Upstream Share Discussion Threads

[sunshine today] 16/4/2024 14:56

ups please CMH 1.25 mid.

Tiny market cap recovery stock with a consistent buyer of the shares. ( see todays RNS )

40% off very recent placing price.

Company has been around over 100 years.

[master rsi] 16/4/2024 14:49

DOW

opening over 220 points up but now only 130 points higher

[master rsi] 16/4/2024 13:15

Citi sees more upside for gold; points to $3,000/oz / Peter Nurse
Investing.com - Gold has taken a breather Tuesday after climbing over the past couple of weeks to record highs as safe haven demand remained underpinned by concerns over worsening geopolitical tensions, and Citi sees the potential for $3,000 an ounce.

AT 10:05 ET (14:05 GMT), spot gold traded 0.5% lower at $2,370.27 an ounce, remaining close to Friday’s record high of $2,431.53 an ounce.

The yellow metal’s recent run-up was driven largely by worsening geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, after Iran attacked Israel over the weekend.

An all-out war between the two countries could potentially draw in other Middle Eastern powers, as well as the U.S. and its allies.

Fears of such a scenario fueled demand for gold, which is seen as a traditional safe haven for its relative price stability, especially in times of global strife.

The yellow metal was also supported by central bank buying over the past year, especially in emerging markets, amid growing fears of a global economic downturn in 2024.

“The recent gold rally has been aided by geopolitical heat and is coinciding with record equity index levels; so a steeper risk-off environment should further boost prices,” said analysts at Citi, in a note, dated April 15.

“More importantly, the bullion complex has de-coupled from US rates and the US dollar, suggesting robust physical consumption drivers (eg, India/China imports, bar/coin), alt-fiat demand, geopolitical hedging, and CB buying are supporting the market.”

The bank has lifted its baseline gold price forecasts to the bull-case scenario, and for 2024 this means a 6.8% bump to $2,350/oz; for 2025E, this means an admittedly massive 40% upward revision to $2,875/oz.

“We project $3,000/oz gold over the next 6-18m, which is c20% above the forwards and 25%+ north of spot. We expect trading to regularly test and breach $2,500/oz in 2H’24,” the bank added.

[master rsi] 16/4/2024 12:52

MARKET REPORT
LONDON MARKET MIDDAY: Shares sold-off on interest rate, conflict worry

(Alliance News) - European equities were sharply lower heading into Tuesday afternoon, on US interest rate concerns and mixed data from China, while tensions in the Middle East continue to simmer.

The FTSE 100 index slipped 111.04 points lower, 1.4%, at 7,854.49. The FTSE 250 fell 284.34 points, 1.4%, at 19,414.55, and the AIM All-Share was down 8.81 points, 1.2%, at 741.47.

The Cboe UK 100 was down 1.2% at 785.41, the Cboe UK 250 was 1.7% lower at 16,820.94, and the Cboe Small Companies was down 0.4% at 14,792.30.

In European equities on Tuesday, the CAC 40 in Paris lost 1.2% and the DAX 40 in Frankfurt plunged 1.4%.

Stocks in New York are called to open mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is called 0.3% higher, but the S&P 500 down 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite 0.2% lower.

"Sentiment is shaky at best right now with heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East coming alongside increased concerns that the Federal Reserve may opt to maintain interest rates at the current levels for some time yet," Scope Markets analyst Joshua Mahony commented.

Against the dollar, sterling fell to USD1.2446 early Tuesday afternoon in London, from USD1.2458 on Monday. The euro fell to USD1.0628 from USD1.0636. Against the yen, the dollar traded at JPY154.56 early Tuesday London time, up from JPY154.32 at the European equities close on Monday.

Scope's Mahony added: "While tomorrow's inflation report will undoubtedly provide financial markets with a greater understanding of the timing around the first Bank of England rate cut, today's saw a sharp jump in UK unemployment that highlighted the negative implications of keeping interest rates elevated for an extended period.

"Unfortunately, wages remain well above the levels that the BoE would have desired, although that gap between the 5.6% average earnings figure, and 3.4% consumer price inflation does at least ensure that the standard of living should be improving. All eyes now turn to tomorrow's UK inflation report, with big questions over whether the recent rise in energy prices will stifle the journey back down to 2% inflation."

