Harbour Energy Drops After Swinging to 1st Half Loss

Harbour Energy Drops After Swinging to 1H Loss

1106 GMT - Harbour Energy shares drop 1.4% after the FTSE 250-listed North Sea oil company blamed the U.K. government's oil-industry windfall tax for a swing to a first-half post-tax loss. While it's legitimate to argue that increased levies on North Sea production will hit investment in the U.K. oil-and-gas industry, "pleas of poverty" don't stack up given Harbour's 1H free cash-flow of $1 billion, AJ Bell says. "The problem in the U.K. isn't so much the scale of taxes on the sector, but constant tinkering which makes it very difficult for businesses to commit to long-term projects," Bell investment director Russ Mould writes. "Norway, for example, levies a 78% tax, but this hasn't changed for a long period and it offers generous exploration-and-development incentives." ([e-mail])

COMPANIES NEWS:

Intertek Buys PlayerLync for Undisclosed Sum

Intertek Group has bought PlayerLync Holdings, a provider of mobile-first training and learning content, for an undisclosed sum.

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Harbour Energy Narrows Full-Year Production View as Pretax Profit Drops

Harbour Energy narrowed its full-year production guidance to the lower end of the range, after pretax profits dropped in the first half of the year amid weaker energy prices.

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Drax Group Appoints Andrea Bertone as Chair Designate

Drax Group has appointed Andrea Bertone as nonexecutive director and chair designate effective Thursday.

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Hunting Earnings, Revenue Surge on Strong Energy Demand

Hunting said its earnings soared in the first half of the year on the back of revenue boosted by strong demand across oil and gas industries, and that it has lifted its interim dividend payout.

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Liontrust Asset Management to Declare GAM Offer as Failed Next Week

Liontrust Asset Management expects to declare its offer for Zurich-listed investment manager GAM Holding as unsuccessful next Tuesday after preliminary figures showed that it has failed to get the minimum acceptance level required for it to proceed.

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Hays Declares Special Dividend Despite FY 2023 Profit Fall; Appoints New CEO

Hays said that fiscal 2023 pretax profit fell on the back of increased expenses, released a special dividend and announced the appointment of a new chief executive officer.

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Benchmark Holdings 3Q Pretax Loss Narrowed on Lower Costs

Benchmark Holdings said that third-quarter pretax loss substantially narrowed driven by a robust fall on costs and said that it is performing within market expectations.

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Hunting Launches Strategic Operational Restructure

Hunting has begun a restructure of its operations in addition to disposing legacy non-core assets in a bid to enhance returns and lower the cost base.

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Redcentric Keeps Stable Dividend After FY 2023 Pretax Loss on Higher Expenses

Redcentric reported a swing to fiscal 2023 pretax loss as operating expenses more than doubled, and declared a flat dividend payout.

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Malvern International Shares Jump on Return to 1H Profit as Revenue Doubles

Shares of Malvern International rose 22% in early trade after the company said that it expects to report a return to profit for the first half-year on revenue that more than doubled on the back of strong student uptakes.

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James Cropper Cuts Dividend As FY 2023 Profit Fell on Higher Costs

James Cropper said that pretax profit for fiscal 2023 has more than halved on the back of increased costs despite a revenue increase, and cut its dividend payout.

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MacFarlane Group Pretax Profit Rose on Acquisitions, Performance in Europe

MacFarlane Group said its pretax profit rose in the first half of the year despite weakening demand in some markets, and that it raised its interim dividend payout.

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Cordiant Digital Infrastructure to Buy Irish Fiber Infrastructure Provider

Cordiant Digital Infrastructure is buying Irish open access fiber infrastructure provider Speed Fibre DAC for 97 million euros ($105.4 million).

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Tribal Group 1H Profit Rose on Education Services Performance

Tribal Group reported a first-half pretax profit increase driven by a performance improvement in its education-services business.

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Zamaz to Change Name to Dispensa; Appoints New Nonexecutive Chair

Zamaz said that it will change its name to Dispensa Group and that it has appointed a new nonexecutive Chair.

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Fusion Antibodies Taps Stephen Smyth as Interim CFO

Fusion Antibodies said it has appointed Stephen Smyth as interim chief financial officer with immediate effect.

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Ashington Innovation to Buy Calon Cardio-Technology in All-Share Deal

Ashington Innovation has signed a preliminary agreement to buy Calon Cardio-Technology for 39 million pounds ($49.6 million) in shares, conditional upon the completion of its reverse takeover of Cell Therapy.

