Stagecoach Shares Motor Ahead on Takeover Talk News
Shares in Stagecoach Group jump 21.8% after the Scotland-based
bus company said it was in talks about an all-share takeover by
rival National Express Group. Competition authorities might have
something to say about the two public-transport operators coming
together, but otherwise the deal looks fairly sensible, AJ Bell
says. "A key factor to consider is whether someone else might fancy
owning Stagecoach, such as an overseas transport operator. It's not
an easy feat to build up a large position in the U.K.
public-transport market and Stagecoach now has 8,400 buses and
coaches," Bell's investment director Russ Mould says. National
Express shares gain 8.2%.
Companies News:
Oxford Instruments Had Strong Five Months But Strong Pound
Hurts
Oxford Instruments PLC said Tuesday that order and revenue
growth has been strong during the first five months of fiscal 2022,
but the strong British pound has hurt both revenue and operating
profit.
---
SIG 1H Pretax Loss Narrowed; Effect of Material Shortages to Be
More Significant in 2H
SIG PLC said on Tuesday that its pretax loss for the first half
narrowed as revenue rose, and that it expects the effect of
material shortages to be more significant than in the first half,
and to continue for an extended period.
---
Learning Technologies Posts Higher 1H Pretax Profit; Approves
Interim Dividend
Learning Technologies Group PLC said Tuesday that pretax profit
rose in the first half of the year, and it approved an interim
dividend.
---
Manolete Partners Says Performance to Date in Line With
Management's Expectations
Manolete Partners PLC said Tuesday that its performance to date
has been in line with management's expectations despite the effect
of the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020, known as the
"temporary measures," which led to a fall in corporate
insolvencies.
---
Kingfisher 1H Adjusted Pretax Profit Rose, Came in Ahead of
Market Views -- Update
Kingfisher PLC on Tuesday reported an expectations-beating jump
in adjusted pretax profit for the first half of fiscal 2022,
boosted by strong demand for home improvement, and said its outlook
for the full year has improved.
---
Real Good Food Mulls Delisting to Save Costs; Shares Fall
Shares in Real Good Food PLC fell on Tuesday after the company
said that it is considering delisting from London's AIM to cut down
on costs.
---
Nexus Infrastructure Says eSmart Networks to Be Profitable at
Operating Level in 2021
Nexus Infrastructure PLC said Tuesday that its eSmart Networks
vehicle-charging business is expected to be profitable at the
operating level in 2021.
---
Cambridge Cognition Swung to 1H Pretax Profit; Board Confident
in 2021's Outlook
Cambridge Cognition Holdings PLC said Tuesday that it swung to a
pretax profit for the first half as revenue increased, and that the
board was confident in the outlook for the year as its performance
was continuously in line with market expectations.
---
Workspace Group Sells London Site for GBP92 Mln
Workspace Group PLC said Tuesday that it has exchanged contracts
to sell a site in London for 92 million pounds ($125.7 million) and
will use the money toward new projects and acquisitions.
---
Kooth 1H Pretax Loss Narrowed, Full-Year Revenue Seen in Line
With Market Views
Kooth PLC on Tuesday reported a narrowed pretax loss for the
first half of the year on the back of a jump in revenue, and said
the board expects revenue for the full year to be in line with
expectations.
---
Caspian Sunrise Considers Dividends Amid Positive Oil Outlook --
Commodity Comment
Caspian Sunrise PLC said Tuesday that it will ask shareholders
to approve the capital reduction required to pay first dividends,
as its first-half earnings were boosted by the recovery in oil
prices. Here's what the Kazakhstan-focused energy company had to
say:
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Mediclinic International Refinances Southern Africa Division's
Debt Through New Facility
Mediclinic International PLC said Tuesday that it has secured a
five-year 8.45 billion rand ($571.4 million) facility to replace
the existing debt of its Southern Africa division, which is in line
with its financial strategy and approach to responsible
leverage.
---
ASA International Swung to Pretax Profit in 1H
ASA International Group PLC said Tuesday that it swung to a
pretax profit in the first half of the year, and that its
collection efficiency increased or remained broadly stable as of
Aug. 31 compared to the previous month in all countries.
