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NAHL runs into a wall after trading update

Last updated: 09:45 18 Jul 2018 EDT, First published: 04:27 18 Jul 2018 EDT

Damaged car

NAHL Group plc (LON:NAH), operator of the National Accident Helpline, was feeling a bit bruised after a pre-close trading update.

The shares were down 7.4% at 112.5p, which seemed harsh on a company that “has performed in line with the board's earnings expectations”.

The company said it has a lot of moving parts in its Personal Injury division and it is seeing “a slightly different mix of profit to that originally envisaged”.

The company said it expects to see modestly lower levels of underlying earnings (EBITDA) from the division, albeit offset by lower levels of minority interest, the net result of which is no overall impact on 2018 earnings.

House broker finnCap reiterated its view that 2018 is likely to see the bottom of the range for free cash flow and it expects an improvement in this measure will be the main driver for share price accumulation from here on.

“The FY18 PER [full year 2018 price/earnings ratio] of 6.3x and dividend yield of 8.0% assume a far more negative scenario than both our forecasts and today’s statement,” the broker added, as it reiterated its punchy target price of 257p.

Mpac flattened after a profit warning

Mpac Group PLC (LON:MPAC) – it sounds like a rap group but is, in fact, the worst performing stock in London today.

The shares lost a third of their value on the back of a half-year trading update.

The packaging group issued a profit warning saying that full-year profits are expected to be around £1.2mln below current market expectations.

The company said the underwhelming performance was partly due to a softening in the market and partly down to significant, technically challenging legacy projects that will now not be completed until the end of the 2018 financial year.

The share price slump will be particularly disappointing to those who follow the investment advice of stock-picker Simon Thompson in the Investor’s Chronicle.

You can’t win ‘em all, and Thompson, who recommended buying the shares a while back at 156p and again yesterday at 218p, is now underwater with the shares trading at 143.5p.

Thompson’s view is that today’s plunge has been an over-reaction and his recommendation is to dive in again.

Icewine tasting sweet to 88 Energy

Interest in 88 Energy Ltd’s (LON:88E) Alaska shale play remains high.

Shares in the explorer rose 6.5% today as it said the recent well results “support the potential economic viability of the HRZ shale play”.

READ: 88 Energy remains upbeat over potential of Alaska shale play

Hydrocarbon gas content during the flow-back period was predominantly methane (90%) with some heavier elements up to trace C6. The hydrocarbon rate achieved, with velocity string installed, ranged from 5 - 113mcf/d (millions of cubic feet per day) of gas with an average of 26mcf/d.

The future evaluation of the large potential already identified is planned to be accomplished via farm-out and this process has already commenced, 88 Energy said.

Quadrise Fuels fired up by agreement with commodities merchant

Alternative fuels specialist Quadrise Fuels International PLC (LON:QFI) streaked higher this morning after pencilling an agreement with Freepoint Commodities.

Freepoint, a global merchant of physical commodities that also finances upper and mid-stream commodity-producing assets, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Quadrise; the two plan to work together to pursue commercial arrangements involving the production and supply of MSAR fuel to producers and consumers by using Quadrise MSAR technology, additives and services.

The initial focus will be on the Americas and Asia.

Shares in Quadrise rose 6.7% to 3.65p but have lost around two-thirds of their value this year.

Suit you, sir, as strategic investor in Bagir names the day

It was a case of “suit you, sir” for Bagir Group Ltd (LON:BAGR) shareholders as the suit maker’s shares soared on news of a cash injection.

Shandong Ruyi, an Asian textile manufacturer that has previously agreed to take a majority stake in the company, has committed to complete the transaction by the end of August.

READ Bagir doubles as Chinese textile group takes majority stake

The news sent Bagir’s shares ballooning to 2.75p from 1.45p overnight.

Shandong Ruyi has also paid a further US$1.65 million to Bagir in addition to the initial payment of US$1.65 million that was received in January.

A bright Future, maybe, but not today for the digital publishing group

Stock market star Future PLC (LON:FUTR) is unaccustomed of late to spending time in the doghouse but the shares were shunned this morning.

The media company, which successfully made the transition from being a publisher of news-stand magazines on to a company predominantly focused on digital publishing, is proposing to splash out US$132.5mln on business-to-consumer publisher Purch for US$132.5mln.

The acquisition will be financed by a rights issue to raise £105.7mln. The new shares will be issued at 303p; the shares fell 40p to 490p on the news.

FTSE 100 stock Smiths Group PLC (LON:SMIN) was another stock getting the cold shoulder this morning after its pre-close trading update contained some bad news on its medical division.