According to the Office for National Statistics, the UK jobless rate picked up to 4.2% in the three months to February from 4.0% in the three months to January. January's three-month reading was upwardly revised slightly from 3.9%.

According to market consensus cited by FXStreet, a jobless rate of 4.0% was expected for the period to February.

The ONS noted average growth in regular earnings, so excluding bonuses, cooled slightly to 6.0% in the three months to February from 6.1% in the same period to January.

Including bonuses, average earnings rose 5.6%, in line with the growth seen in the three months to January, and above consensus of a 5.5% climb.

Data out of China showed the nation's economic growth in the first quarter beat market expectations.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China's gross domestic product expanded by 5.3% annually in the first quarter of 2024, beating FXStreet-cited market consensus of 5.0%.

However, industrial production data undershot expectations, growing 4.5% on-year in March, compared to consensus of 5.4%. Retail sales rose just 3.1% year-on-year last month, compared to consensus of 4.5%.

SPI Asset Management analyst Stephen Innes commented: "In summary, while China's headline GDP figure offered a glimmer of optimism, the underlying weakness in domestic demand and industrial activity suggests that challenges persist for the world's second-largest economy. Investors remain cautious amid uncertainties surrounding the pace and sustainability of China's economic recovery."

Brent fell back below the USD90 a barrel mark, and gold was below its record level of over USD2,431 an ounce. Both were higher than they were at the time of the London equities close on Tuesday, however, and Ebury analyst Matthew Ryan said they could rise further in the event of another escalation in the Middle East.

A sizeable escalation "would likely see a flight to safety in markets, whereby investors flock to the safe-havens at the expense of high-risk assets", Ryan said.

"The threat to global oil supply would also likely trigger a sharp move upwards in oil prices, which could comfortably jump above USD100 a barrel should investors fear a wider regional war," the Ebury analyst added.

A barrel of Brent oil fetched USD89.67 early Tuesday afternoon London time, up from USD89.20 at the time of the London equities close on Monday. Gold rose to USD2,369.98 an ounce, rising from USD2,348.01.

In London, there was a slew of M&A activity on Tuesday.

DS Smith agreed to a takeover from New York-listed International Paper.

The bid values DS Smith, the London-based paper and packaging company, at around GBP5.8 billion on a fully diluted basis, and its enterprise value at around GBP7.8 billion.

The deal values each DS Smith share at 415p.

The stock fell 1.9% to 401.90 pence. Mondi, also a DS Smith suitor, gave back 0.6%. Earlier this month, Mondi's 'put up or shut up' deadline was extended to the close of play on April 23.

TClarke jumped 29% to 161.13 pence as the engineering services company agreed to a GBP90.6 million takeover from natural gas supplier and metering provider Regent Gas.

Regent will pay 160p per TClarke share, and shareholders also stand to receive the final dividend of 4.525p.

"In addition to presenting an attractive premium for TClarke shareholders, this transaction presents tremendous opportunities for TClarke to chart its own course as part of a larger group with significant financial strength, flexibility and autonomy as TClarke continues to pursue its long-term strategies that will drive sustainable growth and innovation," TClarke Chief Executive Mark Lawrence said.

Hostmore added 5.5% as it agreed to combine with its own franchisor TGI Fridays Inc in a deal with an enterprise value of GBP177 million. The deal will see Hostmore shareholders owning a 36% stake in the combined unit, with current shareholders in TGI Fridays owning the remainder.

Casual dining chain TGI Fridays is currently owned by TriArtisan and MFP Partners. Because of the size of the stake in the combined company owned by TriArtisan and MFP, a waiver to rule 9 of the UK takeover code, which relates to mandatory offers, would need to be waived for the transaction to be completed. Completion is expected in the third-quarter.

The enlarged firm would be listed on London's Main Market.

In addition, Hostmore said its first-quarter like-for-like revenue fell 7% on-year, "due principally to reduced consumer demand across the sector".

