FTSE 100 Ends Friday Up But a Return to Steady Gains Looks Unlikely

The FTSE 100 ended Friday up 0.27%, in line with other global markets, spurring hopes that this stock rally might last longer than other recent bounces. Investors have been more comfortable about buying into this rally thanks to the lack of any hints of 75 basis points rate hikes in this week's Fed minutes, IG Group PLC chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp says in a note. However, this isn't a return to the old ways of steady gains, Mr. Beauchamp says. "A gain of even 10% from here might look like an all-clear signal for investors, but growth and earnings forecasts probably need to come down a bit more, which in turn points towards fresh lows for the market in the months to come," Mr. Beauchamp says.

 
Companies News: 

Anglo Asian Mining Seeks Shareholder Approval to Buy Back Shares

Anglo Asian Mining PLC said Friday that it is seeking shareholder approval to buy back up to 10% of its shares as the board believes the company's market capitalization doesn't fairly reflect its underlying value.

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Vistry Group Starts GBP35 Mln Share Buyback

Vistry Group PLC said Friday that it is starting a 35 million pounds ($44.1 million) share buyback program to return surplus capital to shareholders.

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Premier Miton 1H Pretax Profit, Assets Under Management Increased

Premier Miton Group PLC reported on Friday a rise in pretax profit and assets under management for the first half of fiscal 2022 and said it is in a good position to gain market share.

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Stagecoach Buys East London Bus Operations for GBP20 Mln

Stagecoach Group PLC said Friday that it is buying the East London bus operations and depot at Lea Interchange from Kelsian Group for 20 million pounds ($25.2 million).

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Gemfields Group Reports Record Revenue for May Emerald Auction

Gemfields Group Ltd. on Friday reported record revenue and prices for a set of emerald auctions held in May.

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LSL Property Sees 2022 Profit Slightly Behind 2021 Levels

LSL Property Services PLC said on Friday it expects profit for 2022 to be slightly behind the record levels of 2021, citing residential pipeline conversion rates and a limited impact from inflation.

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Big Technologies Confident in Full-Year Expectations After 4-Month Revenue Rose

Big Technologies PLC said Friday that it is confident of posting 2022 results at least in line with current market expectations after revenue in the first four months rose 18% on year.

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4D Pharma Says Trial for Treatment of Urothelial Carciroma with MRx0518 Drug Progresses Well

4D Pharma PLC said Thursday that the combination of its MRx0518 drug in combination with Bavencio has shown in a trial that it improves the outcomes for patients diagnosed with advanced or metastatic urothelial cancer.

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Kibo Energy Pulls Back on GBP10 Mln Solar Park Acquisition in Zimbabwe

Kibo Energy PLC said Friday that it has elected to terminate the 10 million pound ($12.6 million) acquisition of the Victoria Falls solar park project in Zimbabwe after concluding due diligence.

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Caffyns FY 2022 Revenue, Pretax Profit Rose on Buoyant Used-Car Market

Caffyns PLC said Friday that fiscal 2022 pretax profit and revenue increased due to a buoyant used-car market, and that it has declared a dividend for the year.

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Home REIT Beats Share Placing Target and Raises GBP263 Mln

Home REIT PLC said Friday that it has raised significantly more than it expected via an oversubscribed discounted share placing.

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Phoenix Global 2021 Loss Narrowed as Energy Prices Strengthened -- Energy Comment

Phoenix Global Resources PLC on Friday reported a narrowed operating loss for 2021, as stronger oil and gas prices boosted revenue. Here's what the Argentina-focused upstream company had to say:

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RUA Life Sciences Sees Wider 2022 Pretax Loss on Increased Investments

RUA Life Sciences PLC said on Friday that it expects a widened pretax loss for fiscal 2022 as it has increased research-and-development activities and infrastructure investment.

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XLMedia Appoints David King as CEO

XLMedia PLC said Friday that it has appointed David King as chief executive officer, with effect from July 1, following the decision of current CEO Stuart Simms to step down.

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Reabold Posts Flat 2021 Loss

Reabold Resources PLC on Friday reported a broadly flat loss for 2021 and confirmed that it is funded for its key 2022 work programs.

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Worldwide Healthcare Trust Terminates Placing Program

Worldwide Healthcare Trust PLC said Friday that it has decided to cancel its placing program because of the discount of the company's share price to the net asset value per share.

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Helios Underwriting Swung to 2021 Pretax Loss

Helios Underwriting PLC reported on Friday a swing to a pretax loss for 2021, backed on higher costs, but declared a dividend payout.

 
Market Talk: 

Helios Underwriting Outlook Seen Positive

0805 GMT - Helios Underwriting is enjoying continued improvement in underwriting conditions this year, having experienced 17 consecutive quarters of price increases, Shore Capital analyst Vivek Raja says in a research note. Overall, prices have risen by more than 50% over this period, the analyst notes. The company has a positive outlook, Raja says, but adds that aviation-related exposure to the war in Ukraine, and potential losses as a result, remain unclear. ([e-mail])

Contact: London NewsPlus; [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 27, 2022 12:15 ET (16:15 GMT)

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