Upstream Share Discussion Threads

[master rsi] 17/3/2024 19:50

SUNDAY PAPERS:

Top stories

The Sunday Telegraph: Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Gucci-owner Kering are said to be circling Selfridges as the insolvency of the department store’s co-owner triggers a battle for the business.

The Sunday Times: Ageas boss behind an audacious £3bn bid for Direct Line is flying to China this weekend to meet his largest shareholder amid speculation that he is racing to shore up support to raise his offer for the FTSE 250 business.

[master rsi] 15/3/2024 23:28

Best performing shares ( UPS ) during March


Share
Mid
Highest
% Change
Rank


EEE
8,75
10.60
21.14
1


ARB
17.00
19.25
13.24
2


BOOM
250.00
272.50
10.60
3


HE1
2.075
2.200
6.02
4


OPTI
28.00
29.00
3.57
5


SALT
90.00
93.00
3.33
6


RGL
21.65
21.65
0.00
7

[master rsi] 15/3/2024 22:24

DOW

Finished 190 points lower

[master rsi] 15/3/2024 22:04

How the UPS are performing during last month

[master rsi] 15/3/2024 16:31

How the UPS are performing today

[master rsi] 15/3/2024 16:08

FTSE 250 movers: Bodycote gains on results; no Friday Currys for JD.com
Bodycote gained as the heat treatment and thermal processing services specialist delivered a rise in annual profits, driven by a strong performance at its aerospace and defence division.

The company on Thursday posted an operating profit of £127m, up 14%, with revenues increasing 8% to £802m and said it was on track to deliver medium-term margin growth of more than 20%.

On a pre-tax basis, profits were up to £111.7m from £95.3m.

"Despite macroeconomic uncertainty we expect to deliver further progress in 2024. We anticipate a reduction in the level of energy surcharges, reflecting further normalisation of energy prices," the company said on Friday.

Currys slumped on Friday as it said Chinese ecommerce giant JD.com does not plan to make an offer for the London-listed electricals retailer.

In a brief statement, the company said: "Further to the announcement on 19 February 2024 that JD.com was in the very preliminary stages of evaluating a possible transaction that may include a cash offer for the entire issued share capital of Currys, JD.com today confirms that, following careful consideration, it does not intend to make an offer for Currys."

At 1405 GMT, Currys shares were down 10.4% at 52.75p.

The news comes just days after US private equity firm Elliott Advisors said it was abandoning its pursuit of Currys after "multiple attempts" to discuss an offer were rebuffed.

"Following multiple attempts to engage with Currys' board, all of which were rejected, it is not in an informed position to make an improved offer for Currys on the basis of the public information available to it," Elliott said on Monday.

"Elliott therefore confirms it does not intend to make an offer for Currys."

Bank of Georgia Group posted a jump in full-year income on Friday, boosted by strong lending and favourable macroeconomic conditions.

Operating income rose 26.4% in the year to 31 December, to 2.53bn Georgian Lari (£750m). Within that, net foreign currency gain fell 21.5%, but net fee and commission income rose 36.8% and net interest income jumped 36.6%.

Pre-tax profits before one-off items were up 31.4%, at GEL1.63bn. Once adjusted for exceptional items, it eased 3.2% to GEL1.40bn.

Archil Gachechiladze, chief executive, said: "2023 was another successful year, during which we continued to deliver on our strategic priorities."

He added that the company's ongoing focus on customer needs and product quality, coupled with the favourable macroeconomic conditions, had boosted profits.

Looking to the current year, Gachechiladze said: "The group remains well-positioned to capture the benefits of strong economic activity in the region.

"Georgia's European Union candidacy status, a significant milestone achieved in December, which has defined the country's geopolitical vector, is expect to support ongoing investments in the Georgian economy.

"We expect both Georgian and Armenia real GDPs to growth by more than 5% in 2024 and we remain focused on our strategic priorities."

In February, the FTSE 250 lender announced plans to enter the Armenian market through the acquisition of Ameriabank, the country's largest lender and second largest deposit taker, in a $306.6m deal.

Gachechiladze said he expected the deal, which was approved by shareholders earlier in the week, to be "immediately" earnings enhancing.

"I believe this acquisition is a great opportunity for the group to increase scale and unlock further growth," he added.

