London Stocks Fall as Investors Turn Cautious; Oil Stocks
Rise
The FTSE 100 falls 0.3% to 7057.57 as investors get nervous
about the prospects of tighter monetary policy, rising bond yields
and continued uncertainty over whether troubled Chinese developer
Evergrande will make a key interest payment. Property stocks are
among the biggest fallers, while financials also lose ground.
Oil-linked stocks rise, however, boosted by higher crude oil
prices, while AstraZeneca rises 2.5% after the pharma major
reported positive results in its Propel Phase 3 trial for treating
prostate cancer. Severn Trent falls 1% after a trading update.
"Next week, focus will pivot to the German election Monday and the
U.S. stimulus and debt ceiling debates," says Steen Jakobsen, chief
investment officer at Saxo Bank.
Companies News:
Gresham Technologies Signs A$21 Mln Contract Extensions
Gresham Technologies PLC said Friday that it has signed new
contracts with its largest customer worth more than 21 million
Australian dollars ($15.3 million) for the year to Sept. 30,
2022.
---
Fusion Antibodies Says Revenue Growth Is Consistent With
Previous Financial Period
Fusion Antibodies PLC said on Friday that revenue growth in the
financial period ending March 31, 2022, has been consistent when
compared to the previous financial period and in line with the
board's expectations.
---
Kingswood 1H Pretax Loss Nearly Halved on Revenue Jump, Lower
Costs
Kingswood Holdings Ltd. on Friday reported a nearly halved
pretax loss for the first half of 2021 on a surge in revenue and
reduced costs, noting a stronger performance in the U.K. and the
U.S.
---
Tortilla Mexican Grill to Float on London's AIM
Tortilla Mexican Grill PLC said Friday that it plans to float on
London's junior AIM, with trading expected to start on Oct. 8.
---
Shell Completes Sale of Egyptian Assets to Cairn, Cheiron
Royal Dutch Shell PLC said Friday that it has completed the sale
of its Western Desert assets onshore Egypt to Cairn Energy PLC and
Cheiron Petroleum Corporation for up to $926 million.
---
Judges Scientific 1H Pretax Profit Rose; Expects Full Year to
Beat Market Views
Judges Scientific PLC on Friday posted a rise in first-half
pretax profit on the back of higher revenue, and said it expects to
perform ahead of consensus expectations for the full year.
---
Amte Power Appoints James Hobson as its New Finance Chief
Amte Power PLC said Friday that it has appointed James Hobson as
chief financial officer designate, replacing Adam Westcott.
---
Chaarat Gold Appoints Mike Fraser as CEO
Chaarat Gold Holdings Ltd. said Friday that it has appointed
Mike Fraser as chief executive officer.
---
Iofina 1H Pretax Profit, Revenue Rose
Iofina PLC said Friday that pretax profit rose in the first half
of the year on increased revenue, but that iodine production in the
period was hurt by extreme winter weather and lower brine supply
from its oil-and-gas partners.
---
Peel Hunt to Raise GBP112 Mln via Share Placing
Peel Hunt Ltd. said Friday that it expects to raise 112 million
pounds ($153.7 million) via an oversubscribed share placing that
attracted strong support from high quality institutional and retail
investors.
---
Novatek Director Mark Gyetvay Arrested in US on Tax Charges
Novatek's director and former chief financial officer Mark
Gyetvay has been arrested in the U.S. accused of hiding money in
offshore accounts to avoid taxes, the Department of Justice said
Thursday.
---
Tintra Shares Rise on Conversion of Loan Stock Announcement
Shares in Tintra PLC rose on Friday after the company said that
Tintra Acquisitions Ltd. issued a conversion notice in relation to
50,000 pounds ($68,595) of its convertible loan stock on
Thursday.
---
Nmcn Secures Equity Extensions for Refinancing, Proposes Listing
Change
Nmcn PLC said Friday that it has secured extensions to its
equity subscription and to an existing uncommitted overdraft as it
seeks to refinance and proposed a change of listing.
Market Talk:
Higher Sterling Hedging Costs Would Make Long-Dated Gilts
Unattractive
0925 GMT - Hedging costs for foreign investors in sterling are
poised to rise, making long-dated U.K. government debt relatively
less attractive, Mizuho says. Traders have brought forward their
bets on the timing of the first rate increase after the Bank of
England signaled concerns about rising inflation, which is set to
lift the cost of hedging in sterling. "With the market now pricing
in hikes so soon, [the] 3-month SONIA [Sterling Overnight Index
Average swap] will start to rise, making FX hedging costs for
foreign investors in GBP more expensive," they say, adding that
long-end gilts will therefore look very unattractive compared to
Treasuries.
---
Oersted Could Get Around GBP3 Bln for 50% of Hornsea II Project,
RBC Estimates
0909 GMT - The price for a 50% stake in Oersted's Hornsea II
offshore wind project would be just under GBP3 billion, or GBP4
million per megawatt, RBC estimates. This compares with GBP6
million per megawatt achieved on the farmdown of Hornsea I, which
had higher contracted sales prices, the bank says. More recently,
the price for the farm-down of Oersted's Borssele I and II was
EUR3.7 million per megawatt, RBC says. Norges Bank Investment
Management and Greencoat Capital, the adviser to Greencoat UK Wind,
have reportedly placed bids for the 50% of the 1.4-gigawatt Hornsea
II project, which is expected to come online in mid-2022, RBC
says.
---
AstraZeneca's Prostate-Cancer Trial Seen Bringing Sales
Momentum
0857 GMT - AstraZeneca's positive phase three Propel trial
results for its Lynparza in the treatment of first-line prostate
cancer suggest a significant commercial opportunity beyond current
consensus, Jefferies says. "In the U.S., around 30,000 and 50,000
metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer patients are
eligible for first-line therapy per year, suggesting a potential
commercial opportunity of $3 billion-$5 billion assuming a 18
months treatment duration," Jefferies notes. Shares are up 2.2% at
8857.00 pence.
---
Mitie Group's Raised Full-Year Guidance Is Seen Lifting Market
Estimates
0829 GMT - Mitie Group's improved guidance for operating pretax
profit in fiscal 2022 will likely drive up the consensus estimate
for earnings per share in the year by 18% to 28%, Jefferies says
after the U.K. outsourcing group issued a positive trading update.
Mitie's guidance is well ahead of the market consensus of GBP124
million and Jefferies's estimate of GBP125 million, the bank says.
Jefferies has a buy rating on the stock and a target price of 99.00
pence. Shares are up 2.1% at 72.40 pence.
---
Iofina's 1H Results Point to Recovery in Iodine Market
0804 GMT - Iodine producer Iofina delivered record 1H results
despite weather and brine supply-related production outages during
the period, showing that the recovery in the iodine market is
picking up pace, finnCap says. The U.S. brokerage says iodine spot
prices are now above its long-term forecast driven by higher
demand, and that the iodine market is expected to continue
improving. "Alongside a strengthened balance sheet [this] provides
management with plenty of firepower to pursue the next leg of its
progressive growth strategy," the brokerage says. finnCap has a 25
pence target price. Shares are flat at 16 pence.
Contact: London NewsPlus, Dow Jones Newswires; Write to Sarka
Halas at sarka.halas@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 24, 2021 05:46 ET (09:46 GMT)
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