage a smooth transition as part of the administration’s plan to create a Future System Operator to shoulder the existing Electricity System Operator roles, alongside the longer-term aspects of the Gas System Operator.

The company confirmed that the transition is scheduled for completion by 2024.

The Russian gold miner, Petropavlovsk has updated investors on its relations with Gazprombank and its corporate options earlier on Thursday which led shares to sink 20% to 2.3p.

The Petropavlovsk Board of Directors announced an additional update on the implications for the group of Gazprombank’s (GPB) entry on the UK Sanctions List and its designation for an asset freeze under the Russia Regulations 2019.

Concerning the Regulations, the company is aware of reports of potential Russian legislation that would make refusing to interact with counterparties based on the Regulations a criminal offence.

If such legislation is passed, the Board may not be able to verify that its Russian subsidiaries follow the rules.

As previously stated, the firm and Bank GPB have a $200m committed term loan and $86.7m in revolving credit facilities (RCFs) made available by GPB to several of the company’s Russian subsidiaries.

On 25 March 2022, a $560,000 interest payment was due under the term loan, which the firm was and is still forbidden from performing under the Regulations.

Furthermore, the rouble equivalent of $9.5m became repayable under the RCFs on  28 March 2022 but was not paid as a result of the Regulations.

GPB will operate as an off-taker of 100% of the group’s gold production, as previously indicated, as a condition of the RCFs and the term loan.

The group’s status under the Regulations prevents it from selling gold to GPB in the future.

The mining company is still looking into selling its gold, also looking for other potential buyers, pending permission from GPB.

Furthermore, the price at which the Russian Central Bank acquires gold, thus limiting the prices given by commercial buyers, is set daily at levels that are generally lower than the London fixing ($1,660/oz as of 13 April 2022), potentially affecting the group’s free cash flow.

Outside of Russia, the group’s cash reserves are low. In Russia, there are legal constraints on the firm’s ability to move money out of the country.

The Board is aware that an interest payment of approximately $12.36m is due on 14 May 2022 in correlation with the $500m 8.125% guaranteed notes 2022 issued by Petropavlovsk 2016 Limited, of which $304m is still outstanding and that the notes are set to mature in November 2022. 

The Board believes that refinancing the notes will be extremely difficult under the current conditions.

Payments on the notes and the guaranteed convertible 8.25% bonds due 2024 were issued by Petropavlovsk 2010 Limited, who is the guarantor for the payments.

AlixPartners UK has been recruited by the group to help the Board as it considers its alternatives and determines the best course of action for all stakeholders, including shareholders and creditors.

The sale of the company’s whole interest in its functioning subsidiaries as soon as practically possible is one of these choices.

It is currently unclear what, if any, return shareholders including holders of bonds and notes may receive as a result of this process.

The tech company focusing on safety equipment, Halma announced the acquisition of Deep Trekker for roughly £36m on Thursday.

Deep Trekker is a market-leading manufacturer of remotely driven underwater robots used for inspection, surveying, analysis, and maintenance, with headquarters in Ontario, Canada.

Aquaculture, renewable energy, and ocean science and research are among the markets it services.

Deep Trekker will be paid cash and debt-free cash consideration of around £36m, which will be funded from Halma’s current facilities.

Deep Trekker’s unaudited revenue for the year ended 31 December 2021 was over £12m, with a return on sales that were higher than Halma’s planned range of 18-22%.

The group’s Environmental & Analysis department will house Deep Trekker post the acquisition.

“Deep Trekker is an exciting addition to Halma, which is highly aligned with our purpose, both in terms of helping to ensure a cleaner environment, and in improving the safety of underwater inspections,” said Andrew Williams, Group Chief Executive Officer, Halma.

“It offers new opportunities for growth in a number of markets, driven by increasing health, safety and environmental regulation, and global efforts to address climate change, waste and pollution.”

Halma shares gained 1% to 2,472p after the acquisition of Deep Trekker was announced in early morning trade on Thursday.

UK small and mid caps suffered on Wednesday as the market digested the latest round of inflation figures pointing to rising prices and increased pressures on households.

Oxford Instruments

Oxford Instruments shares enjoyed a 7.3% rise to 22,275p after the company announced revenue and operating profit projections marginally ahead of management expectations, alongside a positive outlook for 2022.

