Ben Richardson, CEO at SulNOx, confident they can cost-effectively decarbonise commercial shipping. Watch the video here.
Sir Tom Hunter describes THG as ‘world-class’ despite calls from an activist investor for it to be broken up.
Hunter’s West Coast Capital investment vehicle was an early backer of Moulding at what was then called The Hut Group, first putting in money during 2010.
West Coast still owns about 2 per cent of the business and Hunter has been steadfast in his support of Moulding:
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/moulding-gets-vote-of-confidence-from-loyal-backer-3xwxh2zqg
From The Times:
For the first time in many years, JP Morgan is telling its clients to buy shares in Marston’s, the British pubs group.
The Wall Street heavyweight has been a perennial bear of Marston’s, but with the shares worth not much more than they were during the first lockdown, the analysts now “find the equity story appealing at this level”.
Their calculations suggest that the shares will have doubled by this time next year, even with the economy teetering on the edge of recession.
JP Morgan’s optimism stems from its belief that Marston’s “value-end” offering should mean its pubs weather any economic downturn better than many of its peers. They may even pick up extra trade from hard-up consumers down-trading.
At the same time, the analysts pointed out that next year’s takings should also be bolstered by a busy sporting calendar, with the Euro 24 football tournament and Olympics taking place over the summer.
On top of those tailwinds, JP Morgan said investors’ “concerns about leverage seem overdone”, with most of its debts not needing to be refinanced or repaid until after 2030.
Marston’s shares frothed up 1¾p, or 6.6 per cent, to 30p, although the analysts expect them to reach 58p by the end of 2024. If everything aligns for Marston’s, they can even make a case for the shares hitting 78p within 12 months.
Commenting on the results, Ric Traynor, Executive Chairman of Begbies Traynor Group, said:
"I am pleased to report a strong financial performance in the first six months of the financial year. We have continued to execute our strategy to grow the business, reporting double digit revenue and profit growth. The group's financial performance in the first six months leaves the board confident of delivering current market expectations(4) for the full year, which will extend our strong financial track record of growth.
... the rest in the RNS
11 December 2023
Panther Metals PLC (LSE:PALM) the company focused on mineral exploration in Canada, is please to announce its entire holding in ASX listed Panther Metals Ltd (ASX:PNT) is today released from escrow and is free trading.
For further information please contact:
Panther Metals PLC:
Darren Hazelwood, Chief Executive Officer: +44(0) 1462 429 743
+44(0) 7971 957 685
Apropos the article in the FT, could there be a Chinese takeover coming?
Marks & Spencer has now jumped by nearly 9% this morning, meaning its shares have nearly doubled in 2023. It is the second-best performer in the FTSE 100 this year, only topped by Rolls-Royce.
The reinstatement of its dividend puts a cap on the turnaround the retailer has seen this year, as an improvement in its clothing arm finally emerged to complement the ongoing strength in its food business, coupled with a huge boost to margins.
Morgan Stanley analysts said the “symbolic” restoration of its payout is the main positive, while Shore Capital said it had a “quite staggeringly successful” half.
Right now, it is on track for the best yearly performance for its shares ever. Gains of 94% in 2001 and 87% in 2009 are the closest comparables.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/live-blog/2023-11-08/ftse-100-pound-gilts-jobs-marks-spencer-markets-today?cursorId=654B44F9B2240000
Marks and Spencer (M&S) racked in hefty profits during the half year, as the firm’s reshaping programme continues to show signs of paying off.
https://www.cityam.com/ms-reinstates-dividend-and-ceo-stuart-machin-promises-hes-not-done-yet/?utm_source=CityAM&utm_campaign=7111929a82-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2023_11_08_06_41&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-7111929a82-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D
See the RNS
The Sunday Roast Podcast, 29th October: Shaun Day at about 27 minutes in - well wirth listening to!
https://audioboom.com/posts/8391830-sunday-roast-featuring-charles-bray-ceo-and-simon-rollason-executive-chairman-of-aterian-sh
Share tip: Battery maker Invinity shows some spark
Lithium batteries are the fastest-growing fire risk, says the London Fire Brigade, which reports more and more call-outs to extinguish exploding ebikes and escooters.
Power sources once hailed as revolutionary are showing limitations — and Invinity Energy Systems has a partial solution. Its vanadium flow batteries will not be a replacement for an ebike’s lithium power — their minimum size is a 20ft container — but commercially, they could be vital. Vanadium batteries have a lifespan of more than 25 years, as the electrolyte doesn’t wear out in any significant way, they can tolerate a wide range of temperatures, and can charge and discharge very quickly. They also can’t ignite.
Vanadium flow batteries are also of intense interest to the renewables market; they can store solar and wind energy supplies for hours to deliver constant power to the grid.
Nonetheless, investors in Aim-listed Invinity have been through the mill. The group was formed through a 2020 merger of two troubled flow battery businesses, Avalon and RedT, and in essence it has been an expensive research and development project. The shares, trading at over £3 back in 2018, have spent this year bumbling along around the 40p mark.