FTSE 250 - Risers

FirstGroup (FGP) 179.50p 8.46%

PPHE Hotel Group Ltd (PPH) 1,335.00p 5.12%

Bodycote (BOY) 657.50p 4.12%

Hochschild Mining (HOC) 112.50p 3.59%

Volution Group (FAN) 440.20p 3.58%

Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 276.50p 3.17%

OSB Group (OSB) 398.80p 3.00%

Elementis (ELM) 136.80p 2.86%

Rotork (ROR) 333.20p 2.71%

Sirius Real Estate Ltd. (SRE) 93.10p 2.70%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Currys (CURY) 55.30p -6.11%

Renishaw (RSW) 3,978.00p -5.06%

Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 158.90p -4.33%

Bank of Georgia Group (BGEO) 4,975.00p -3.96%

Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 522.00p -3.15%

Kainos Group (KNOS) 1,038.00p -3.08%

Darktrace (DARK) 476.30p -2.88%

Helios Towers (HTWS) 82.90p -2.76%

Ninety One (N91) 169.00p -2.37%

Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 702.20p -2.01%

[master rsi] 15/3/2024 15:36

Whitehall lacks the skills to implement AI, says National Audit Office
(Alliance News) - Artificial intelligence could save the taxpayer billions and transform public services, but the UK government lacks a coherent plan to adopt it in the public sector, the National Audit Office has said.

In a report on the government's use of AI, the NAO found that while 70% of Whitehall departments were exploring opportunities to use the new technology, a lack of skills remained a significant barrier.

The watchdog said pay levels were too low to attract the workers required for the scale of transformation the UK needs, pointing to the fact there were 4,000 digital, data and technology vacancies in government by October 2022.

Contractors and agency workers can make up for this shortfall, but come at a greater cost and reduce the government's ability to develop its own capabilities.

It also found the lack of a single body with clear responsibility for implementing AI in the public sector presented a risk to value for money.

Both the Cabinet Office and the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology share responsibility for adopting AI, while a cross-government AI Strategy Delivery Group was disbanded in March 2022 and only replaced in October 2023 by a new body.

While the report found that there were productivity gains to be made through greater use of AI, it added that the government was yet to examine how much it would cost to make those gains or whether they were even feasible.

Gareth Davies, the head of the NAO, said: "AI offers government opportunities to transform public services and deliver better outcomes for the taxpayer.

"To deliver these improved outcomes government needs to make sure its overall programme for AI adoption tackles longstanding issues, including data quality and ageing IT, as well as builds in effective governance of the risks.

"Without prompt action to address barriers to making effective use of AI within public services, government will not secure the benefits it has identified."

Meg Hillier, chair of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, said: "Government has encouraged the use of AI for several years and there is existing AI activity and exploration across government, so the Cabinet Office needs to bring together this insight and learning and share it across departments.

"To realise the benefits of AI in the public sector it must address AI risks and be clear who is responsible for the strategy for AI adoption and how it will be delivered and funded."

A Government spokesperson said: "As the deputy prime minister set out in his speech on AI for public good, artificial intelligence has the potential to revolutionise public services and boost productivity.

"We have invested over GBP3.5 billion in the technology in the last 10 years, and are currently more than doubling the 'Incubator for AI' team, recruiting the best of British talent to drive AI integration across the public sector."

[master rsi] 15/3/2024 15:14

Genedrive down as plans equity raise despite GBP800,000 tax credit

(Alliance News) - Genedrive PLC shares fell on Friday, after it said it has received a GBP800,000 research and development tax credit.

Shares in the company were down 15% to 3.50 pence each in London on Friday afternoon.

Genedrive said that following the R&D tax credit, its cash balance stands at GBP1.2 million, and it continues to assess its "requirements and a range of funding options that would bridge the gap before revenue generation allows Genedrive to be self-sufficient".

It is planning to raise further equity "in the coming weeks", Genedrive said.

The equity, the company said, will "provide a longer term financing solution for the company's plans which include further driving sales of its two tests in approved markets and also seeking a Food & Drug Administration approval for its AIHL test in the US market which is be expected to be a significant source of future revenues."

"The company expects to be able to announce further details supporting this plan before long," it added.

Genedrive plans to announce its interim results for the six months ended December 31 on March 28.

[master rsi] 15/3/2024 13:58

DOW

Opening lower with 145 points now

[master rsi] 15/3/2024 13:27

EEE 8.85p ( 8.70 v 9p +0.65p

Is going places now, after MMs PLAYED GAMES YESTERDAY and held the rise with a large spread 1p at some stage.