Dr Martens plunged 30% after a profit warning. The Northamptonshire, England-based boot maker said a worse case scenario would see pretax profit in the year to March 2025 of around one-third of the level in the year just gone.

It expects US wholesale revenue will fall by double-digits in financial 2025. The decline in wholesale has a significant impact on profitability, it explained, with a base assumption being in the region of a GBP20 million pretax profit impact year-on-year, assuming no meaningful in-season re-orders.

Dr Martens also expects a GBP35 million headwind from inflation where it is seeing single-digit inflation in its cost base but leaving selling prices unchanged.

The company also expects to continue to require the additional inventory storage facilities, and therefore the majority of the GBP15 million of extra costs incurred in financial 2024 are expected to repeat in 2025.

Chief Executive Kenny Wilson said, "The FY25 outlook is challenging, and the whole organisation is focused on our action plan to reignite boots demand, particularly in the US, our largest market. The nature of US wholesale is that when customers gain confidence in the market we will see a significant improvement in our business performance, but we are not assuming that this occurs in FY25."

"We have built an operating cost base in anticipation of a larger business, however with revenues weaker we are currently seeing significant deleverage through to earnings."

Dr Martens said Wilson will step down and that this "will be his final year" at the helm.

Wilson will be succeeded by Ije Nwokorie, currently chief brand officer.

Dr Martens shares floated at 370 pence each but the stock has plunged 82% since then.

Still to come on Tuesday is a US industrial production reading at 1415 BST

[master rsi] 16/4/2024 12:09

How the UPS are performing today

[master rsi] 16/4/2024 11:47

Henry Boot sells half of Chatteris site plots to David Wilson Homes

(Alliance News) - Henry Boot PLC on Tuesday said it has agreed to sell nearly 500 of its 1,000 residential plots in Chatteris, North Cambridgeshire to Barratt Developments PLC.

The Sheffield, England-based property developer said its land promotion and planning business, Hallam Land Management Ltd, sold 494 residential plots to the David Wilson Homes Ltd division of FTSE 100 constituent Barratt Developments.

Hallam Land Management had originally secured a planning promotion agreement for the Chatteris site in 2005 on behalf of the British Steel Pension Fund Trustee Ltd. The company had successfully in 2020 secured planning consent for 1,000 residential plots, of which it will retain 506 for future sale.

Henry Boot didn't provide the sale price. However, it said the sale will be completed in July 2024 and will represent an ungeared internal rate of return of 15% per annum, Henry Boot said.

The completed Chatteris site will include a primary school, local community centre, green infrastructure, playing fields and seven acres of office, industrial, storage or distribution facilities. The Grade II-listed Chatteris Tithe Barn will be renovated and restored.

Henry Boot Chief Executive Officer Tim Roberts said: "This sale demonstrates the continued demand we see for our premium sites, and is particularly encouraging given the challenging market backdrop, with lower transaction volumes.

[master rsi] 16/4/2024 11:22

US House to vote on Israel and Ukraine aid bills

The Speaker of the US House of Representatives said he would hold a vote on aid for Ukraine and Israel, in a move that could resolve a months-long logjam in Congress.

Mike Johnson, who is facing a rebellion from hardline Republicans over his willingness to hold a vote on support for Ukraine, said he would bring a package before the House this week.

However, he said the package would differ from the $95bn (£76bn) supplemental proposed by Joe Biden, which has already been agreed by the Senate.

As he left a closed-door meeting of Republicans on Capitol Hill on Monday night, Mr Johnson said he would hold four separate votes in the House, allowing congressmen to vote to support some countries and not others.

One vote will focus on US aid for Ukraine, which has stalled in recent months after Congress refused to renew Mr Biden’s mandate to send American munitions to Kyiv.

A second will deal with support for Israel, which had been attached to the Ukraine funding in the White House’s own supplemental package.

[master rsi] 16/4/2024 10:49

Team17 shares fall; swings to loss as hit by one-off costs

(Alliance News) - Team17 Group PLC shares fell on Tuesday, after it swung to an annual loss.

Team17 is a developer of video games, educational entertainment apps for children, and working simulation games.

