UK Long-Dated Gilt-Yields Rising Fast, Inverted Gilt Yield Curve Flattens

1118 GMT - Yields on the U.K.'s long-dated gilts maturing up to 30 years are rising faster than short-dated gilt yields causing the inverted gilt yield curve to flatten, Tideway Wealth director James Baxter says in a note. "From hovering around the 4% mark at the start of the year, to 4.5% in the last month, U.K. 20 year gilts moved up to 4.8% in the last days," he says. Market expectations of 'higher for longer' Bank of England rates are causing longer-dated gilt yields to rise faster than short-dated gilt yields, Baxter says. In the last week, the U.K. 30-year gilt yield is up around 27 basis points to 4.695% while the U.K. 2-year gilt yield is up 10bps to 5.372%, Tradeweb data show. (miriam.mukuru@wsj.com)

COMPANIES NEWS:

Impax Asset Management 3Q Assets Under Management Slipped

Impax Asset Management Group on Monday said its assets under management edged down in the third quarter of fiscal 2023.

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BT Group Chief Executive Philip Jansen to Step Down Over Next Year

BT Group said Monday that Chief Executive Philip Jansen has informed the board that he plans to step down from his role over the next year and that it has started a formal search for his replacement.

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Unite Group Raises Rental Growth Guidance; 2Q Portfolio Valuation Rose

Unite Group on Monday raised its rental growth guidance for the academic year ending in 2024, and said its portfolio valuations rose on a like-for-like basis in the second quarter.

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Big Yellow Group 1Q Revenue Rose as Average Rents Increased 9%

Big Yellow Group said Monday that revenue for the first quarter of fiscal 2024 rose as average rents grew 9% over the period, and that it has continued to invest in external growth through developing new stores and selectively acquiring existing centers.

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Thames Water Gets Further GBP750 Mln of Equity Funding from Shareholders

Thames Water said Monday that shareholders have agreed to a further 750 million pounds ($962.8 million) of equity funding over the period through to 2025, with a further GBP2.5 billion expected over the following five-year plan.

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OnTheMarket Swung to FY 2023 Profit; Sees Further Growth in FY 2024

OnTheMarket said Monday that it swung to a pretax profit and revenue rose on customer growth, product sales and new homes division growth in fiscal 2023, and expects further growth in fiscal 2024.

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Plus500 Sees 2023 Results in Line With Views After 1H Revenue, Ebitda Fell

Plus500 on Monday said it expects its results for 2023 to be in line with market expectations as it posted an on-year drop in revenue and earnings for the first half of the period given lower volumes across financial markets.

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Global Ports FY 2023 Pretax Loss Narrowed on Exceeding Prepandemic Activity Levels

Global Ports Holding said Monday its pretax loss narrowed for fiscal 2023 as cruise operations exceeded prepandemic activity levels, and that it has had a strong start to the 2023 cruise season.

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Scotgold Resources 1H Gold Sales Fell; Suspends Guidance to Undertake Review of Mine

Scotgold Resources said Monday that gold production and sales fell in the first half of the year due to a halt in production at its Cononish mine in Scotland in the first quarter, and that it has withdrawn 2023 guidance pending a review of the mine.

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Contango Signs Coal Sales Deal Potentially Worth $2.4Mln

Contango Holdings said Monday that it has entered into a new agreement with TransOre International for the sale of up to 20,000 metric tons a month of washed coking coal--potentially worth $2.4 million--from the Lubu project in Zimbabwe.

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Totally FY 2023 Profit Rose; Sees FY 2024 Revenue, Earnings Slipping

Totally PLC said Monday that its pretax profit rose in fiscal 2023, particularly driven by an increase in elective services revenue, though it expects fiscal 2024 revenue and earnings to fall.

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Future PLC to Return Up to GBP45 Mln to Shareholders via Share Buybacks

Future PLC said Monday that it plans to return up to 45 million pounds ($57.8 million) to shareholders via a share buyback program.

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Knights Group Backs FY 2024 Outlook After FY 2023 Pretax Rose on Acquisitions Contribution, Lower Costs

Knights Group Holdings on Monday posted a rise in pretax profit for fiscal 2023 as it booked lower non-underlying operating costs and benefited from the contribution of its acquisitions and said that it is confident it will return to organic growth in fiscal 2024.

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US Solar Fund Says Company, Assets Sale Not Favorable; To Launch Buyback Program

US Solar Fund said Monday that its board has concluded that the current market backdrop isn't conducive to a sale of the company or its assets, and that it intends to launch a share buyback program.

