Inflation threatens further underperformance in Bond-proxy shares

UK Investor Magazine
-
0
Inflation threatens further underperformance in Bond-proxy shares

Inflation has unnerved markets sending bond yields higher and shares higher. This Podcast addresses the dynamics around higher inflation and what it means for shares listed in London.

We look at FTSE 100 Bond-proxies that have the characteristics of strong cash flows and reliable shareholder distributions and explore the outlook in an environment of rising bond yields.

With multiple analysts and economists predicting a commodities super cycle, we touch on FTSE 100 mining shares and how much of a metals rally is already priced into shares.

Mode listed in London last year and investors have questioned ever since whether the Banking App company can be compared to the hugely successful Argo Blockchain. We look at this comparison and whether it would be sensible to make comparisons.

We discuss Cadence Minerals (LON:KDNC), Mode (LON:MODE) and Itaconix (LON:ITX).

CCM platform Panaseer raises $26.5m in series B funding

Liam Roche
-
4,051
CCM platform Panaseer raises $26.5m in series B funding

Panaseer’s total funding to date now at $43m

Panaseer, the Continuous Controls Monitoring (CCM) platform for enterprise security, announced on Wednesday that it has secured $26.5m in series B funding.

The financing round was headed up by AllegisCyber Capital, along with input from existing investors, including Evolution Equity Partners, Notion Capital, AlbionVC, Cisco Investments and Paladin Capital Group, in addition to a new investor, National Grid Partners.

The additional funding brings Panaseer’s total funding to date to $43m.

Panaseer’s CCM platform sets itself apart in correlating data from all security tools to identify missing assets, control gaps, and underperforming controls. The platform enables quick understanding of zero-day and other exposures as they relate to a business.

“The number of data breaches in 2020 broke all previous records, with 43% of businesses suffering a security breach,” Panaseer said in a statement today, while its “CCM technology solves these issues”.

Jonathan Gill, CEO of Panaseer, commented further on why Panaseer’s CCM platform’s uniqueness: “Most enterprises have the tools and capability to theoretically prevent a breach from occurring. However, one of the key reasons that breaches occur is that there is no technology to monitor and react to failed controls.”

“CCM continuously validates and measures levels of protection and provides notifications of failures. Ultimately, CCM enables these failures to be fixed before they become security incidents, saving time, cost, and allowing businesses to go faster. Our investors are providing further validation of the market so we can enable more enterprises to evolve their cybersecurity at the speed of their business.”

Bob Ackerman, Founder and Managing Director of AllegisCyber Capital, and Co-Founder of DataTribe, added: ‘The emergence of Continuous Controls Monitoring as a new cybersecurity category demonstrates a ‘coming of age’ for cybersecurity. Cyber is the existential threat to the global digital economy.”

“All levels of the enterprise, from the CISO, to Chief Risk Officer, to the Board of Directors are demanding comprehensive visibility, transparency and hard metrics to assess cyber situational awareness. Panaseer has demonstrated itself as the leader in this critical new category and we are excited to be working with the team to further advance its leadership role in this essential market.”

Greatland Gold begins underground decline access at Havieron

Liam Roche
-
0
Greatland Gold begins underground decline access at Havieron

CEO says it is ‘a momentous step in the development of Havieron as a world-class gold-copper mine’

Greatland Gold (AIM:GGP), the precious and base metals exploration and development company, has on Wednesday announced commencement of the underground decline at the Havieron Gold-Copper Project in the Paterson province of Western Australia.

This news, according to a statement released by the company today, sets Havieron on course to become a large, multi-commodity, bulk tonnage, underground mining operation.

Havieron

Shaun Day, Chief Executive Officer of Greatland Gold, commented: “This is a momentous step in the development of Havieron as a world-class gold-copper mine. I am delighted by progress on site and this fast-tracked milestone is indicative of the potential scale of the deposit and the opportunity seen by our partners Newcrest.”

“By providing access to the top of the orebody, the decline sets Havieron on course to become a large, multi-commodity, bulk tonnage, underground mining operation. Alongside the ongoing growth drilling, the next key milestone will see the completion of a Pre-Feasibility Study and we are on track to deliver this in the second half of 2021.”   

Havieron box cut

Greatland Gold plc is a London Stock Exchange AIM-listed natural resource
exploration and development company with a current focus on precious and base metals.

The Company’s flagship asset is the world class Havieron gold-copper deposit in the Paterson
region of Western Australia. This asset is held in joint venture with Newcrest Mining Ltd.
Havieron is located approximately 45km east of Newcrest’s Telfer gold mine, processing
plant and existing infrastructure.

FTSE 100 receives boost from UK GDP figures

Liam Roche
-
0
FTSE 100 receives boost from UK GDP figures

The FTSE 100 received an early helping hand thanks to a better than forecast Q1 GDP reading, showing the UK contracted by 1.5% in the lockdown-hit opening months to the year, compared to the -1.6% forecast.

“A stronger sign of recovery was news that the economy actually grew by 2.1% in March, instead of the 1.5% expected, as the country cautiously started to open up. That’ll only boost hopes of a robust rebound in the second and third quarters,” said Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex.