Shares in the company were down 6.3% to 243.60 pence each in London on Tuesday morning. Over the last 12 months, its stock is down 36%

Revenue in 2023 rose 12% annually to GBP159.1 million from GBP142.3 million.

However, Team17 swung to a pretax loss of GBP1.1 million from a profit of GBP28.7 million.

The company noted one-off charges of GBP11.1 million relating to games title impairments and a GBP20.9 million goodwill impairment charge relating to the acquisition of the Label Inc.

Team17 explained that impairments were related to the restructuring of Games Label, including its strategic refocus on Indie titles and the impairment of the development costs of certain titles.

[master rsi] 16/4/2024 09:21

MARKET REPORT
LONDON MARKET OPEN: Global tensions, US rate worries weigh on shares

(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened lower on Tuesday, with nearly all of the FTSE 100 in the red, as investors fret over US interest rate worries and simmering global tensions.

There was also a UK unemployment reading, as well as economic data from China, for investors to mull over.

The FTSE 100 index opened 101.52 points lower, 1.3%, at 7,864.01. The FTSE 250 was down 291.66 points, 1.5%, at 19,407.23, and the AIM All-Share was down 7.31 points, 1.0%, at 742.97.

The Cboe UK 100 was down 1.2% at 785.65, the Cboe UK 250 was 1.7% lower at 16,817.23, and the Cboe Small Companies was down 0.2% at 14,819.25.

In European equities on Tuesday, the CAC 40 in Paris plunged 1.4% and the DAX 40 in Frankfurt lost 1.3%.

"Upside surprises to US data and geopolitical tensions continue to weigh on equities and bonds," analysts at Lloyds Bank commented.

"As a result, with signs of stickiness in inflation, a mid-year Fed rate cut is looking increasingly unlikely, with markets fully discounting only 1 US rate reduction this year."

Against the dollar, sterling fell to USD1.2435 early Tuesday in London, from USD1.2458 on Monday. The euro faded to USD1.0613 from USD1.0636.

The UK unemployment rate rose in the three months to February, numbers on Tuesday showed, while year-on-year growth in average earnings topped expectations.

According to the Office for National Statistics, the UK jobless rate picked up to 4.2% in the three months to February from 4.0% in the three months to January. January's three-month reading was upwardly revised slightly from 3.9%.

According to market consensus cited by FXStreet, a jobless rate of 4.0% was expected for the period to February.

The ONS noted average growth in regular earnings, so excluding bonuses, cooled slightly to 6.0% in the three months to February from 6.1% in the same period to January.

Including bonuses, average earnings rose 5.6%, in line with the growth seen in the three months to January, and above consensus of a 5.5% climb.

Dutch bank ING labelled the data a "bit of a mixed bag".

Analysts at ING commented: "Wage growth is temporarily stuck in the 6% area and that's another reason to think the Bank of England will wait until August to cut rates for the first time, despite signs of a cooling jobs market."

In Asia on Tuesday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo fell 1.9%. In China, the Shanghai Composite shed 1.7% lower, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong was 2.0% lower in late trade. The S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.8% in Sydney.

China's economic growth in the first quarter beat market expectations, official data showed on Tuesday.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China's gross domestic product expanded by 5.3% annually in the first quarter of 2024, beating FXStreet-cited market consensus of 5.0%.

In the fourth quarter of 2023, China's economy grew 5.2%. Earlier this year, Chinese officials set an annual target of "around 5%" GDP growth.

Against the yen, the dollar traded at JPY154.42 early Tuesday London time, up from JPY154.32 at the European equities close on Monday. The yen traded as low as JPY154.60 to the dollar earlier on Tuesday.

Deutsche Bank analysts said the yen "remains under pressure" and traded at its weakest level since 1990, "despite repeated warnings from the government over potential currency market intervention".

A barrel of Brent oil fetched USD90.23 early Tuesday, up from USD89.20 at the time of the London equities close on Monday. Gold rose to USD2,372.19 an ounce, rising from USD2,348.01.

In London, Mondi was the only blue-chip stock to trade higher shortly after the open, rising 0.7%. Peer DS Smith fell 1.9% to 402.00 pence, after agreeing to a takeover from New York-listed International Paper.

