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Friday's most followed - EasyJet, Sports Direct, Debenhams, BP and Range Resources

Published: 19:28 03 Oct 2014 AEST

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Budget carrier EasyJet (LON:EZJ) was very much the talk of the town, not least as it  was one of the few major corporate releases as the week ended.

Shares flew up 5.32% making it the biggest gainer on FTSE 100 as investors were still digesting news of the ECB's planned asset-buyinbg and looking towards the non-farm payroll data from across the pond this afternoon, where expectations are form a positive Sepetember reading.

EasyJet's rise came after it raised its profits forecast expectations for this year after an unexpected windfall from a strike by Air France’s pilots in September.

Customers switching from the French airline had given a £5mln boost to revenues.

Added to a strong end to the financial year, profits will be in the range of £575mln to £580mln the airline said, compared to previous guidance of £545mln to £570mln.

Also gaining traction online was news that Mike Ashley retailer Sports Direct (LON:SPD) has bought a 4.6% stake in High Street clothing store Debenhams (LON:DEB) in another confusing transaction for the analysts to get to grips with.

It happened last night and cost around £33mln, taking its interest to around 11.2%.

It follows £43mln bet last week that shares in troubled supermarket Tesco (LON:TSCO) will recover after the recent slump.

In perhaps  a pointer to the current state of the much talked about IPO market, always a popular subject, Miller Homes revealed that plans announced yesterday for a London float have been pulled due to recent volatility in the financial markets.

In a brief statement this morning, the company said shareholders at parent firm Miller Group had "elected not to proceed at this time with a public offering of Miller Homes". 

Last week, the firm unveiled plans to raise £140mln via the London listing, which would have been likely to value the business at around £450mln.

In big oil, BP (LON:BP.) has put in a request that a a court ruling finding it "grossly negligent" for the Gulf of Mexico spill be overturned.

BP made the request to a US court to reconsider the judgment last month, which increases its potential liabilities by about US$18bn.

The group says the judge's ruling was based on evidence he had agreed to exclude from the ongoing trial. BP shares added just over 1% in early deals.

In banking news, Aldermore will become the third bank to float on the London market this year when it completes its £800mln listing later this month.

This morning the group said its shares would be priced at between 217p and 265p and it that it planned to raise up to £300mln via an initial offering of shares. It is expected to make its debut on October 17.

On Thursday Virgin Money, the rump of the nationalised Northern Rock, unveiled plans for a £2bn IPO towards the end of this month, while in April TSB split from Lloyds to become an independent bank.

In small cap world, one of the most actively discussed stocks on the boards was Range Resources (LON:RRL), which was also 22% up on the day, as shares made up lost ground.

It comes after earlier this week the oil group said it was confident of achieving its revised production target and announced a new US$15mln loan.

The injection will allow Range to invest in its rig fleet and help accelerate drilling in Trinidad, it said, and followed an extensive review of potential financing options and Range chief executive Rory Scott Russell told investors that the Lind arrangements were the most attractive option available.

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