The GDP news shot the FTSE 100 to the top of the table after the bell, leaving the UK index 0.46% higher and around 20 points short of 7,000.

The DAX, meanwhile, added 0.4%, lurking just below 15,150, with the CAC up 0.3%, sticking a pinkie beyond 6,260.

“These European gains should be caveated, however, as they all come before this afternoon’s US inflation reading for April has been unveiled. And given that Monday and Tuesday’s losses can in large part be explained by fears of surging inflationary pressures, the trading landscape could look very different once the figure has been released,” Campbell said.

FTSE 100 Top Movers

Spirex-Sarco Engineering (3.07%), Diageo (3.05%) and Glencore (2.74%) are the top three risers on the FTSE 100 90 minutes into the morning session on Wednesday.

At the other end, Just Eat (-3.92%), Flutter Entertainment (-1.95%) and Renishaw (-1.07%) lost the most ground.

UK GDP figures

The UK economy grew by 2.1% in March, at better than expected levels, in what was the fastest month of growth since last August. 

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Wednesday that economists previously predicted growth of 1.3%. 

The UK economy also showed resilience during the second wave of the pandemic, as it contracted by 1.5% during Q1 of 2021, seeing strong growth in March. Again, expectations were surpassed, as a contraction of 1.7% was initially forecast.

During Q1 the economy was supported by government spending, as the government increased spending on vaccinations and testing, while consumer spending and business investment dropped as the third lockdown came into effect.

Diageo

The Diageo share price jumped during the morning session on Wednesday, up by 3.8% at the time of writing, as the drinks company made a pledge to buy back shares or provide a special dividend.

The FTSE 100 company’s share price reached 3,317p per share, now less than 10% below its all-time-high of 3,640p, as it looks to be closing in on the marker last reached in September 2019.

UK GDP figures show resilience as economy looks set for speedy recovery

Liam Roche
-
0
UK GDP figures show resilience as economy looks set for speedy recovery

UK GDP exceeds expectations for March

The UK economy grew by 2.1% in March, at better than expected levels, in what was the fastest month of growth since last August.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Wednesday that economists previously predicted growth of 1.3%.

The UK economy also showed resilience during the second wave of the pandemic, as it contracted by 1.5% during Q1 of 2021, seeing strong growth in March. Again, expectations were surpassed, as a contraction of 1.7% was initially forecast.

During Q1 the economy was supported by government spending, as the government increased spending on vaccinations and testing, while consumer spending and business investment dropped as the third lockdown came into effect.

The Bank of England stated a week ago that it expects the UK economy would recover quickly as coronavirus restrictions are lifted to grow by 7.25% in 2021 as a whole.

“Despite a difficult start to this year, economic growth in March is a promising sign of things to come,” UK chancellor Rishi Sunak said.

“As we cautiously reopen the economy, I will continue to take all the steps necessary to support our recovery.”

Commenting on UK GDP rising 2.1% in March, Ian Warwick, Managing Partner at Deepbridge Capital, said: “Today’s monthly GDP estimate reveals the fastest monthly growth since August 2020 and is further evidence that the economy is moving in the right direction at a significant pace.”

“As we focus on economic recovery, it remains critically important that scale-up businesses, particularly in high-growth sectors such as digital technologies and life sciences are supported; as they will be at the very heart of economic growth as we create an economy fit for the twenty-first century.”

“Government initiatives such as the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) have never been more important for helping entrepreneurs and innovators source the funding they require, whilst also offering private investors with tax incentives to develop UK-supporting private equity portfolios. With our EIS funds reaching record levels of funding in 2020/21 it is evident that there is considerable demand from investors and financial advisers alike to invest in early-stage UK companies which we believe will be at the forefront of our economic recovery.”

Tui optimistic despite heavy losses as bookings fly in

Liam Roche
-
0
Tui optimistic despite heavy losses as bookings fly in

Tui has reported a loss of €1.3bn

Tui (LON:TUI), one of Europe’s largest holidaymakers, confirmed that it has seen an influx of bookings as the company revealed it has sold 2.6m packages ahead of the summer.

The travel giant also confirmed that its prices were up by 22% compared to 2019%.

During H1 of the current financial year, Tui has reported a loss of €1.3bn, for the period from October 2020 to March 2021. As borders were closed and the prospect of summer holidays were doubtful, the travel company took €700m in sales, down from €6.6bn over the same period the year before.

Many future flyers were willing to hold on til the summer of 2022, using vouchers to secure dates when fewer restrictions will apply. Since March new bookings for summer 2022 have increased by 109%.

“The prospects for early summer 2021 make me optimistic for tourism and for Tui. They are significantly better than in the first pandemic year, 2020,” said Fritz Joussen, Tui’s chief executive.

Coronavirus tests for holiday goers could be as low as £20 under plans revealed today that are designed to encourage bookings. 

Tui, the UK-based tour operator, said it would cut the price of PCR tests by more than 50% as concerns were raised over the cost of tests stopping people from booking vacations abroad. 

