Upstream Share Discussion Threads

[master rsi] 05/4/2024 15:20

DOW

Opening higher and now 108 points higher

[master rsi] 05/4/2024 13:48

Pinewood Technologies to return £358m to shareholders
(Sharecast News) - Pinewood Technologies announced a significant return of value to shareholders on Friday, following the disposal of its UK motor and leasing business to Lithia, as it announced on 1 February.

The company, formerly known as Pendragon, published a circular outlining a proposal to return around £358m in cash to shareholders through a special dividend of 24.5p per existing share.

It also proposed a consolidation of its ordinary share capital.

Pending the approval of resolutions by shareholders at a planned general meeting, the company said the dividend was expected to be paid on 7 May to shareholders registered by the end of business on 22 April.

Under the proposed capital reorganisation, one new share would be issued for every 20 existing shares, subject to fractional entitlements.

The firm said the restructuring would reduce the number of ordinary shares held by shareholders, while maintaining the proportion of the company's issued share capital held.

Despite having a different nominal value, the new shares would trade on the London Stock Exchange on par with the existing shares, and carry the same rights under the articles of association.

The general meeting convened for shareholders to approve the relevant resolutions was scheduled for 22 April.

At 1250 BST, shares in Pinewood Technologies Group were down 0.29% at 38.79p.

[master rsi] 05/4/2024 12:37

How the UPS are performing during last month

[master rsi] 05/4/2024 12:12

How the UPS are performing today

[master rsi] 05/4/2024 11:46

Saietta shares cancelled from AIM trading as puts itself up for sale

(Alliance News) - Shares in Saietta Group PLC on Friday were cancelled from trading on AIM.

This comes after the Towcester, England-based manufacturer of drivetrain systems for electric vehicles firm ended its strategic review and appointed administrators last month, following failure to confirm a buyer for the business or to secure additional funding.

It had confirmed some expressions of interest were received but no proposal provided the necessary liquidity, and noted that talks with interested parties would continue in administration.

Saietta first announced that it was putting itself up for sale amid doubts over its survival in February.

[master rsi] 05/4/2024 10:24

GGP 6.10p +0.175p

The latest "UPS" is on the move up

[master rsi] 05/4/2024 10:03

SMALL-CAP WINNERS & LOSERS: Topps Tiles falls again; Gulf Marine rises
SMALL-CAP - WINNERS

Gulf Marine Services PLC, up 0.9% at 22.60 pence, 12-month range 4.40p-23.00p.
Shares spike to this one-year high on Friday. On Thursday, the provider of self-propelled and self-elevating support vessels for the offshore oil, gas, and renewable energy sectors reports double-digit earnings growth in 2023.

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Pinewood Technologies Group PLC, up 0.2% at 38.97 pence, 12-month range 34.00p-39.40p.
It confirms a plan to issue a special dividend to shareholders, following the sale of its UK motor and leasing business.

Pinewood will return GBP358 million to shareholders through a special dividend of 24.5 pence per share, as it pledged to last year. In February, it said it completed the disposal of the motor and leasing unit for GBP367 million to Lithia Motors Inc, alongside a GBP30 million subscription, marking the beginning of its transformation from Pendragon to Pinewood Technologies, a software-as-a-service pure-play.

SMALL-CAP - LOSERS

Topps Tiles PLC, down 1.4% at 41.02p, 12-month range 40.80p-57.80p.
The stock falls to a one-year low and is down 9.3% so far this week. In a trading update on Wednesday, the Leicester-based tile retailer said the weaker market, higher pay and seasonally higher energy usage would weigh on first half profit.

Annual profit is expected to be weighted towards the second half. The company said subdued demand in the domestic repair, maintenance and improvement sector, especially for bigger ticket projects, has persisted into 2024, resulting in lower footfall into stores. Shares had fallen for three days in a row heading into Friday.

[master rsi] 05/4/2024 09:02

UK house prices suffer first monthly fall since September - Halifax

(Alliance News) - Annual growth in UK house prices slowed last month, and they went back into decline on a monthly basis, numbers from mortgage lender Halifax showed Friday.

UK house price growth ebbed to 0.3% year-on-year in March, Halifax said, from a 1.6% hike in February.

Prices fell 1.0% in March from February, having risen 0.3% in February from January.