[master rsi] 15/3/2024 12:59

MARKET REPORT
LONDON MARKET MIDDAY: FTSE 100 underperforms despite mining, oil boost

(Alliance News) - London's FTSE 100 overcame a muted morning to head into Friday afternoon on the up, though its progress was shy of the loftier gains seen by mainland European peers, as investors showed some signs of trepidation ahead of a pair of interest rate decisions next week.

The FTSE 100 index rose 16.41 points, 0.2%, at 7,759.56. The FTSE 250 climbed 53.30 points, 0.3%, to 19,539.31, and the AIM All-Share added 1.69 points, 0.2%, to 739.79.

The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.2% at 777.12, the Cboe UK 250 added 0.3% to 16,959.56, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.2% at 14,683.99.

In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris climbed 0.6%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was 0.4% higher.

"Most of the European indices were flat to moderately high on the last trading day of the week," AJ Bell analyst Russ Mould commented.

Mould noted energy and resources stocks were among the better performers in London, with Shell up 0.6%, BP rising 0.5% and miner Glencore adding 2.5%.

Boosting oil majors Shell and BP, a barrel of Brent fetched USD84.93 early Friday afternoon, up slightly from USD84.91 late Thursday.

Trade in consumer-focused sectors was largely nervy, however. Consumer goods maker Reckitt gave back 7.2%, with the stock hitting a 12-month low of 4,865.66 pence.

ActivTrades analyst Pierre Veyret commented: "Yesterday's US PPI data cooled investors' appetite for risk after it confirmed the rising price acceleration for February, first seen in the latest US CPI reading last week. This doesn't support the case of a quick dovish move from the Fed. The FOMC meeting will take place next week, and no rate move is expected from the central bank. However, investors will still try to get more clues on the likely pace and schedule of the next monetary easing cycle during Fed Chairman Powell's press conference.

Veyret added: "With most of the big news behind us and the FOMC meeting looming, we don't expect any sharp and directional move for equities during today's session."

Numbers on Thursday showed US producer prices by 1.6% on-year in February, ahead of a forecast 1.1% climb. In January, prices had risen by 1.0% on-year.

Stocks in New York are called to open higher on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite are all called up 0.2%.

After the Fed on Wednesday, the Bank of England is also expected to leave interest rates unmoved Thursday.

ING analysts commented: "Expect the Bank of England to use Thursday's decision to reiterate that rates need to stay restrictive for an extended period of time, a signal that it's too early to contemplate policy easing. We expect the first rate cut to come in August."

In London, Vodafone rose 3.9%. It has agreed to sell its Italian business to Swisscom for EUR8 billion and will return half of the proceeds to shareholders.

Also rising on a buyback pledge, tech investor Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust added 4.2%. It is setting aside GBP1 billion for share buybacks over the next two years, as strong results at its portfolio companies have made them self-funding.

Scottish Mortgage is managed by Baillie Gifford & Co. It invests in growth companies globally, and its holdings are a who's who of tech stocks, including Nvidia, Amazon, Tencent, and Meta Platforms.

Volution rose 4.5%, among the best FTSE 250 performers after it received rave reviews on the back of robust half-year earnings.

The energy-efficient indoor air quality solutions firm said pretax profit in the six months to January 31 rose 28% to GBP29.0 million from GBP22.6 million. Revenue rose 6.3% to GBP172.5 million from GBP162.3 million.

In addition, it lifted its interim dividend by 12% to 2.8p per share from 2.5p.

Analysts at Davy commented: "Given this points to another year of earnings growth, it continues to position Volution as a positive outlier in a construction/building products sector context."

Elsewhere in London, STV Group shot up 4.2% after its Studios arm won its first commissioning with streaming firm Netflix.

The Glasgow-based television broadcaster and content producer said it will work with Netflix to produce The Witness, a drama series which will comprise three 60-minute episodes.

STV Managing Director David Mortimer said: "This is STV Studios first commission for Netflix, and we very much look forward to collaborating with them on this project, which our experienced and committed drama team will produce with the utmost sensitivity and care that it deserves."

Gold was quoted at USD2,167.04 an ounce early Friday, up from USD2,154.76 at the time of the London equities close Thursday.