The company will manufacture a number of packages to be distributed to passengers as of Monday, including one for £20 for people returning to the UK from “green” listed countries.

New AIM admission: Glantus Holdings

Andrew Hore
-
0
New AIM admission: Glantus Holdings

Accounting software firm Glantus believes that its accounts payable analytics technology could become highly significant as companies look to invest in automation to make their cash generation more efficient. The accounts payable automation market is expected to grow at around 10% a year and it could be worth €3.3bn in 2027.
Management is experienced in the technology sector and the company has built up its own IP. Growth will come from cross-selling products to existing customers and securing new, large customers.
Existing shareholders raised £3.8m after expenses. The company receives £8.7m a...

Lockdowns do not halt growth at Angling Direct

Andrew Hore
-
0
Lockdowns do not halt growth at Angling Direct

Fishing tackle retailer Angling Direct (LON: ANG) has coped with the past year relatively well. Call and collect helped to bolster store sales and online demand soared.
In the year to January 2021, retail store sales were 15% higher at £32.3m, although that does include newly opened stores. Online sales were two-fifths higher at £35.3m, taking over as the larger generator of revenues. Overall revenues were 27% higher at £67.6m.
Angling Direct moved back into profit helped by improved gross margins. Pre-tax profit was £2.6m and there was £6.9m of cash generated from operations. However, it shou...

Cineworld share price falls amid clashes with major shareholder

Liam Roche
-
0
Cineworld share price falls amid clashes with major shareholder

After a positive opening to the week for the Cineworld share price (LON:CINE), it dropped by 4.11% on Tuesday, down to 92.34p. It has lost a lot of ground from its highest point of the year of 122p, its level on 19 March. Since the turn of the year the Cineworld share price is up by 44% despite today’s retreat. This comes as the chain is reopening its cinemas in both the US and the UK in April and May respectively.

Cineworld Clashing with Major Investor

Ahead of its AGM on May 12, Cineworld is coming to blows with one of its major shareholders, Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM), as the firm announced its intention to vote against the re-election of the cinema chain’s incumbent chairman, in addition to its renumeration committee.

LGIM said in a statement that it has “strong concerns about the structure of the long-term incentive plan granted to the executives, and its misalignment with the long-term interests of the company, its shareholders and other stakeholders”.

“In particular, we note the impact of COVID-19 on the company’s financials and stakeholders, including furloughs for employees and the suspension of dividends. We also take into account the current social sensitivities around income inequality”, LGIM said.

The timing is not ideal for Cineworld as it looks to reopen its locations across the UK on May 17 in line with the government’s roadmap out of lockdown.

Tesla Share Price: is there a way forward without China?

Liam Roche
-
0
Tesla Share Price: is there a way forward without China?

Tesla Share Price

The Tesla share price closed 7% down yesterday as it was revealed the company’s sales fell in China during April while the electric vehicle manufacturer faced a PR crisis. If the stock falls again today it could reach its lowest point in two months, when Tesla crashed from $863 to $563 in the space of a month. It has been a testing year so far for Elon Musk’s company which is just under 11% down since the end of 2020. As investors turn away from high-valued growth stocks, and Tesla faces ongoing issues in China, now is an opportune time to analyse the stock’s present outlook.

Tesla Halts Plans to Buy Land in Shanghai

Elon Musk appeared to curry favour with China back in March in an effort to secure Tesla’s market position for the long-term. More recently the Nasdaq-listed company was exploring plans buy land to expand its Shanghai plant and make it a global export hub. However, according to reports by Reuters, the plan is no longer going ahead.

Tesla’s factory in Shanghai was built to produce up to 500,000 vehicles every year, and is currently manufacturing the Model Y and 3. According to sources close to Reuters, Tesla is, for now, not looking to boost China production capacity significantly.

Although its sales dropped during April, Tesla made $3bn in revenue in China during the first three months of this year, amounting to 30% of its overall revenue.

Subsequently, the stock fell 3.74% to $605.50 in premarket trading on Tuesday, while shares dipped by 6.44% in Monday’s tech selloff.

PR Issues in China

Tesla is in the midst of an ongoing and significant crisis of confidence in the car maker in China, a market seen as vital for the company’s long-term growth.

In April, a lady climbed onto a Tesla at an auto show to protest against the brakes of the cars not working in her car. The protest went viral on Chinese social networks and state media.

Chinese state media issued a firm disavowal of Tesla’s handling of the women in questions compensation demands.

“The arrogant and overbearing stance the company exhibited in front of the public is repugnant and unacceptable, which could inflict serious damage on its reputation and customer base in the Chinese market,” the state-backed tabloid Global Times said in a separate opinion piece published Wednesday.

A significant portion of Tesla’s growth is coming from China, and the company’s continued success depends on this remaining so. As Elon Musk knows, if the Chinese people or government turn against Tesla, then it will face a major and immediate obstacle. Investors will do well to pay attention to Tesla’s progress in the country in an effort to maintain its meteoric success.

1...942943944...1,781Page 943 of 1,781