It was the first monthly fall since September, while the annual reading was the tamest since November.

"That a monthly fall should occur following five consecutive months of growth is not entirely unexpected, particularly in view of the reset the market has been going through since interest rates began to rise sharply in 2022. Despite this house prices have shown surprising resilience in the face of significantly higher borrowing costs," Halifax analyst Kim Kinnaird commented.

"Affordability constraints continue to be a challenge for prospective buyers, while existing homeowners on cheaper fixed-term deals are yet to feel the full effect of higher interest rates. This means the housing market is still to fully adjust, with sellers likely to be pricing their properties accordingly."

[master rsi] 05/4/2024 08:53

German factory orders rise 0.2% in February

(Sharecast News) - German factory orders rose by 0.2% month-on-month in February, according to the Federal Statistical Office, missing estimates for a 0.8% jump but recovering from January's revised 11.4% tumble - the steepest fall since April 2020.

Orders grew for manufacturing electrical equipment, pharmaceuticals, and the chemical industry, while new orders contracted for automotive and manufacturing metal products.

Incoming orders expanded 2.2% for consumer goods and 1% for intermediate ones but fell 0.6% for capital goods.

Domestic orders gained 1.5%, while foreign orders dropped 0.7%, with demand from the Eurozone dropping 13.1% and demand outside the Eurozone rising 7.8% month-on-month.

The less volatile three-month average saw incoming orders from December 2023 to February 2024 rise 2.8% than in the previous three months. On an annualised basis, calendar-adjusted factory orders sunk 10.6%, steeper than the 6.2% fall seen in January.

[master rsi] 05/4/2024 08:25

FTSE

Well down at the start with 77 points lower after the DOW poor performance yesterday

[apotheki] 05/4/2024 07:44

Roquefort Therapeutics plc / LSE:ROQ

Response to Share Price Movement

Roquefort Therapeutics (LSE:ROQ, OTCQB:ROQAF), the Main Market listed biotech company focused on developing first in class medicines in the high value and high growth oncology market, notes recent bulletin board speculation about a placing that the Company may be undertaking.

The Company recently engaged its advisers to commence a process of market soundings in relation to a potential fundraise. However, in response to incorrect bulletin board comments regarding a speculative placing price and resulting unusual share price movements, the Board has decided to not proceed with any potential placing at this time.

As previously announced, Roquefort Therapeutics remains focused on completing an out-licensing agreement during the course of 2024 with potential Big Pharma partners and will update the market when a binding agreement is entered into.

[master rsi] 05/4/2024 00:20

US close: Fedspeak sinks shares ahead of jobs report

(Sharecast News) - US stocks fell sharply on Thursday with the Dow falling for the fourth straight day after a late-afternoon slump on the back of hawkish comments from members of the Federal Reserve.

The all-important non-farm payrolls number for March is due out on Friday and was dominating newsflow during the trading session, in light of recent upside surprises to economic data.

Investors are concerned that any pick-up in economic activity could lead to price pressures reigniting and delay a potential interest-rate cut by the Federal Reserve. Market forecasts are still pointing to a June rate cut, but resilient data this week has cast that prediction into doubt.

The Dow and Nasdaq both dropped 1.4% while the S&P 500 fell 1.2%. This 3.04% slump on the Dow over the past four sessions was the worst four-day losing streak since October last year.

Data and Fedspeak

Six members of the Fed took part in scheduled speeches on Thursday, as investors continued to watch comments closely for any hint at future adjustments to monetary policy. Among them was Richmond Fed president Thomas Barkin, who said it would be "smart for the Fed to take [its] time" before cutting rates. "No one wants inflation to reemerge," he said.

Meanwhile, head of the Chicago Fed Austan Goolsbee warned that the biggest "danger" to the inflation outlook was continued price increases in the housing services sector.

[master rsi] 04/4/2024 23:04

MARKET REPORT
LONDON MARKET CLOSE: US initial jobless claims hotter than expected

Stock prices in London closed up on Thursday, as investors first digested words from US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell overnight, before reacting to hotter-than-expected US initial jobless claims.

The FTSE 100 index closed up 38.45 points, 0.5%, at 7,975.89. The FTSE 250 ended up 119.55 points, 0.6%, at 19,873.19, and the AIM All-Share closed up 0.50 of a point at 742.58.