[master rsi] 15/3/2024 12:25

How the UPS are performing during last month

[master rsi] 15/3/2024 12:03

How the UPS are performing today

[master rsi] 15/3/2024 11:16

MCM 7.25 = / MC Mining hit by soaring costs in first half

(Sharecast News) - Shares in South Africa-focused coal miner MC Mining slipped on Friday after the company reported that half-year losses surged on the back of soaring costs and lower prices.

MC Mining, which is currently subject to bidding war between Vulcan Resources and a consortium of investors looking to take over the company, said group revenues were up 80% year-on-year at $25.2m in the six months to 31 December despite a 58% plunge in the average coal price to $112 per tonne, from $265 per tonne in the first half of the previous year.

Higher volumes sold and the recommencement of operations at its Vele Colliery meant that the cost of sales jumped to $24.1m from $10.1m a year earlier.

Gross profit totalled $1.1m, down from $3.9m previously, while the reported pre-tax loss widened to $5.8m from $1.3m. In addition to lower prices, the bottom line was impacted by a $1.9m increase in employee costs, primarily attributable to one-off employee benefits payments during the period.

Godfrey Gomwe, managing director and chief executive, said: "The strong revenue growth through the period was very pleasing given the challenging coal market conditions. Our ability to continue to move product is important and we are seeing some signs of increased demand from thermal coal buyers."

[master rsi] 15/3/2024 10:00

BTC- Bitcoin -3.689

Is having a bad day after reaching new highs a couple of days ago

[master rsi] 15/3/2024 09:29

MARKET REPORT
LONDON MARKET OPEN: FTSE 100 treads water; buyback boosts Vodafone

(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened in a muted fashion on Friday, as a hotter-than-expected US producer price reading stifled risk appetite, with focus beginning to move to interest rate decisions from the Federal Reserve and Bank of England next week.

The FTSE 100 index fell just 3.50 points to 7,739.65. The FTSE 250 climbed 43.09 points, 0.2%, to 19,529.10, and the AIM All-Share added 1.52 points, 0.2%, to 739.62.

The Cboe UK 100 was flat at 775.20, the Cboe UK 250 added 0.2% to 16,942.54, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.1% at 14,672.80.

In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris climbed 0.1%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was marginally lower.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.3%, while the S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney ended 0.6% lower. The Shanghai Composite in China rose 0.5%, though the Hang Seng in Hong Kong slipped 1.4%.

The pound was quoted at USD1.2740, rising ever-so-slightly from USD1.2737. The euro faded to USD1.0882 from USD1.0887. Against the yen, the dollar bought JPY148.69, up from JPY148.25.

In New York on Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.4%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite each fell 0.3%.

Numbers on Thursday showed US producer prices by 1.6% on-year in February, ahead of a forecast 1.1% climb. In January, prices had risen by 1.0% on-year.

Meanwhile, retail sales rose by 0.6% in February from January. They had been expected to rise by 0.8%, according to FXStreet, having fallen by 1.1% in January from December.

The US Department of Labor also released its initial weekly jobs report on Thursday.

In the week ending March 9, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 209,000, a decrease of 1,000 from the previous week's revised total. The previous week's level was revised down by 7,000 from 217,000.

This was lower than the market consensus of a rise to 218,000.

"All eyes are on next week's Federal Open Market Committee meeting. The Fed will update its dot plot having seen a two-month jump in inflation, robust jobs data, a relatively strong GDP print and healthy earnings. There is a chance that we see the median forecast show no more than two rate cuts pencilled in by the Fed members for the year – instead of three plotted at December's dot plot. We will walk into next week's FOMC meeting with a hawkish tilt knowing that it's always better for the Fed not to act too early than to be forced to make a U-turn on the way," Swissquote analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya commented.

The Fed's next decision is on Wednesday, and the Bank of England follows on Thursday.

Deutsche Bank analyst Sanjay Raja commented: "We expect very few changes in the March Monetary Policy Committee meeting. We see bank rate stuck at 5.25% for a fifth consecutive meeting. And we expect the MPC to stick to its February guidance that bank rate is restrictive and 'will need to remain restrictive for sufficiently long to return inflation to the 2% target'.

"For now, we stick to our May call for the first rate cut. But our conviction levels have fallen, especially with little signalling from the MPC on when rate cuts could begin. We still maintain our call for bank rate to land at 3% by next summer. We will reassess our call following the March meeting."

In London, Vodafone topped the FTSE 100, rising 4.3%. It has agreed to sell its Italian business to Swisscom for EUR8 billion and will return half of the proceeds to shareholders.

