Wickes Gains After Good FY; Shares Look Undervalued

Wickes Group gains 6% after the U.K. home-improvement retailer reported higher pretax profit for 2021, driven by further market-share gains and online business. The results were good, with pretax profit 4% above expectations, Peel Hunt says. Despite much-publicized pressure on consumers, revenue in the first 11 weeks of the year matched those in FY21, Wickes expects to make further progress in FY22, and pretax profit estimates are likely to increase by at least 5%, Peel Hunt says. "Looking further out, the store-investment program has been accelerated and management sees scope for a further 20 store openings over the next five years or so, both of which should help to support the top line. The shares remain severely under-priced," Peel Hunt says. 


 
Companies News:

Anglo American Sells Remaining Stake in Thungela Resources for $115 Mln

Anglo American PLC said Friday that it has sold its remaining shareholding in Thungela Resources Ltd. via a discounted accelerated bookbuild placing aimed at major financial institutions.

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Smiths Group 1H Pretax Profit Rose on Strong Demand; Backs Guidance

Smiths Group PLC said Friday that first-half pretax profit and revenue rose, and that it is confident in meeting guidance for the full year.

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United Utilities Expects 3% Revenue Rise for FY 2022

United Utilities Group PLC said Friday that it expects a 3% rise in revenue for fiscal 2022, and that its performance was in line with the board's expectations for the year.

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Everyman Media 2021 Pretax Loss Narrowed as Covid-19 Measures Eased

Everyman Media Group PLC said Friday that its pretax loss for 2021 narrowed while revenue more than doubled as coronavirus pandemic restrictions were relaxed compared from the year before, though not entirely eliminated.

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Petropavlovsk Says It Can't Pay Gazprombank Loan Due to Sanctions

Petropavlovsk PLC said Friday that it is currently prohibited from making a $560,000 loan payment due to the inclusion of Gazprombank on the U.K.'s sanctions list in relation to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

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Aeorema Communications Swings to 1H Pretax Profit on High Demand

Aeorema Communications PLC said Friday that it swung to a pretax profit for the first half of fiscal 2022 on increased revenue after it experienced strong demand.

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Wickes 2021 Pretax Profit Rose on Market Share Gains

Wickes Group PLC on Friday reported an increase in pretax profit for 2021, driven by further market-share gains and its digital strength.

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Hibernia REIT Shares Rise on EUR1.09 Bln Takeover by Brookfield Unit

Hibernia REIT PLC shares rose Friday after Brookfield Asset Management Inc. said it has agreed on a takeover of the Irish real-estate investment trust, valuing Hibernia at around 1.09 billion euros ($1.20 billion).

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Gemfields Group Swung to 2021 Profit; Declares Special Dividend

Gemfields Group Ltd. reported on Friday a swing to net profit in 2021 due to a strong revenue recovery and declared a special dividend payout.

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Co-Operative Group's CEO to Step Down in May; Interim Successor Appointed

The Co-operative Group Ltd. said Friday that its Chief Executive Steve Murrells will step down following its annual general meeting, to take place in May. 


 
Market Talk:

Natural Gas Jumps on Cold Weather, LNG Plan

0854 ET - Natural gas prices climb 2.8% at $5.554/mmBtu and are on track to close at a nearly two-month-high. Prices have seen steady increases this week as cold weather stretches well into early spring in some key regions, keeping heating demand alive. What's more, investors are also finding bullish sentiment from the news that the US will increase shipments of LNG to Europe in an effort to reduce the EU's dependency on Russian gas. Many analysts, however, argue the move doesn't really change the fundamentals for the US domestic market, since US LNG facilities have already been running at full-tilt. More US LNG to Europe would only mean less US LNG to Asia, they say.

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Go-Ahead Contract Seen as Sign of Improved Relations With UK Government

1233 GMT - Go-Ahead's contract extension by the U.K.'s Department for Transport is a positive and has proved to be a sign of improved relations between both parties, Citi says. Go-Ahead was fined GBP23.5 million by the U.K. government for good faith contraventions at the London & Southeastern Railway franchise, which stopped operating in October. The company's subsidiary, Govia Thameslink Railway, will now keep operating the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern rail services for three years and has an option to extend by another three years to April 2028, the U.S. bank says. Citi has a GBP8.70 target price on the stock and rates it neutral. Shares are up 4.2% at 775 pence.

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Capricorn Energy Is Growing, But Cash Generation Is Weaker Than Peers

1207 GMT - Capricorn Energy is doing what is required of Egypt producers, ramping up drilling and workover activity which in turn drives growth, Jefferies says. The London-listed oil-and-gas company plans to increase production to over 46,000 oil-equivalent barrels per day by 2024, maintaining that plateau through 2026. However, the bank warns that Capricorn's free cash flow generation is at the lower end of exploration-and-production peers. Jefferies raises the Capricorn target price to 225 pence from 200 pence, but retains a hold rating while awaiting further acquisitions.

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Miners Can Continue Outperforming, But Growth Will Slow in Coming Months

1151 GMT - Mining companies are one of the best-performing sectors year-to-date, and this can continue in the short term, RBC Capital Markets says. However, growth will potentially be slower in the coming months, and rising inflation and interest rates aren't good for the commodity demand outlook, the bank warns. "We continue to favour equities with exposures to Ukraine supply demand disconnects, namely Glencore (thermal coal), Anglo American, Sibanye-Stillwater (platinum group metals) and the cost-inflation impervious Anglo Pacific with its royalty structure. But expected total returns are thinning out and the underlying demand needs to be watched," RBC says.

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Petropavlovsk Will Need to Find New Gold Buyer

1135 GMT - Petropavlovsk has been caught up in sanctions on Russia, with its lender Gazprombank no longer able to buy its gold production, AJ Bell says. Historically, the bank had an agreement to buy everything that Petropavlovsk produced, so the gold miner must now find a new taker for its product, and that's going to be difficult in the current environment, AJ Bell says. "Petropavlovsk has bills to pay and it will be tricky to settle up if there is no cash coming in the door. It's no surprise to see the share price fall further on the news, now down 92% year to date," the investment platform says.

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Petropavlovsk Plunges Further as Main Lender Sanctioned

1128 GMT - Shares in Petropavlovsk fall 19% to 1.45 pence after the Russian gold miner said its main lender, Gazprombank, has been added to the sanctions list in the U.K. This interrupts the company's ability to sell its gold and raises material risks around the ability to refinance its November 2022 bond, Peel Hunt says. "We noted that longer term, on the assumption that Russia's relations with the world start to normalise, we could see a value for Petropavlovsk shares as high as 18p. With Gazprombank under sanction, the ability for Petropavlovsk to navigate between today and that longer-term normalisation has just become considerably trickier," the U.K. brokerage says.


Contact: London NewsPlus, Dow Jones Newswires; Write to Sarka Halas at sarka.halas@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

03-25-22 0915ET