The Cboe UK 100 ended up 0.5% at 796.99, the Cboe UK 250 closed up 0.7% at 17,294.15, and the Cboe Small Companies ended up 0.6% at 14,746.83.

In European equities on Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris ended flat, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt ended up 0.2%.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that jobless claims increased to 221,000 in the week ended March 29, up from 212,000 and higher than the FXStreet-cited consensus of 214,000.

"Initial jobless claims rose to the highest level since late January in the week ended March 30, but remain comfortably below a level that would signal a significant weakening in labour market conditions," said Oxford Economics analyst Nancy Vanden Houten.

"The claims data and other labour market indicators are consistent with a job market that is still quite healthy. The Fed doesn't require a significant weakening in the labor market to begin cutting interest rates but does need to be confident the job market is balanced enough to support slower wage growth.

"However, based primarily on recent inflation data, we have pushed the timing of the first rate cut in our forecast from May to June."

On Wednesday evening, Fed Chair Powell told a conference in California that the current risks to the US economy were "two-sided," with negative consequences for the economy if policymakers moved to cut rates too fast or too slow.

"The risk, though, of moving too soon, really is...that inflation does move up," he said, adding that it "would be quite disruptive if we were to have to then come back in."

But if the US economy continues to evolve as expected, most Fed participants still expect it will be "appropriate to begin lowering the policy rate at some point this year," he said.

Eyes now turn to Friday's nonfarm payrolls reading, which is expected to show the pace of jobs growth eased to 200,000 in March, from 275,000 in February, according to FXStreet.

Numbers on Wednesday from payroll processor ADP showed the US private sector added more jobs in March than a month earlier.

Private sector employment increased by 184,000 jobs in March, rising from 155,000 in February. March's jobs growth topped the FXStreet cited consensus of 148,000.

The pound was quoted at USD1.2667 at the London equities close on Thursday, up from USD1.2630 late Wednesday. The euro stood at USD1.0865, rising from USD1.0827. Against the yen, the dollar was down to JPY151.67 from JPY151.72.

Stocks in New York were higher at the London equities close, with the DJIA up 0.4%, the S&P 500 index up 0.7%, and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.9%.

In London's FTSE 100, Entain led gains, rising 5.0%, after the sports betting and gambling firm said Interim Chief Executive Officer Stella David will replace Barry Gibson as chair by the end of September.

Gibson may step down earlier than September, Entain said, depending on the timing and appointment of a new CEO.

Entain noted it is continuing its search for a new CEO following Jette Nygaard-Andersen's departure in December.

Miners also fared well, with Antofagasta up 4.7%, Fresnillo up 3.2% and Anglo American 3.1%, while oil majors Shell and BP rose 0.6% and fell 0.8% respectively.

Brent oil was quoted at USD89.13 at the London equities close on Thursday, falling from USD89.69 at the London equities close on Wednesday. Brent had risen as high as USD89.95 on Wednesday, however.

Gold was quoted at USD2,292.67, rising from USD2,286.90 at the time of the London equities close on Wednesday. It had spiked to USD2,304.89 earlier on Thursday.

Lenders also fared well in the FTSE 100, with Lloyds up 3.0%, NatWest up 2.9%, and Barclays up 2.5%.

In the FTSE 250, Future surged 14%, after it said it was on course to deliver on expectations after returning to organic revenue growth in the second quarter.

The online magazine publisher and owner of the Go Compare price comparison site said the return to growth has been driven by a strong performance in Go Compare, alongside good growth in business to business, and a resilient performance in magazines.

However, this has been offset by a more challenging performance in affiliate products and digital advertising as macroeconomic pressures and low visibility continue to impact the wider sector.

Future said it was on-track to deliver on expectations for the financial year, subject to impact of foreign exchange translation. Cash conversion in the half has been strong, and it is highly cash generative, Future said.

Among London's small-caps, Gulf Marine Services rose 14%, after the provider of self-propelled and self-elevating support vessels for the offshore oil, gas, and renewable energy sectors reported double-digit earnings growth in 2023 and set out lofty 2024 guidance.

Revenue in 2023 rose 14% to USD151.6 million from USD133.2 million, while pretax profit jumped 66% to USD44.9 million from USD27.1 million.