The bid values DS Smith, the London-based paper and packaging company, at around GBP5.8 billion on a fully diluted basis, and its enterprise value at around GBP7.8 billion.

The deal values each DS Smith share at 415p.

Elsewhere on the M&A front, TClarke jumped 29% as the engineering services company agreed to a GBP90.6 million takeover from gas supplier Regent Gas.

Hostmore added 5.3% as it agreed to buy its own franchisor TGI Fridays Inc in a deal with an enterprise value of GBP177 million.

Dr Martens plunged 30%, the worst mid-cap performer. The boot maker said Kenny Wilson will step down as chief executive. I also added it expects to report earnings in line with expectations for the year just gone, but cautioned on the year to come.

Wilson will be replaced by the firm's Chief Brand Officer Ije Nwokorie before the end of the new financial year, which runs until late-March.

Dr Martens said that for the year just ended March 31, it expects results "in line with guidance and consensus expectations".

It said an expected pick-up in the direct-to-consumer division materialised in the fourth-quarter, with high single digit growth compared to a 3% annual constant currency sales decline in the third-quarter.

For the new year, it is taking a "prudent view". It expects US wholesale revenue to fall by double-digits, meaning it suffers a "significant" GBP20 million pretax profit reduction on-year.

In addition, it is seeing "single-digit inflation in our cost base". It also plans to "invest in retaining and incentivising talent".

Dr Martens added: "Together these equate to a year-on-year [pretax profit] headwind in the region of GBP35 million. As previously communicated, we do not anticipate increasing prices further this year, and therefore in FY25 we are unable to offset cost inflation as we have in prior years."

It has a "worst case scenario" of financial 2025 pretax profit of around one-third of the level of the year just gone.

Defence technology firm Qinetiq fell 4.0%. It announced finance chief Carol Borg stepped down from the role immediately, but will stick around "to support the interim arrangements until the end of July".

Martin Cooper has been named CFO, joining the board "no later than October". Cooper joins from defence firm BAE Systems, where he held a "number of positions including UK & Rest of World financial controller, divisional finance director and most recently investor relations director".

Heather Cashin, Qinetiq's financial controller, has been named interim CFO. In addition, former CFO David Smith has agreed "to provide advice and support services" to Cashin. Smith stepped down as Qinetiq CFO back in November 2021.

The firm also named Iain Stevenson as chief operating officer, a new role for the company, and Will Blamley as chief executive of the UK Defence division.

Alongside the personnel changes, Qinetiq said it expects results for the year ended March 31 to be in line with current market expectations. Qinetiq put consensus at GBP1.88 billion for revenue and GBP211 million for operating profit.

Revenue in financial 2023 totalled GBP1.58 billion, while operating profit amounted to GBP172.8 million.

[master rsi] 16/4/2024 08:57

UK unemployment rate rises to 4.2%; Wages up 6%

(Sharecast News) - The UK's unemployment rate rose by 4.2%, official data revealed on Tuesday, with the number of people classed as "economically inactive" on the rise while employers started to cut back on hirings.

Unemployment total rose by 85,000 in the three months to February to 1.44 million, taking the jobless rate to its highest level since the summer of 2023. The number of people in employment fell by 156,000 in the quarter to 32.98 million.

A further 150,000 people were classed as economically inactive in the quarter, taking the number neither in work nor looking for a job to 9.404 million, while the number of payrolled employees shrank in March by 67,000, to 30.3 million.

In a separate announcement regular wages excluding bonuses grew by 6.0% in the same period year on year, down from a 6.1% rise in the November-to-January period the Office for National Statistics said.

Employer lobby group the Institute of Directors said the rise in economic inactivity over both the quarter and the year "is a worrying development for businesses, given its potential to exacerbate persistent skills and labour shortages in the UK".

"The ongoing expansion of government-funded childcare is a welcome step to increasing labour market participation, but more action from government is urgently needed to increase domestic labour supply," it added.

[master rsi] 16/4/2024 08:31

FTSE

Opening lower with 99 points now