Pound's Falls May Reflect Fears of Ebbing BOE Optimism

The pound's recent falls and its underperformance compared with other higher-beta currencies suggest markets "have turned less confident" that the Bank of England "will be able to stick to its broadly optimistic tone" at Thursday's policy announcement, ING analysts say. Increasing risk aversion on financial markets has caused sterling to weaken in recent days, they say. GBP/USD falls 0.2% to a one-month low of 1.3630, according to FactSet, though a cautious U.S. Federal Reserve announcement later Wednesday could prompt a recovery to around 1.3700 as the dollar weakens, ING says. The pound also falls against the euro, lifting EUR/GBP to a two-week high of 0.8610, FactSet charts show.

 
Companies News: 

Pembridge Resources Shares Rise as Minto Mine Raises C$30.5 Mln Ahead of Reverse Takeover

Shares in Pembridge Resources PLC jumped Wednesday morning after it said that Yukon, Canada-based Minto Explorations Ltd. has secured a 30.5 million Canadian dollars ($23.8 million) capital raise ahead of a reverse takeover, which will see Minto listed on the TSX Venture Exchange.

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Aura Energy Shares to Restart Trading on ASX on September 23

Aura Energy Ltd. said its shares will restart trading on the ASX on Thursday.

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Alfa Financial 1H Pretax Profit Rose; Shares Rise

Shares in Alfa Financial Software Holdings PLC on Wednesday rose after the company reported a rise in pretax profit for the first half and said that it expects to surpass full-year market expectations.

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Braemar Shipping Services 1H Set to Beat Views; Plans Interim Dividend

Braemar Shipping Services PLC said Wednesday that it has performed well since the start of fiscal 2022 with first-half results set to beat views, and that it is planning an interim dividend.

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Pennant International Posts Narrowed 1H Pretax Loss; Long-Term Outlook Positive

Pennant International Group PLC on Wednesday reported a nearly halved pretax loss for the first half of 2020 on lower costs and said that remains on track to meet expectations for the full year.

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Warpaint London Swung to 1H Pretax Profit as Sales Increased

Warpaint London PLC on Wednesday reported a swing to a pretax profit for the first half of 2021 as sales recovered to pre-pandemic levels, and said it views the rest of the year with confidence.

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IGas Says Covid-19 Reduced 1H Production by 180 BOE/D; Shares Fall

Shares in IGas Energy PLC dropped Wednesday after the company forecast full-year net production of around 2,000 oil-equivalent barrels a day, warning that the pandemic hit its output during the first half.

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Mirriad Advertising Shares Fall on Widened 1H Pretax Loss, Downgraded Guidance

Shares in Mirriad Advertising PLC fell after the company said that its pretax loss widened in the first half after booking higher costs, and that it expects revenue for the year to be below previous guidance.

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Oxford BioMedica Raises GBP50 Mln to Upgrade Manufacturing Facilities

A subsidiary of Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd. has agreed to invest over 50 million pounds ($68.3 million) in Oxford BioMedica PLC in return for a 3.9% stake, the gene and cell-therapy group said Wednesday.

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Plant Health Care 1H Pretax Loss Narrowed

Plant Health Care PLC said Wednesday that its pretax loss narrowed in the first half of the year, and said business for the full year is in line with management expectations.

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ECSC Group 1H Pretax Loss Narrowed

ECSC Group PLC said Wednesday that its first-half pretax loss narrowed as revenue increased, and that the strong growth of its divisions drove an improved financial performance across the business.

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Eagle Eye Solutions Swung to Pretax Profit in Fiscal Year 2021

Eagle Eye Solutions Group PLC on Wednesday reported a swing to pretax profit for fiscal 2021, and said that it expects the business to grow in the year ahead.

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Deepmatter 1H Loss Widened Amid Higher Research and Development Spending

Deepmatter Group PLC on Wednesday reported a widened pretax loss for the first half of the year and said it expects revenue to continue to grow for the remainder of the year.

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Ferro-Alloy Starts Production of Ferromolybdenum, Vanadium Pentoxide

Ferro-Alloy Resources Ltd. said Wednesday that it has started production of ferromolybdenum and vanadium pentoxide to avoid selling the materials at a discount.

 
Market Talk: 

Babcock Could Benefit From AUKUS Alliance

0950 GMT - For Babcock, the announcement of the new security partnership between the U.S., Australia, and the U.K. could create further opportunities, even though it also means that its 12-submarine deal with France will be abandoned, Liberum says. The first AUKUS initiative is the collaboration on future nuclear-powered submarines for the Royal Australian Navy, which presents an opportunity, as these will likely use one of Babcock's weapons handling systems, the U.K. brokerage says. Although still too early to estimate what it could mean financially, it is still good news, as at least eight nuclear-powered submarines are expected to be ordered, the brokerage says. Liberum has a buy rating on the stock and a 425-pence target price.

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Entain Faces Uncertainty After Draftkings Offer

0845 GMT - Shares in Entain rise 6% to 2412 pence after the owner of bookmakers Bwin, Coral and Ladbrokes said it was considering an improved 2800p takeover bid from U.S. rival DraftKings, having rejected an earlier 2500p offer from the latter. The DraftKings bid for Entain may prompt a bid from Entain's U.S. partner MGM Resorts International, Peel Hunt says. "However, as MGM said in its statement, in relation to the issues around the BetMGM JV, there could simply be a commercial agreement between MGM and DraftKings," Peel analysts say. "Until clarity emerges regarding Entain, we're maintaining our 2300p target price and downgrading from buy to hold."

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Flutter Entertainment Update Refocuses Attention on Underlying Strength

0816 GMT - Flutter Entertainment's trading update on Australia is positive and should act as a catalyst to focus investors on the underlying performance of the business, Jefferies says. The Dublin-based gambling group's performance in Australia, which may be overshadowed by prospective sector deal speculation in the U.S., should make investors look away from the issues the company faces, such as the FanDuel CEO replacement and FanDuel listing, the U.S. bank adds. Jefferies has a buy recommendation on the stock and a target price of 19,300 pence a share. Shares at 0804 GMT were up 755.00 pence, or 4.9%, at 16,020 pence.

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Iliad's Acquisition of UPC Poland Seen as Very Good Strategically

0737 GMT - French telecommunications company Iliad's takeover of Liberty Global's UPC Poland, an internet service provider, looks like a very good deal from a strategic standpoint, says Bryan Garnier analyst Thomas Coudry. While the transaction might seem expensive and will weigh on Iliad's leverage at first, synergies can be achieved fairly easily, in particular on the revenue and cross-sell side, the analyst says. "Also, we view acquiring UPC as more efficient than developing the fixed activity from scratch," Coudry says. Iliad is being bought and taken private by businessman Xavier Niel, a process that the analyst expects to be successful. Shares in Iliad trade 0.1% higher at EUR182.15.

Contact: London NewsPlus, Dow Jones Newswires; Write to Sarka Halas at sarka.halas@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 22, 2021 06:15 ET (10:15 GMT)