Gulf Marine Services said earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were 22% higher at USD87.5 million from USD71.5 million. For 2024, it expects an adjusted Ebitda between USD92 million and USD100 million, possibly a rise of 14%.

On AIM, Gelion surged 70%, after it said it achieved a milestone with its lithium-sulphur battery development, increasing its energy density by around 60%.

The London-based battery technology company said this was by fabricating a 395 watt-hour per kilogram lithium-sulphur 9.5 ampere-hour pouch cell in a commercial cell format. Gelion said the energy density increase is compared with current lithium-ion batteries, which provide around 250 watt-hours per kilogram.

The economic calendar for Friday has construction PMIs for the eurozone and Germany out at 0830 BST, and for the UK at 0930 BST. Halifax's UK house price index is out at 0700 BST, while eurozone retail sales figures are out at 1000 BST

[master rsi] 04/4/2024 22:06

DOW

After being high in the morning it finished 530 points lower

[master rsi] 04/4/2024 17:30

How the UPS are performing during last month

[master rsi] 04/4/2024 17:08

How the UPS are performing today

[master rsi] 04/4/2024 16:41

BTC - Bitcoin $67.611

Is managing to get over the 66.5K being the resistance lately

[master rsi] 04/4/2024 15:50

UPS

GGP 5.775p (5.75 v 5.80p )

Has been down to a 6 month low or double bottom. News some time back about Havieron project and the Feasibility Study works will continue, got the shares up to 11.75p. All Indicators are oversold at the moment and share price is at lower Bollinger Band ( buy time they say)
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INDICATORS

[master rsi] 04/4/2024 15:24

Gooch & Housego confident despite some reduced demand
Photonic components and systems specialist Gooch & Housego said in an update on Thursday that in its first half, it saw some customers in its industrial and medical laser markets adjusting their inventory levels, resulting in reduced demand for certain products.

The AIM-traded firm said that destocking phase was, however, expected to finish by the end of the year, with revenue from those markets set to rebound.

Conversely, the company said it had experienced growth in its medical diagnostic and fibre optic businesses, particularly in serving the semiconductor infrastructure markets.

Revenue for the six-month period was anticipated to be around £67.5m, slightly down from the £71.3m it reported for the same period last year.

That decrease was partly offset by contributions from two acquisitions completed in the prior financial year.

The company said it expected a stronger performance in the second half of the year compared to the 2023 period.

Gooch & Housego said it had received strong new orders from the semiconductor, subsea data cable, and aerospace navigation markets.

Notably, the company secured significant orders for a new fibre optic amplifier module and medical diagnostic products.

Additionally, there was promising interest in its optical systems solutions for armoured vehicles, with expectations to convert several requests into firm orders in the latter half of the year.

As of 31 March, the group's order book stood at £115.8m, making for a slight decrease from the previous year but an organic constant currency increase of 3.6%.

The group said it maintained a robust financial position with a healthy balance sheet and substantial funding available for future growth initiatives, with net debt at approximately £32m.

Strategically, Gooch & Housego said it was continuing to execute its plan announced last year.

The recent divestment of its EM4 business allowed it to concentrate resources on areas within its A&D portfolio where it could achieve better returns.

Moreover, the transfer of selected product lines to contract manufacturing partners in lower-cost regions was progressing, with the expansion of its medical diagnostic facility in Rochester, serving the North American market, being a significant milestone.

"Despite the lower volumes in the first half of the financial year resulting from a prolonged period of inventory adjustment by some of our customers we have continued to focus on the delivery of our strategic objectives. In line with our commitment to become a more customer focused business, we have further improved our operational performance reducing our overdue backlog and lead times," said chief executive officer Charlie Peppiatt.

"Our investment in new technologies and products is recognised by our customers and we have secured important new contract wins in the period."

Peppiatt said that after strategically adding the GS Optics and Artemis Optical businesses in 2023, the company had already been rewarded with new customer orders due to its enhanced portfolio.

"The divestment of our EM4 business in March this year represented an important milestone on our journey to focus our A&D business on those areas where we can secure acceptable returns, supporting the group's path to mid-teens profitability."

Gooch & Housego said it would announce its interim results for the six months ended 31 March on 4 June.

At 1408 BST, shares in Gooch & Housego were up 3.37% at 533.4p.