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(Alliance News) - London's IPO market continued its lockdown bonanza on Wednesday, with Auction Technology pricing its GBP250 million raise.
The operator of online auctions said it has set its initial public offering price at 600p per share, giving the company a market capitalisation of GBP600 million upon listing.
Auction Technology is offering up to 41.2 million new shares to raise GBP247.4 million gross for the company. Additionally, selling shareholders will offer 4.2 million existing shares for sale. The total shares being offered will represent up to 45.5% of the total.
Conditional dealings on the London Main Market will start next Tuesday, with unconditional dealings following on February 26.
Auction Technology also said funds managed by Blackrock have entered a cornerstone agreement to invest GBP25 million in the IPO. The new deal raises total cornerstone agreements to GBP125 million.
Chief Executive Officer John-Paul Savant said: "With a 50-year track record, proven commercial model and leading positions in a market supported by significant structural growth trends, we believe that ATG will thrive as a listed business. We are delighted with the high-quality investor support we have had to date which reflects this potential.
"An IPO of Auction Technology Group will support the continued momentum of the business and our focus will remain the same - enhancing our services for auctioneers and bidders and driving long-term sustainable growth."
Auction Technology's listing is one of about 20 IPO announced or completed on the London Main Market and AIM so far in 2021. Biggest so far have been boot maker Dr Martens, with a GBP3.70 billion market cap at its IPO price, and online greeting cards seller Moonpig Group, with a GBP1.20 billion valuation upon listing.
On Tuesday, online retailer Virgin Wines UK announced plans for a market float on AIM, while miner Cornish Metals began trading on the junior market.
Here is what you need to know at the London market open on Wednesday:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down 0.4% at 6,725.07
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Hang Seng: up 1.2% at 31,102.66
Nikkei 225: closed down 0.6% at 30,292.19
DJIA: closed up 64.35 points, or 0.2%, at 31,522.75
S&P 500: closed down 0.1% at 3,932.59
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GBP: down at USD1.3875 (USD1.3911)
EUR: down at USD1.2075 (USD1.2110)
Gold: down at USD1,788.75 per ounce (USD1,803.32)
Oil (Brent): up at USD63.67 a barrel (USD62.98)
(changes since previous London equities close)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Wednesday's Key Economic Events still to come
China Lunar New Year holiday continues. Financial markets closed in Shanghai.
0930 GMT UK house price index
1100 CET EU construction output
0700 EST US MBA weekly mortgage applications survey
0830 EST US advance monthly sales for retail and food services
0830 EST US producer price index
0915 EST US industrial production and capacity utilization
1000 EST US NAHB housing market index
1630 EST US API weekly statistical bulletin
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UK inflation edged higher annually in January with the country in lockdown, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics. On an annual basis, UK consumer prices rose 0.7% in January, accelerating from 0.6% in December. The reading beat market consensus, cited by FXStreet, for an 0.5% increase. On a monthly basis, consumer prices fell 0.2% in January following a rise of 0.3% in December. Consensus had expected the reading to come in at negative 0.4%.
In a separate release, the ONS said producer output inflation for goods leaving the factory gate was negative 0.2% year-on-year in January, improving from deflation of 0.4% in December.
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The UK National Health Service is likely to remain "at full stretch" for at least another six weeks, a leading health official said as he warned the prime minister against easing lockdown too quickly. Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents NHS trusts in England, has written to Boris Johnson calling for a focus on "data, not just dates" when it comes to the government's approach to the route out of lockdown. Johnson will scrutinise data this week on coronavirus case numbers, hospital admissions, deaths and the impact of the vaccine rollout as he prepares his plan to reduce restrictions. Johnson has said he will aim to give target dates for restrictions being eased when he sets out his plan next Monday, but "won't hesitate" to delay plans if infection rates make it necessary.
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One in six people in England could be on the waiting list for NHS treatment by April due to strains on the health service caused by coronavirus, a think tank has warned. Modelling by researchers at Reform showed that patients waiting a year or more had risen by over 12,000% since the start of the pandemic, PA reports. The organisation predicted that waiting lists could hit 10 million by April, equivalent to one in six people in England, as referrals for non-Covid cases begin to resume but limits on NHS capacity remain. NHS directors say that if the predictions are correct then services will face a "mammoth" task to tackle the backlog. Reform said "a lack of system resilience" has forced the NHS to become a "national Covid service" and that patients in need of other serious medical treatments would continue to lose out.