The firm attributed its positive results to good progress in the second half of the financial year, reportedly driven by strong order growth supported by resilient end markets.

Derwent London shares increased 2.2% to 31,890p after JP Morgan raised the stock to overweight from neutral, with a price target of 4,200p compared to its previous price of 3,600p.

PZ Cussons shares rose 2.3% to 205.2p following the group’s report of continued improvement in revenue, with an 8.5% like-for-like revenue growth in the third quarter.

“We are focusing on building our Must Win Brands, driving executional excellence, dramatically reducing complexity and transforming our functional capabilities,” said PZ Cussons CEO Jonathan Myers.

Dr Martens shares dropped 7.6% to 221.4p after Barclays cut the company’s price target to 360p from 480p.

Hammerson suffered a loss of 4% to 30.8p following JP Morgan’s recommendation to lower the shares to underweight from neutral, with a price target of 29p down from 40p.

Liontrust Asset Management shares fell 3.5% to 12,400p following the company’s release of its annual financial results, which reported a slowdown in growth due to supply chain issues, macro-economic factors and high dealer sales.

ImmuPharma shares spiked 40.1% to 7.9p following positive data from the group’s Lupuzor/P140 pharmacokinetic study as part of its optimised international Phase three trial of Lupzor in lupus patients, which revealed that the study successfully met key endpoints required by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

“This positive PK data now clears the path for commencement of all clinical studies within the P140 platform,” said a spokesperson for the company.

“In addition to lupus, there is a planned Phase 2a/3 pivotal trial in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy.”

Shearwater Group shares were up 26.9% to 139p after the company won a new contract with a potential value of up to £21 million with an unidentified leading telecommunications and media firm.

Empire Metals shares increased 21.3% to 1.8p following the group’s completed acquisition of the Pitfield Copper-Gold Project.

Amur Minerals Corp shares dropped 12.6% to 1.5p after the company was slightly impacted by the latest wave of anti-Russian sanctions, which saw its lead legal representation in Moscow suspend their operations in Russia.

Amur Minerals confirmed that the sanctions have not affected its AO Kun-Manie mine in the far east of Russia, and that it is currently seeking alternative legal representation in the country.

Diversified Energy Company shares were down 2.6% to 115.4p in late afternoon trading on Wednesday, following the company’s acquisition of the Opgal EyeCGas 2.0.

The firm also reported the acquisition of the technology’s companion state-of-the-art emissions measurement devices, the EyeCSite Tablet software and the Semtech Hi-Flow 2 sampler.

The move comes as part of the group’s ongoing evaluation and deployment of new technologies to reach its stated emissions goals.

Diversified Energy commented that the acquisitions positioned the company as the first group in the US to deploy the technology in upstream natural gas operations.

The energy firm has already rolled out the new acquisitions across its operations based in Appalachia and the Central Region.

According to the company, the Opgal EyeCGas 2.0 uses an Optical Gas Imaging Camera and Artificial Intelligence software to quantify methane leaks, particularly emissions sourced from difficult to access breaches.

Diversified Energy added that the Semtech Hi-Flow 2 sampler uses Tunable Laser Absorption Spectroscopy to accurately measure fugitive methane emissions, with the specialised equipment to support additional validation of reported leak quantities.

The group mentioned that its previous generation of equipment only served to visually detect fugitive methane emissions. However, its new technology is reportedly capable of estimating the level of emissions in an environment.

“Our investment into advanced and innovative emissions measurement technology advances our efforts to reduce our methane emissions by 30% by 2026 from 2020 levels on the way to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040,” said Diversified Energy Company CEO Rusty Huston Jr.

“Adding this technology to the aerial surveillance and handheld detection devices we’ve placed in the hands of our skilled well tenders further enhances our ability to proactively detect, accurately measure and repair fugitive emissions across our asset base.” 

“Diversified remains committed to the continuous improvement of our environmental performance and to outpacing the expectations of our stakeholders.”

Darktrace shares plummeted 11.3% to 401.3p in late afternoon trading on Wednesday, despite a reported revenue of $109.8 million in the company’s latest trading update for Q3 2022.

The cybersecurity firm confirmed a year-on-year growth of 50.1%, with its current year-to-date revenue climbing to $302 million.

