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Most followed: AstraZeneca, MITIE Group, Ryanair, Sunrise Resources, Weatherly International, Game Digital

Published: 20:44 19 May 2014 AEST

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AstraZeneca’s (LON:AZN) rebuff of Pfizer is not quite the only story in town but it is certainly the hottest news item.

All of the broadsheets have covered Astra’s response to Pfizer’s final proposal, which values the firm at £69bn, while the BBC has carried an interview with Leif Johansson, Astra’s chairman, outlining the reason why the board felt the company was worth a few billion more.

Ryanair (LON:RYA) has given the low-cost airline sector – well, OK, itself and easyJet – a lift with a bullish outlook statement. Shares have risen despite the Irish company’s first profits fall in five years and despite the Guardian seeming to be more exercised about another hidden charge by the controversial airline.

Outsourcing companies have not had the best of times, recently – we’re looking at you, Serco and G4S – but mid-cap MITIE (LON:MTO) said it made “excellent progress” in the year ended 31 March 2014.

The company took a £13.6mln wallop to profits from its impending exit from its mechanical and electrical engineering construction business and a £25.4mln hit relating to reduced exposure to the design and build element of its former asset management business.

Nevertheless, headline profit before tax rose 4.3% to £113.3mln. Shares edge up 0.7% to 312.9p.

There has also been more news interest than share price action from Sunrise Resources’ (LON:SRES) half-year report. Lots of surfers have clicked on the announcement to learn that Sunrise reckons investor sentiment in diamond firms is turning a corner, it said, posting its latest half year numbers.

Sunrise has kicked off this financial year with a higher level of exploration activity and renewed optimism, it said. Amazingly, no one has gone with the “Sunrise heralds a new dawn” headline.

Another resource company garnering the mouse clicks for its update is Weatherly International (LON:WTI), the copper miner. It’s little wonder that the story is attracting interest; the shares are up more than 10% after the company said an updated financial model has put a price tag of US$132.7mln on its Tschudi copper project in Namibia.

The new issues pot continues to bubble with Game Digital, the successor to the computer gaming retailer GAME that went belly-up in 2012, preparing to float.

Under new ownership and management since 1 April 2012, GAME has successfully completed a significant restructuring. It now operates what it calls “an omni-channel model” with its shop portfolio, comprising 560 stores across the UK and Spain as at 16 May 2014 (down from 874 stores as at 28 January 2012).

The company is making money; it had underlying earnings (EBITDA) of £50.8mln in the six months to 25 January, 2014, though it is worth noting that includes the Christmas trading period.

On the trading screens, the three most widely traded stocks are AstraZeneca, Barclays and Rio Tinto while in terms of the value of shares traded the top three are Astra, HSBC and Barclays.

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