Posts in-line first-quarter results
Posted in General on 22. Sep, 2010
Posts in-line first-quarter results.↑ Stanley Leisure 524.5p (up 2.5p, 0.5 per cent). Sells its betting shops to William Hill for £500m.↑ Lupus Capital 14.5p (up 2p, 16.0 per cent). Investors remain hopeful the group will soon unveil a major acquisition.↑ Gaming Corp 14p (up 0.25p, 1.8 per cent). Director share-buying excites.↓ William Hill 510.5p (down 14.5p, 2.7 per cent).
The deal also gives Mano an extensive data-base of information about the licence area which will save the group a large sum and speed up the exploration process.Main movers↑ Xstrata 932p (up 24p, 2.6 per cent). Kewill Systems improved 1.5p to 61.5p on news the software group had won a major contract from GE Healthcare.Mano River Resources rose 0.5p to 9.75p after announcing the purchase of diamond licences from De Beers in Guinea, West Africa. Dinkie bought 75 per cent of the sportswear group Friedman’s this year and word has it the group has a second acquisition in its sights. Protherics dropped 1p to 46.75p as investors fretted about the company’s cash burn rate.In the smaller companies’ world, Dinkie Heel, the AIM-listed manufacturer that has turned itself into an investment company, rose 0.38p to 2.5p after breaking into the black for the first time since 1998. So Invensys ticked 0.25p higher to 12.75p, Tomkins gained 1p to 250p, Signet added 1.75p to 102p and Ashtead rose 1.25p to 88.75p.TTP Communications dropped 1.5p to 38.5p on worry that sales at the technology group have slowed during the past few months.
The broker highlighted the company as being among its favourites in the European steel arena. It tipped Corus shares to outperform the market over the coming months. Boots improved 4p to 596p on renewed rumours of a bid for the retail giant by venture capitalists.Credit Suisse First Boston tried to put a floor under Rentokil Initial, 1.5p better at 153.25p, by arguing that at the stock’s current level, the company is vulnerable to a private equity bid. CSFB calculates that a financial buyer could generate a return on equity of 100 per cent over three years if it bought the company at its present market value. Brokers reported solid demand for companies which generate a large proportion of their revenue in the US due to the recent strength in the greenback. April is thought to have been a particularly bad month for the industry and investors are thought to be rushing to pull their cash out of many funds.Dealers reckon fellow hedge funds are most likely to be behind the heavy shorting of Man stock yesterday.