Darktrace brought in 359 new customers to its client base, with its its total number amounting to 6,890 and representing a year-on-year increase of more than 37%.

The technology group also highlighted its acquisition of surface attack management technology company Cybersprint for €47.5 million in March, contributing to the firm’s ambition to develop a continuous AI loop for addressing international cyber challenges.

“In March, we took a step closer to [our] goal when we completed our acquisition of Cybersprint and welcomed their outstanding attack surface management technology and talented team to Darktrace,” said Darktrace CEO Cathy Graham.

“Together, we are driven by innovation and committed to developing the world-class technologies, underpinned by our powerful Self-Learning AI, that are so critical to our customers remaining protected in a rapidly evolving threat landscape.”

The cybersecurity group said that its strong results had persuaded Darktrace to increase its FY 2022 guidance, with an estimated year-on-year growth of between 40% to 41.5% compared to the company’s previous guidance of 38.5% to 40%.

The firm added that it expected a FY 2022 year-on-year revenue growth between 45.5% to 47% against its previously anticipated 44.5% to 46.5% growth.

“In our third quarter, we sustained strong growth trends across our customer base, ARR and revenue, as well as maintaining the gains in churn and net ARR retention rates we made in the first half of the financial year,” said Graham.

“Year-to-date results and a continuing positive operating outlook have led us to again increase our FY 2022 expectations across all financial and customer measures.”

A fertilizer development company, Gensource Potash announced the agreement to acquire 100% of the issued and outstanding shares of Innovare Technologies which is a software development solutions and services company, on Wednesday.

The acquisition of Innovare’s shares by Gensource Potash will be accomplished through a reorganisation in which existing Innovare owners will transfer their shares to Gensource in return for new Gensource common shares.

Following the reorganisation, Innovare will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gensource Potash, with Innovare’s operations being integrated and overseen by Gensource.

For potash and other soluble mineral mining projects, Innovare Technologies specialises in drilling, solution mining, and processing technologies.

Gensource is a fertiliser development firm situated in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, with plans to become the province’s next fertiliser producer.

Over the last 6 years, Gensource and Innovare have collaborated on the development of Gensource’s modular potash production module.

The first project to use a Gensource module will be the company’s potash operation near Tugaske, Saskatchewan.

Innovare’s technology brings together industry-proven approaches with new, inventive, and patented technologies to reduce capital and operating expenses for the Tugaske Project and beyond.

Gensource will be able to control the intellectual property that allows it to fulfil its strategic business strategy, which management believes will be the future of potash production, by bringing this technology in-house.

The purchase values Innovare at approximately $11.5m, which represents the current value of the company’s existing licencing agreements with Innovare.

The agreement is expected to close in Q2 2022, subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions precedent, including TSX Venture Exchange approval.

“The acquisition will place the company in a strong competitive position in an industry dominated by producing facilities based on conventional 1950s and older technology,” said Mike Ferguson, President and CEO of Gensource.

“With Innovare’s technology integrated into our business, we will have total control over production processes at the Tugaske Project and future projects we anticipate rolling out in Saskatchewan and globally, while also anticipating a reduction in life of mine costs.”

“This transaction will strengthen Gensource’s differentiated market position as a near term potash producer into a market that continues to see global supply challenges and is in need of a structural change if we are to support the world’s growing agricultural requirement for environmentally sustainable potash.”

Weir Group shares were down 0.9% to 1,520p in early afternoon trading on Wednesday, after the company reported the completion of its $800 million refinancing for its main banking facility with a syndicate of 11 banks.

The company confirmed that the new $800 million Revolving Credit Facility is set to mature in April 2027, with an option to extend for up to an additional two years.

The Weir Group said that the margin on the new facility is substantially lower than the previous facility that the firm agreed to in the initial stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, and reportedly reflects the positive credit rating momentum that the company has gained over the last two years.

The firm attributed its momentum to its ability to reduce leverage and demonstrate resilience as a mining technology focused business during the volatility of the coronavirus pandemic.

The new facility was set up as a replacement for the existing $950 million Revolving Credit Facility which was scheduled to mature in June 2023.

The Weir Group noted that all key terms including covenants for the facility remained unchanged.