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Japan's trade surplus fell by three-quarters annually in January, according to provisional figures by the Ministry of Finance. For January, Japan posted a trade surplus of JPY323.86 billion, about USD3.06 billion, down 75% year-on-year from JPY1.315 trillion. The figure did however, beat market expectations. According to consensus cited by FXStreet, a trade deficit of JPY600 billion was forecast. The value of exports rose 6.4% annually to JPY5.780 trillion and imports dropped 9.5% to JPY6.104 billion.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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ALPHAVALUE RAISES JOHNSON MATTHEY TO 'REDUCE' ('SELL') - TARGET 2,874 PENCE
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BOFA RAISES ROYAL MAIL PRICE TARGET TO 590 (470) PENCE - 'BUY'
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GOLDMAN SACHS RAISES LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES TO 'NEUTRAL' (SELL) - TARGET 168 (124) PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Dunhill cigarette maker British American Tobacco raised its dividend, as it said it delivered resilient earnings against unprecedented challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. For 2020, revenue was down 0.4% at GBP25.78 billion from GBP25.88 billion in 2019 but pretax profit was up to GBP8.67 billion from GBP7.91 billion. BAT raised its full-year dividend by 2.5% to 215.6 pence from 210.4p paid out in 2019. Looking ahead to 2021, BAT expects constant currency revenue growth in a range of 3% to 5%. It also said it was making continued progress towards its New Categories revenue target of GBP5 billion in 2025. Chief Executive Officer Jack Bowles said: "Last year we increased the number of consumers of our non-combustible products by 3 million to 13.5 million, doubling the rate of consumer adoption in the second half of 2020. We have excellent momentum in New Categories, with accelerating volume and value share gains."
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Tobacco peer Imperial Brands said Lukas Paravicini, chief financial officer of agricultural commodities and brokerage group ED&F Man Holdings, will be appointed as its new CFO on August 5 or at an earlier date to be announced. Paravicini succeeds Oliver Tant, who will step down from the role and leave the business following a handover.
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Rio Tinto upped its annual payout with a record final dividend as the miner shrugged off Covid-19 to post a hefty profit rise for 2020. Revenue in 2020 was up 3.3% to USD44.61 billion from USD43.17 billion. Its pretax profit surged 38% to USD15.39 billion from USD11.12 billion. The Anglo-Australian miner raised its annual dividend by 26% to 557.0 US cents from 443.0 cents. "USD9.0 billion full-year dividend, equivalent to 557 US cents per share and 72% of underlying earnings, includes USD5.0 billion record final ordinary dividend (309 US cents per share) and USD1.5 billion special dividend (93 US cents per share) declared today," Rio Tinto explained. Rio Tinto's earnings follows peer BHP's upbeat interim results on Tuesday which saw the company declare a record dividend of its own. Also on Tuesday, commodities trader and miner Glencore restored its payout to shareholders.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Plus500 said earnings surged in 2020 amid increase in active and new customer numbers. In addition, the online trading services provider proposed a share buyback programme. Plus500 said it intends to buy back up to USD25.0 million of its shares, following the completion of the share buyback programme announced in August 2020. The company said it has appointed Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) to manage the share buyback programme, which will run from February 17 to August 11 or, if earlier, the date of the announcement of the company's interim results for the six months to the end of June. Turning back to results, Plus500 said total revenue more than doubled in 2020 to USD872.5 million from USD354.5 million, with customer income, the company's key growth metric, also more than doubling to USD997.5 million.
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TP ICAP said it received acceptances for 98.3% of the 225.3 million shares offered in its 2-for-5 rights issue at 140.0p. Underwriters HSBC, BofA Securities, JP Morgan and Peel Hunt will find subscribers for the remaining shares or subscribe themselves. The rights issue will raise about GBP315 million.
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Signature Aviation said it has agreed to sell its engine repair & overhaul business to Scottsdale, Arizona-based Standard Aero, a provider of maintenance, repair and overhaul services, for USD230 million. Signature Aviation said it will receive about USD140 million in net proceeds after fees and price adjustments, which it will deploy in line with its target of keeping net debt at no more than 2.5 to 3.0 times underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation. "We are committed to delivering long-term sustainable value for shareholders and this sale focuses us on Signature Aviation our strong cash generative business," said CEO Mark Johnstone.
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Wednesday's Shareholder Meetings
Applegreen PLC - GM re Blackstone and founders takeover
EQTEC PLC - EGM re replacing Crest with Euroclear Bank
Finsbury Growth & Income Trust PLC - AGM
Great Western Mining Corp PLC - EGM re replacing Crest with Euroclear Bank
JPMorgan Asia Growth & Income PLC - AGM
KKV Secured Loan Fund Ltd - AGM
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com
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