The Berkshire, England-based telecommunications provider late last month had confirmed it was in exclusive talks with its Bern, Switzerland-based peer to sell the operations in Italy. This was after Vodafone in late January turned down a merger proposal for Italy from France's Iliad SA.

Vodafone on Friday said it will receive EUR8 billion in upfront cash from Swisscom. It will return EUR4 billion of this as a share buyback in the new financial year.

Vodafone noted that the Italian sale follows a similar disposal of its Spanish arm, raising EUR12 billion in total.

"Today, I am announcing the third and final step in the reshaping of our European operations," said Chief Executive Margherita Della Valle.

"Going forward, our businesses will be operating in growing telco markets - where we hold strong positions - enabling us to deliver predictable, stronger growth in Europe. This will be coupled with our acceleration in B2B, as we continue to take share in an expanding digital services market."

Scottish Mortgage added 1.7% as it set out a buyback plan of its own. It has set aside GBP1 billion for share buybacks over the next two years, and the tech sector-focused investor hailed "strong operational results" from its portfolio.

Scottish Mortgage added: "Collectively, portfolio companies have adapted to a higher cost of capital and are funding their future growth. Against this backdrop and having further strengthened the company's balance sheet, the board now intends to take more concerted action to address the discount to net asset value at which the company's shares continue to trade."

Free cashflow from portfolio companies "more than doubled over the past year", it added.

Manager Tom Slater said: "We own a portfolio of established companies achieving rapid expansion, propelled by enduring structural trends. Advances in foundational technologies are unlocking exciting new products, services, and business models. These well-funded public and private companies are shaping the future of the economy. The stock market has yet to fully recognise their progress, which creates the opportunity for us to buy the portfolio for less than its market value. In doing so, we can provide liquidity and augment returns for our shareholders. We intend to pursue this opportunity with conviction."

Packaging firms Mondi and Smurtfit Kappa climbed 2.1% and 2.5%. Jefferies lifted Mondi to 'buy' from 'hold'. JPMorgan raised Smurfit to 'overweight' from 'equal weight'.

Volution rose 6.6% as it predicted consensus-topping annual profit. The energy-efficient indoor air quality solutions firm said pretax profit in the six months to January 31 rose 28% to GBP29.0 million from GBP22.6 million. Revenue rose 6.3% to GBP172.5 million from GBP162.3 million.

In addition, it lifted its interim dividend by 12% to 2.8p per share from 2.5p.

Its UK residential-focused offering led the charge, amid weakness in a "difficult" UK original equipment manufacturer division, as well as in Continental Europe.

"We made strong progress in the first half of the year, against a backdrop of higher interest rates and weaker new build demand. UK residential was once again the standout performer, with tighter regulation and strong social housing demand continuing to drive activity levels. Our greater exposure to refurbishment supported organic revenue growth in the period, and inorganic growth was strong due to a good performance from our recent acquisitions," Chief Executive Officer Ronnie George said.

Volution expects full-year adjusted earnings per share to be "slightly ahead of consensus" of 26.1 pence. For the first half, its basic adjusted EPS rose 10% to 13.7p from 12.4p, while its adjusted diluted EPS climbed 11% to 13.5p from 12.2p.

Elsewhere in London, Wishbone Gold rose 26% as it hailed "positive drilling results" from its Cottesloe project in Western Australia.

"The information gathered to date is highly encouraging, confirming the overall exploration model for a major sediment hosted metals system focused on base metals and silver," it said.

"The base metals identified are critical to the development of lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles and in energy storage systems integral to the global push towards lower carbon emissions."

Gold was quoted at USD2,166.96 an ounce early Friday, from USD2,154.76 at the time of the London equities close Thursday. Though still in lofty territory, the precious metal is largely unmoved from the USD2,161.77 it bought this time last week.

Brent oil fetched at USD85.05 a barrel early Friday, up from USD84.91 late Thursday. This time last week, the North Sea benchmark traded at USD83.59.

"Higher oil prices, of course, add another layer of complexity to the inflation outlook," SPI Asset Management analyst Stephen Innes commented.

[apotheki] 15/3/2024 09:05

KEEP AN EYE

DarkTrace / LSE:DARK

I last sold out of LSE:DARK at a tad over £10 and as recently posted can potentially see them going back to £10 and perhaps even beyond.

AI mania is taking hold in the USA so agree that this could well follow here with LSE:DARK