---
AfriTin Secures $6 Mln Loan to Expand Processing Plant in
Namibia
AfriTin Mining Ltd. said Tuesday that it has agreed to terms for
a 90 million Namibian dollar (US$6.1 million) term loan with
Standard Bank Namibia Ltd. to fund the expansion of its Uis
tin-processing plant.
---
Litigation Capital Management FY 2021 Profit Rose
Litigation Capital Management Ltd. said Tuesday that its profits
rose in fiscal 2021, but it won't pay a dividend to preserve
cash.
---
Fintel 1H Pretax Profit Rose, Confirms Revenue Increase
Fintel PLC said Tuesday that pretax profit increased in the
first half and confirmed an uptick in revenue for the period.
---
Mattioli Woods 1H Pretax Profit Fell
Mattioli Woods PLC reported on Tuesday a significant decline in
pretax profit for the fiscal 2021 after booking high
acquisition-related costs.
---
Alliance Pharma 1H Pretax Profit Rose
Alliance Pharma PLC on Tuesday reported a jump in pretax profit
and higher revenue for the first half, and said its expectations
for the remainder of the year remain in line with market views.
Market Talk:
UK Likely to Scale Back Stimulus Despite Improving Public
Finances
0748 GMT - The U.K. government is likely to scale back fiscal
stimulus in autumn, despite official data showing public finances
have improved, says Capital Economics. "August's public finance
figures provided more evidence that the government's financial
position isn't as bad as the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR)
predicted back in March," says senior U.K. economist Ruth Gregory.
The GBP20.5bn of public sector net borrowing (excluding banking
groups) in August was once again lower than the OBR's forecast of
GBP21.6bn, though it was higher than the a forecast in a WSJ pool
of GBP14.0 billion. U.K.'s Treasury chief expected to signal the
end of pandemic-era stimulus at his Budget on Oct. 27, when he
presents the government's fiscal plans.
---
Permian Assets Sale Could Lead Shell to Boost 2022 Buybacks
0703 GMT - Shell has committed $7 billion of the proceeds from
the sale of its Permian basin assets to additional shareholder
distributions and, given the current share price, RBC Capital
Markets expects the bias to be for share buybacks. As a result, the
bank's 2022 buyback estimate of $6 billion could easily double, it
says. The company hasn't commented on whether the distributions
would be via special dividend or additional buyback. Still, RBC
expects the announcement to be taken positively by the market, and
to support the shares in the near term. RBC has an outperform
rating on the Anglo-Dutch energy giant.
---
Compass Group Could Come out Swinging After Pandemic
0703 GMT - Contract caterer Compass Group could have suffered as
clients shut their offices and took their canteens with them, but
it now looks set to come out of the pandemic swinging, Daniel Lane
at Freetrade says. Compass's reduced spending has allowed it to
avoid growing a large pile of debt, but as companies will operate a
hybrid workforce for a while still--meaning they only need half the
service they used to pay for--the question as to how it will get
back to its target 7% margins remains, Lane says. "It'll need a
steady hand to maintain that balance of efficiency and new business
to bring in firms starting to realize they need to be just as lean
as their contractors," Lane says.
---
Shell's Permian Sale to Please Investors
0656 GMT - The market will take Shell's sale of its Permian
basin assets positively, given the relatively attractive price tag
and the higher-than-expected allocation of proceeds to incremental
shareholder returns, which should support shares in the near-term,
RBC Capital Markets says. The company is divesting 5% of its 2021
production estimate, or 4% of its asset base, for 6% of its market
capitalization, RBC estimates. "It has been our long held view that
Shell had a sub-scale position in the Permian relative to its U.S.
peers, and given its poor track record in the asset class, it would
make sense to divest to another operator," the Canadian bank
says.
Contact: London NewsPlus, Dow Jones Newswires; Write to Sarka
Halas at sarka.halas@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 21, 2021 05:24 ET (09:24 GMT)
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