But a string of new contracts is positive news, particularly a joint venture with German engineering giant Siemens. This deal, signed in 2021, has now resulted in a new iteration of the battery technology, Mistral, which is set to go on sale next year. It’s likely to be double the cost of a lithium equivalent, but to last more than four times longer — and the market has shown plenty of interest. “If you’re a utility or large commercial user, you’re interested in lifetime cost rather than capital cost,” said Alex Brooks, senior analyst at Canaccord Genuity.
Revenues rose tenfold to £14.8 million in the half-year to July, and are set to rise sharply: analysts have pencilled £25 million in sales for 2023 —and £53 million in 2024. Invinity has a record number of orders, across Australia and Canada as well as major work funded by the UK’s Department for Energy Security and the US Department of Energy.
The firm’s loss-making status, as well as its capital position, offer a red flag. Invinity has told investors it will need further cash in 2024, after a £16 million fundraising this year, and analysts expect it to finish next year with about £20 million of debt. And yet Invinity is set to have positive cashflow by 2025. It’s risky, but the firm’s tech is already on sale and impressing blue-chip buyers. Buy.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/share-tip-battery-maker-invinity-shows-some-spark-2ks8b0gmt
Newmont remains on track to close its pending $26.2 billion acquisition of Newcrest, which is expected to close on November 6, according to its September quarterly report.
Outside of the transaction, operational highlights from the report include the US gold giant producing 1.3 million attributable gold ounces and 58,000 co-product gold equivalent ounces from copper.
Newmont also sold gold for an all-in sustaining cost for $1426 per ounce, and generated $1 billion of cash from its continuing operations. It also has $397 million of free cash flow.
Financial highlights from the report include Newmont recording a net income of $163 million, with an adjusted net income of $0.36 per diluted share and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation of $933 million.
The company concluded the September quarter with $3.2 billion of consolidated cash and $6.2 billion of liquidity.
Newmont also welcomed some key leadership changes, through the appointments of Philip Aiken and Sally-Anne Layman as directors. They will join Newmont from Newcrest once the acquisition closes.
“Newmont generated $1 billion of cash from continuing operations during the third quarter and continued to execute on our long-term strategic plan,” Newmont president and chief executive officer Tom Palmer said.
“As we look ahead to the closing of the Newcrest transaction, we are excited about the long-term value it will bring to both sets of stakeholders and our combined workforce. This transaction strengthens our position as the world’s leading gold company and sets the standard in safe, profitable and responsible mining.
“We look forward to closing the transaction on November 6 and providing our first integration update on the combined business in the first quarter of 2024.”
https://www.australianmining.com.au/newmonts-acquisition-of-newcrest-on-track/
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https://www.linkedin.com/in/muraterden/?originalSubdomain=uk
From the FT this morning:
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https://www.ft.com/content/4eb2aa0a-0c35-43ee-b921-ffc6cc5cdc58
Metro Bank has struck a financing deal with investors after a weekend of negotiations that should give the UK challenger bank some breathing space and fill a capital hole that had prompted talks with regulators.
The package agreed with investors and announced on Sunday night includes a £325mn capital raise, split between £150mn of fresh equity from Metro’s largest shareholders and £175mn of new debt from bondholders.
Metro’s biggest shareholder — Colombian billionaire Jaime Gilinski Bacal — is due to contribute £102mn of the new equity.
He is set to become Metro’s majority shareholder. The deal is expected to give ultimate control of the bank to Gilinski Bacal, who has a track record in Latin America of buying banking assets cheaply and turning them into acquisition vehicles.
Metro’s financing package also includes £600mn of debt refinancing, which will involve holders of Metro’s riskier Tier 2 bonds taking a 40 to 45 per cent haircut on their investments.
In a statement, Metro Bank chief executive Dan Frumkin said the package “marks a new chapter” for the lender.
Gilinski Bacal added: “I believe that the package . . . enables the bank to pursue growth and build on the foundational work undertaken over the past three years.”
Metro’s board has been locked in talks with investors about the capital injection and has also been gauging interest from some of the UK’s largest banks about certain of its assets.
The Bank of England had contacted lenders to see if they were interested in buying Metro.
The Financial Times reported on Sunday that NatWest, Santander and Lloyds Banking Group were all considering bids for some of the bank’s assets.
Launched in the UK in 2010, Metro has grown to 2.8mn customers and has £21.7bn in assets, according to its most recent accounts.
It has become well known for its quirky customer service, but its stock market valuation slid after a serious accounting error in 2019.
Its problems deepened last month when UK regulators declined to give Metro the green light on a change that would have lowered the capital requirements on its mortgage book, and thereby boosted the bank’s profitability.
In addition to the financing package, Metro said it was in discussions about selling off as much as £3bn in residential mortgages. This exercise would be expected to improve the bank’s capital ratio, reducing its risk-weighted assets by around £1bn.
The former chancellor is advising the Spanish-owned lender on a deal as regulators and directors seek to allay concerns about its future:
https://news.sky.com/story/santander-uk-drafts-in-osborne-to-advise-on-metro-bank-offer-12980239