“The group, with the exception of Smiths Medical, is expected to deliver a full year performance in line with expectations,” the statement said.

The stumble at Smiths Medical was attributed to the temporary suspension of some of its products being eligible for sale in Europe after one of its service providers was decertified for certain products ahead of the EU Medical Device Regulation to be introduced in 2020.

The shares came off 121p to 1,682.5p.

“Today’s market reaction highlights the vagaries of the stock market and how even a single underperforming division can sour investor outlook for the otherwise healthy business,” said Artjom Hatsaturjants, a research analyst at Accendo Markets.

Proactive news headlines:

Rockfire Resources Plc (LON:ROCK), has revealed that a third gold target has been identified at its Marengo exploration project in Queensland, Australia. The AIM-listed group – formerly known as Papua Mining - said the third target, "Mt Marengo", looks to be similar to One Mile Mountain already identified at Marengo.

Life sciences group SkinBioTherapeutics PLC (LON:SBTX) remains on track to kick off the human study of its SkinBiotix technology in September after receiving provisional ethics approval from regulators.

88 Energy Ltd (LON:88E), in a statement, said that recent well results “support the potential economic viability of the HRZ shale play”. The junior oil and gas firm’s quarterly activities report comes after the suspension of the Icewine-2 well programme.

Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (LON:BMY) has traded in line with expectations in the first four months of its financial year, with both divisions growing revenues.

Mining group Metal Tiger PLC (LON:MTR) has sold its 30% stake in the T3 copper prospect in Botswana to partner MOD Resources. Metal Tiger will receive A$8.3mln (£4.6mln) in shares based on a price of A$0.48 per share for Aussie-listed MOD.

Background checks specialist ClearStar Inc (LON:CLSU) expects to report its highest ever half-year revenues for the first six months of this year.

Haydale Graphene Industries PLC (LON:HAYD) has noted the launch of a new graphene characterisation service at the University of Manchester.

NetScientific PLC (LON:NSCI) has announced that its portfolio company Wanda Technology Enhancements has completed a significant enhancement of its Patient Management Platform to improve patient adherence to care plans.

Shanta Gold Limited (LON:SHG) has hit reported grades from an exploration programme outside of the current reserves area at the New Luika gold mine in Tanzania. Four diamond holes were drilled at the Bauhinia Creek East underground mine, where there has already been historical bonanza grade intercepts.

Wolf Minerals Limited (LON:WLFE ASX:WLF) has reported improvements in its operating strength at its Drakelands mine in Devon following the March cold snap as it sought new funds from investors. In a production update for the three months ended 30 June 2018, the AIM-listed miner said tungsten and tin production were up 41% and 67% respectively over the last 12 months.

SDX Energy Inc (LON:SDX, CVE:SDX) told investors that it is due to sign a three-year, US$10mln credit facility with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) with the funds earmarked for its assets in Morocco. It will be an initial US$10mln facility, though it will have an ‘accordion’ feature allowing for up to US$20mln of total funds availability.

Immunotherapy specialist Scancell Holdings Plc(LON:SCLP) has exercised an option to in-licence delivery technology for its lead drug candidate. It has inked a deal with Ichor Medical Systems, which has developed the TriGrid 2.0 electroporation system.

Event-driven marketing specialist Mporium Group PC (LON:MPM) has signed a major new client to its IMPACT platform. The name of the customer wasn’t revealed. However, chief executive Nelius De Groot described the new partner as one of the world’s “largest and most prestigious media services networks”.

Avation PLC (LON:AVAP), the commercial passenger aircraft leasing company, announced that Iain Cawte has taken the position of chief financial officer of the company with effect from 17 July 2018. Prior to this appointment, Cawte was Avation's Director of Treasury, Compliance and Risk. The firm also said, correcting an earlier error, that it intends to release its unaudited results for the financial year ending 30 June 2018 on 6 September 2018.

Real Good Food PLC (LON:RGD) has confirmed details of an open offer to raise up to £1.0mln for future working capital purposes announced at the start of last month. The AIM-listed food producer said it will issue up to 20,115,190 open offer shares at a price of 5p each.

Union Jack Oil PLC (LON:UJO) has announced that 120,000,000 share options have been granted to David Bramhill, its executive chairman and 60,000,000 share options have been granted to Joe O`Farrell, an executive director. The group said the share options have an exercise price of 0.09p and vest on the third anniversary of the date of grant. The exercise period is between the third and tenth anniversary of the date of grant.

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