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Anglo-Eastern Plantations Resumes Interim Dividend, Launches Buyback Despite Profit Drop

Anglo-Eastern Plantations said its pretax profit dropped in the first half of the year due to weaker crude palm oil prices, but plans to return more money to shareholders via an interim dividend and share buyback program.

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ValiRx Shares Rise on Higher Income Expectations From Inaphaea BioLabs

Shares of ValiRx rose 11% after the company said it expects extra income from Inaphaea BioLabs, which was launched over the first half of this year, and despite widened losses.

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ThomasLloyd Energy Shareholders Vote Against Continuation; Board to Review Options

ThomasLloyd Energy Impact Trust shareholders voted against the continuation of the company, in line with the recommendation issued by the board, which will now begin a review on the group's future.

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UBS snags 20 Credit Suisse dealmakers in Europe as integration continues -- Financial News

Insiders tell Financial News that a number of discussions over whether to keep Credit Suisse bankers after the takeover have ended with agreements

MARKET TALK:

Cleantech Lithium's New Resource Estimate Supports Potential of Francisco Basin

1205 GMT - CleanTech Lithium's 74% resources estimate-increase at its Francisco Basin lithium project in Chile supports its potential to become a higher grade duplicate of the Laguna Verde project, Canaccord Genuity analysts Alex Bedwany and Tim Huff write in a research note. The scoping study on the project is expected in the next two months, and the analysts expect it to look similar to Laguna Verde's economics, with potentially some upside from the higher grade resource. That would imply a $1.5-billion incremental valuation on their estimates, they say. Canaccord keeps a speculative buy rating on the stock along a 295-pence price target. Shares are up 3.9% at 2 pence. ([e-mail])

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European Stocks Rise After Asia Rally; US Set to Slip

1158 GMT - European stocks rise after upbeat trading in Asia, though Wall Street looks set to open slightly lower. The Stoxx Europe 600 and DAX advance 0.2% and the FTSE 100 and CAC 40 gain 0.3%, with semi-conductor stocks among the biggest risers. IG futures data show the Dow opening at 34436, versus Wednesday's close of 34472. "Nvidia's stellar AI-driven results and $25 billion buyback helped technology stocks and Asian indices rise across the board," IG analysts write. "All eyes are now on today's Federal Reserve central-bank symposium at Jackson Hole, with stocks rising and yields and the volatility index easing ahead of the event. U.S. initial jobless claims and durable-goods orders will likely be a minor side-show." ([e-mail])

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Hays Helped by Temporary Worker Demand

1103 GMT - Hays's positive performance in Germany and an increase in temporary work demand helped push its FY 2023 ahead of expectations, Interactive Investor head of investment Victoria Scholar says in a note. The U.K. recruitment company reported an operating profit fall of 9% to GBP197 million, beating analysts' expectations of GBP193.9 million, she notes. The German market outperformed, with record fees up 19% and operating profit up 29% to GBP100.2 million, while U.K. & Ireland performance weakened, she says. The beat was supported by a growth in temporary worker demand, offsetting weakness in permanent hires, as it benefited from increased fees due to wage inflation, she says. ([e-mail])

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James Cropper's Hydrogen Growth Perspectives Seen as Encouraging

0950 GMT - James Cropper's fiscal 2023 adjusted pretax profit was ahead of expectations, while comments on further investments in both the technical fiber product and future energy segments are pleasing,Shore Capital analyst Rob Sanders says in a note as shares rise 1%. The U.K. advanced-materials and paper-products group's increased earnout provision indicates encouraging TFP hydrogen growth opportunities ahead, the analyst says. As well as that, the additional coating capacity in the U.S. for TFP hydrogen is now operational, he says. "We believe that our investment case of growing revenues and/or improving margins across the group remains intact," Sanders says. ([e-mail])

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MacFarlane Group Shows Resilience in Tough Conditions, Shore Capital Says

0947 GMT - MacFarlane Group shows resilience with in-line interim results in difficult market conditions, Shore Capital analysts Robin Speakman and Akhil Patel write in a research note. The weaker market conditions seen in the U.K. and Ireland are expected and seen across the packaging sector, the analysts say, expecting the conditions to continue into 2024. Shore Capital retain its full-year profit view and reduces its revenue forecast 8% on lower volumes and prices, while EBIT is only lowered slightly due to MacFarlane's resilient model and cost structure, they say. The U.K. packaging company is a house stock of Shore Capital. Shares are down 0.5% at 109.50 pence. ([e-mail])

Contact: London NewsPlus, Dow Jones Newswires;

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

08-24-23 0832ET