logo-loader

Monday's most followed: HSBC, Angel Mining, Premier Food, Keller Group, Reckitt Benckiser, Ithaca Energy, Kea Petroleum

Published: 22:36 30 Jul 2012 AEST

no_picture_pai

HSBC (LON:HSBA) and Angel Mining (LON:ANGM) were among the most searched for UK stocks on Google Finance as traders monitored market reaction to the interim report form the major banking group and tried to find out the reason behind the early surge in Angel’s share price.

HSBC today reported that pre-tax profits increased 11 percent to US$12.7 billion compared with the same period of 2011 due to asset sale proceeds of US$4.3 billion and a strong performance in Asia.

HSBC highlighted an increase of US$1.3 billion in pre-tax profits in the Hong Kong and Rest of Asia Pacific regions, which accounted for nearly two thirds of group total.

The bank also apologised for the money laundering scandal in the US and revealed that it had set aside US$700 million for “certain law enforcement and regulatory matters”.

Investec noted that the provision is less than one percent of shareholders’ equity with minimal ongoing impact for the group.

“HSBC has been the worst performing UK bank during July 2012,” said analyst Ian Gordon.

“While this may partly be attributed to speculation on the level of  US regulatory fine in relation its money laundering failings, we regard the challenged operational performance as far more significant.”

Meanwhile, Angel, which had no news out today, surged six percent to over 1.09 pence this morning. 

Last week, the company agreed a further advance under its secured short term loan with FBC Holdings for US$1.75 million for working capital.

According to Angel, whose main asset is the Nalunaq mine in greenland, the additional working capital will make a “significant impact on our ability to achieve target production levels over the next few months”.

On message boards, investors following Angel speculated that the company could soon release a gold pour announcement and hoped for an update on its efforts to secure a permit to enable it to mine the higher grade pillars.

Along with debt-laden Premier Food’s (LON:PFD) sale of its vinegar and sour pickles brands including Sarson's, Hayward's and Dufrais for £41 million, today’s most popular RNS statements included an update form hibu (HIBU), which pushed its shares up 8.5 percent to 1.3 pence in early deals.

The group, which until today was known as Yell, told investors that it is planning to form a co-ordinating committee of lenders in the near future.

“Following the appointment of Goldman Sachs and Greenhill as advisers in May and an extensive review of the options, the Board has decided to move proactively and engage with our stakeholders,” said chairman of hibu Bob Wigley.

“Our aim is to formulate a capital structure which will support the group's exciting business potential while safeguarding existing shareholders' interests to the fullest extent possible.”

Today’s positive interim report from Keller Group (LON:KLR) also made the list of the most read statements.

 Shares in the ground engineering specialist Keller rallied 5.5 percent in morning trade after the group said its performance in the first six months improved materially from a year earlier and said it now expected to top market forecasts for the second half. 

Group revenues reached £613.8 million compared with the £545.5 million posted for the first half of 2011, resulting in a jump in pre-tax profits to £11 million from £3.4 million.

The outlook for the rest of the year was upbeat with Keller expecting a recent stepping up of production on several major projects to support a stronger second half.

“Accordingly, the Group's results for the full year are expected to be slightly ahead of the top end of the range of market expectations,” said chief executive of Keller Justin Atkinson.

FTSE 100 constituent Reckitt Benckiser (LON:RB.) also released its interim results today, which showed a four percent increase in like for like revenues – which exclude the impact of acquisitions – to £4.67 billion.

The consumer goods group posted profits of £818 million for the first six months of the year, up two percent from a year earlier.

Reckitt said its results were in line, with expectations with higher input costs and increased investment being partially offset by cost savings programmes. It also reaffirmed its target to grow revenues by around 200 basis points above the expected market growth rate of one to two percent.

Other popular statements included operational updates from Ithaca Energy (LON:IEA), which also did well this morning, and Kea Petroleum (LON:KEA).

Kea is starting testing operations at the Puka 1 well in New Zealand after preparatory works were delayed by poor weather in the Taranaki region.

Recent clear weather has permitted the necessary access road upgrades to be completed and civil works to commence on site, said Kea, which now expects the initial flow period to start around August 6.

The total flow period of the test is expected to be around 30 days, but will include regular analysis of the flow characteristics during the test, which may provide opportunities for interim updates.

Following the Puka-1 test programme, an appraisal programme including both wells and seismic, will be defined and initiated.

Sector peer Ithaca has signed an engineering, procurement, installation and construction contract with Technip UK Limited covering the major subsea works on the Greater Stella area in the UK portion of the North Sea.

The installation of the subsea infrastructure is set to take place in summer 2013.

The award of the US$230 million contract, which is in line with the budgeted cost, means that all the major contracts now in place and the overall Stella and Harrier development work programme is progressing as planned.

“Awarding a single contract to Technip for the major subsea activities means that we benefit from a cost effective solution as well as accessing the full resources and execution expertise of a leading contractor in the field of subsea engineering and construction,” said Greater Stella Area Asset Manager Mike Travis.

Shares in Ithaca climbed 4.5 percent to 126.75 pence on today’s news.

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...

6 hours, 17 minutes ago