logo-loader

Enteq flows higher as oil sector rebound boosts latest full-year results

Last updated: 00:20 19 Apr 2018 AEST, First published: 18:45 18 Apr 2018 AEST

offshore oil rig

Oilfield services and equipment provider Enteq Upstream plc (LON:NTQ) was the top riser in London on Wednesday afternoon after telling investors full-year revenues and profits will be “significantly ahead” of expectations.

The company pointed to the turnaround in the oil sector as the main reason for the outperformance, with the number of drilling rigs in North America steadily rising over the past year, while oil prices have staged a similar recovery.

“In light of these improved market conditions, prudent management and Enteq's ongoing investments Enteq is well positioned to take advantage of potential opportunities,” read the statement.

Shares added more than 20% to trade at 29.5p.

Angus Energy confirms fundraising plans

Angus Energy Plc (LON:ANGS) shares backed off on Wednesday after it confirmed it was in talks with investors over a potential funding.

In a statement, the company acknowledged what it described as media speculation concerning a potential equity raise.

It noted that UK regulator The Oil and Gas Authority has recently approved the company’s acquisition of 25% of the PEDL244 licence and a £2mln payment is now due.

Angus told investors that it expects to conclude the funding shortly. On AIM, Angus shares were down 10%, changing hands at 6.3p.

Koovs unsure why shares rocketed this morning

Shares in Koovs PLC (LON:KOOV) surged this morning, forcing the online fashion retailer to come out and deny that it knows of any reason behind the sudden jump.

The AIM-listed firm took the opportunity to confirm that it is close to securing interim funding via a loan of £1.5mln from one of its directors, Lord Waheed Alli.

Koovs said this interim funding will provide the company with cash resources until the end of August 2018.

Meanwhile, the fashion retailer said the board would continue to focus on cash preservation.

The firm had cash balances of £3.5mln as of 1 March 2018, with future monthly outgoings forecast to be £0.75mln per month. 

Shares were up 6.4% to 9.2p in late-afternoon trading, although they had jumped by as much as 21% earlier in the day.

GYG shows there is a lot of money to be made in painting fancy boats

GYG PLC (LON:GYG) has once again shown that there is a lot of money to be made in painting billionaire’s boats.

Revenues at the superyacht maintenance group soared 15% in 2017 – its first year on AIM – to €62.6mln (2016: €54.6m) thanks to a particularly strong performance from the coating division.

Adjusted underlying earnings (EBITDA) rose almost 8% to €7.2mln (2016: €6.7mln), while net debt came down substantially – to €6.7mln as of 31 December 2017 (2016: €10.4mln).

Looking ahead, the order book swelled to a record €20.4mln (2016: €17.9mln), of which €14.3mln is due to be delivered this year.

GYG’s board has recommended a total dividend of 3.2p per share, reflecting the six-month period from its July IPO to year-end.

“2017 was a transformational year for GYG which included the acquisition of ACA Marine and the successful completion of our AIM IPO in July, enhancing our credibility and profile in the industry,” said chief executive Remy Millott.

“GYG is well placed to increase its coating market share through an organic growth strategy and to capitalize on the 6% estimated annual growth in our addressable market, as a result of the continued growth of worldwide billionaires buying larger yachts and increasing the global superyacht fleet. As a result, the Board looks to the future with confidence.”

Dignity shows signs of life

Dignity PLC (LON:DTY) saw its shares surge in early trading Wednesday after saying it expects results for the full-year to be ahead of market expectations despite a potentially volatile trading year.

The group, famous for conducting Winston Churchill’s funeral, said its revenue for the first quarter of 2018 was around £95mln, up from £93mln previously with underlying earnings of £37.5mln, in line with the previous year but significantly ahead of its expectations.

Dignity added that the trend in higher deaths for the first part of 2018 had continued following its 2017 results announcement in March and was now up 8% to 181,000 compared to 167,000 the previous year.

Shares rose 15% to £10.72 in early afternoon trading.

De La Rue drops passport contract appeal

De La Rue plc (LON:DLAR) has dropped its appeal against the UK government for its decision to award the new blue passport contract to a French firm.

The secure printer – which makes the passports for dozens of countries – kicked up a huge fuss earlier this year after the government awarded the contract to Gemalto, which is reportedly charging considerably less.

De La Rue said the decision is expected to have “no impact” on its performance over the next 18 months, although it did note that it was “cautious” about the outturn for the full-year. Shares fell 4.6% to 469.5p.

Animalcare plunges on profit warning

Shares in Animalcare Group PLC (LON:ANCR) plunged on Wednesday morning after the vet pharmaceuticals business issued a profit warning.

Animalcare – which sells everything from chew toys to diagnostic instruments – expects revenues for the year just gone to rise around 10% to £91.9mln, but the outlook for 2018 isn’t quite so good.