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Lexington Gold Raises GBP2.5 Mln To Fund White Rivers Exploration

Lexington Gold said Monday that it has raised 2.5 million pounds ($3.2 million) via the issue of new shares and will use the money to unlock value in White Rivers Exploration Proprietary.

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ECO Animal Health FY 2023 Pretax Profit Rose on Higher Asia, Latin America Sales

ECO Animal Health Group said Monday that pretax profit rose for fiscal 2023 as revenue benefited from higher sales in Asia and Latin America, and that the strong performance seen in the second half has continued into fiscal 2024.

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Argentex 1H Revenue Set to Rise; Digby Jones Will Step Down as Chair

Argentex said Monday that it expects to report a rise in revenue for the first half of the year and Digby Jones will step down as chair on Sept. 1.

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Crossword Cybersecurity Seeks Shareholder Approval to Increase Debt Limit

Crossword Cybersecurity said Monday that it will need to raise additional capital later this year, and called a shareholder meeting to seek approval to allow it to incur up to 4.5 million pounds ($5.8 million) in debt.

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RM Infrastructure Income Says Progress on Potential Company Combination Is Slow

RM Infrastructure Income said Monday that progress regarding a potential combination of its assets with another suitable investment company or fund remained limited, but that it was considering one proposal.

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Oxford Metrics Appoints Imogen Moorhouse as CEO

Oxford Metrics said Monday that it has appointed Imogen Moorhouse as chief executive officer effective Oct. 1, following the departure of Nick Bolton who will become CEO at Ordnance Survey, the U.K.'s national mapping agency.

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Impellam Group to Continue Buyback Program of Up to GBP500,000

Impellam Group said Monday that it will continue its share buyback program as it seeks to reduce its share capital.

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DWF Group Shares Jump on Possible GBP342 Mln Acquisition of the Company

Shares in DWF Group rose on Monday after the company said it is in talks with Inflexion Private Equity Partners regarding a possible acquisition of DWF for 342 million pounds ($439 million).

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Polymetal International Buys Controlling Stake in Kazakhstan Project

Polymetal International said Monday that it has increased its interest in the Baksy property in Kazakhstan to 75% from 7.5% by exercising its option to buy out one of the project's shareholder.

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West Fraser Timber to Sell Pulp Mill in Alberta to Mondi

West Fraser Timber plans to sell its unbleached softwood kraft pulp mill in Alberta to U.K.-based packaging and paper Mondi Group and signed an agreement to continue to supply it with fiber.

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Chaarat Gold Says It Is in Talks for New Target Date for $250 Mln Investment

Chaarat Gold Holdings said Monday that it is unlikely it will be granted corporate and regulatory approvals in time to meet the conditions for a potential $250 million investment, but it is in discussions over a new target date.

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Allergy Therapeutics Appoints Shaun Furlong CFO

Allergy Therapeutics said Monday that Shaun Furlong has been appointed chief financial officer effective from Aug. 11 when current interim CFO Martin Hopcroft will leave the company.

MARKET TALK:

Central Banks' Overtightening Seen as Risk

1159 GMT - Recession remains J.P.Morgan Asset Management's base case scenario but it has lowered the probability to 55% from 60%, while central banks' overtightening is a risk, the asset manager's global fixed income, currency and commodities team says. "The chief risk to our forecast is that central banks lose patience in waiting for monetary policy to take hold, and tighten policy well beyond market expectations," it says. The single-minded focus on bringing inflation to 2% ignores that growing volume of data suggesting the global economy is already in or rapidly approaching recession, JPM AM says. "Overtightening policy runs the risk of not only bursting the unsustainable excesses that had formed...but also unleashing a range of unintended consequences," it says. (emese.bartha@wsj.com)

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BofA Remains Cautious on UK Asset Managers Given High-Risk Aversion, Premium Stock Valuation

1104 GMT - U.K. asset managers had a tough first half, Bank of America Global Research says in a note. "We remain cautious on the UK asset management sector despite stabilizing markets, as client risk aversion remains elevated and fund flows subdued," analyst Hubert Lam and Alexandre Tissieres write. They add that the sector is unlikely to re-rate higher until flows improve although it trades one standard deviation below its long-term average. The brokerage has a buy rating on alternative manager Intermediate Capital Group and a neutral one on Man Group--which it sees as most resilient in terms of flows--and has an underperform rating on traditionals Schroders, Ninety One, Jupiter Fund Management, Abrdn and Ashmore Group given their valuation, cyclical pressures and flows. (elena.vardon@wsj.com)

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Harbour Energy Could Turn to Buybacks if Mergers, Acquisitions Prove Hard to Find

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07-10-23 0931ET