The board still expects earnings to be “significantly ahead” of last year’s results, but they will be below expectations due to a “changing sales mix” and competitive pressures”.

Shares fell 22.2% to 208p in early deals.

Hammerson just not into Intu

Hammerson PLC (LON:HMSO) shares rose higher early on Wednesday after it pulled out of a £3.4bn deal to snap up fellow UK shopping centre owner Intu Properties PLC (LON:INTU).

There was an obvious sigh of relief from the City as Hammerson – which owns the Bullring shopping centre in Birmingham among others – cited market uncertainty for shelving the plans.

“Retail businesses are already struggling with higher business rates as well as declining footfall so today’s news that Hammerson is pulling out of its bid for its rival Intu is quite a sensible move, particularly since some bigger shareholders were expressing disquiet about the deal,” said Michael Hewson of CMC Markets.

Hammerson shares are up 2.2% to 504.4p, while Intu has dropped 5% to 198.1p.

Proactive news headlines:

Newmark Security PLC (LON:NWT) said its wholly-owned subsidiary Safetell Limited has received a formal contract extension for the supply of physical security equipment and preventative maintenance to the UK branch network of a leading worldwide supplier of retail banking services.

Mosman Oil And Gas Ltd (LON:MSMN)  has reported reserves for the Welch permian basin project, in Texas. Proved reserves (1P) amounted to 234,000 barrels gross for the field - it comprises 109,000 barrels classified as being ‘Proved Developed Producing’ or PDP reserves, while the field is also seen to have 102,000 barrels of proved undeveloped reserves.

Be Heard Group PLC (LON:BHRD), the digital marketing services group, has seen business momentum pick up after some existing clients were slow out of the blocks in the first quarter.

Echo Energy PLC (LON:ECHO) said it exported its first cargo of oil produced at the Fraccion C and Fraccion D projects on 14 April 2018. The AIM-listed oil and gas company said its share of oil production in the first quarter of 2018 from the two sites was around 25,000 barrels, with a final realised sale price based on the average Brent crude price (currently US$71.6 per barrel) for the 5 days following cargo loading with a US$6 discount per barrel.

Greatland Gold PLC (LON:GGP) shares rose on Tuesday as the precious and base metals explorer said it has commenced the first drilling campaign at its 100%-owned Havieron licence in the Paterson region of Western Australia.

Eland Oil & Gas PLC (LON:ELA) told investors it has restarted drilling at the Opuama-9 well, while also providing a reserves update for the whole Opuama field and releasing a financial results statement.

Immunotherapy specialist Scancell Holdings PLC (LON:SCLP) has unveiled plans to raise up to £8mln – cash that will be used develop its three main drug candidates. A placing and subscription at 12p a share will account for £6mln of the total. The company also wants to include existing investors, so it is planning a £2mln open offer of stock once the placing has been concluded.

Life sciences group OptiBiotix Health PLC (LON:OPTI) is taking its heart health products into Pakistan after signing an exclusive five-year distribution agreement with Trigen Pharma.

Symphony Environmental Technologies PLC (LON:SYM) said a YouGov survey commissioned by the company has revealed that 86% of UK adults would be happy to use oxo-biodegradable plastic instead of their usual plastic.

Iofina PLC (LON:IOF) maintained iodine production in its latest quarter even with exceptionally bad US winter and less plants in operation. The Oklahoma-based group extracts iodine from brine produced by onshore oil wells.

Jubilee Metals Group PLC (LON:JLP) said it has executed a processing agreement with Northam Platinum subsidiary Eland Platinum. The AIM-listed miner said the agreement involves Northam funding the refurbishment of its platinum recovery circuit, including an existing recovery plant, to which Jubilee would begin transporting platinum-rich material for processing from June 2018.

Medical centres and doctors’ surgeries owner Primary Health Properties PLC (LON:PHP) has raised £115mln - £15mln more than it set out to. Primary originally set out to raise £100mln to help it add to its portfolio of healthcare centres but it managed to exceed that target after strong support from both new and existing investors.

Active Energy PLC (LON:AEG), the London-quoted international biomass based renewable energy and forestry management business, announced that it will be presenting at the EarthX Conference in Dallas, USA, between 20th and 22nd April 2018 EarthX is the world's largest annual exhibition and conference dedicated to the discussion of environmental issues and innovative solutions.

88 Energy Limited (LON:88E) (ASX:88E) confirmed that the company's April 2018 corporate presentation is now available on the 88 Energy website.

Australian Strategic Materials signs US$600 million LoI

Rowena Smith, CEO and managing director of Australian Strategic Materials Ltd (ASX:ASM, OTC:ASMMF), joins Jonathan Jackson in the Proactive studio to discuss the company’ s Dubbo Project, in Central West New South Wales. This project aims to extract and process critical minerals and rare earth...

9 hours, 14 minutes ago