Catering giant Compass (CPG) jumps 4.6% to £10.26 after revealinga £1 billion pot of cash which will be dished out between shareholders as a special dividend.
Broadcaster ITV (ITV) falls 5.7% to 180.1p as investors are disappointed with the first quarter trading update. Viewing figures aren't great with ITV seeing a 5% drop in its share of channels that carry advertising. There's also a 4% drop in revenue for its Studios production business, blamed on the phasing of programme delivery. We take a closer look here.
Mondi (MNDI) rises 2.5% to £10.57 after sayingfirst quarter operating profit grew by 13% to €183 million.
Construction materials producer Marshalls (MSLH) rises 2% to 179.8p as it says full-year results will beat expectations.
Heavy construction specialist Galliford Try (GFRD) jumps 3% to £12.18 after revealing strong progress in its housebuilding division and the expectation that pre-tax profit for the full year ending 30 June 2014 will beat £89.7 million consensus forecast, being not less than £92 million.
Insurance giant Admiral (ADM) slips 1.1% to £14.32 on its UK car business suffering in the first quarter. Premiums were down 11% to £384 million despite its customer numbers increasing 6%. Sales in its international business grew 13% year-on-year to £54 million.
Low growth in metrology revenues and a 21% collapse on the healthcare side see investors sell down Renishaw (RSW) on a poor third quarter. Shares in the FTSE 250 company fall more than 5% to £17.43, making it a 22% share price collapse since March.
There's contrasting fortunes in the smallcap cloud communications space with supplier Coms (COMS:AIM) confirmingit will 'significantly' beat previously-predicted pre-tax profits of £450,000 for the year to January. The shares edge up 1.2% to 6.28p, a stark contrast to the 15% crash to 28.5p at similar platform operator Enables IT (EIT:AIM). It warnson profits after taking a closer look at its UK pipeline and realising it is coming up short.
Posh coffee shop owner Patisserie (CAKE:AIM) rises 7.6% to 183p on its first day of dealings. The Patisserie Valerie-to-Baker & Spice owner has raised £32.8 million of new money to pay off debt and pre-IPO shareholders including chairman Luke Johnson are getting £46.5 million from selling down part of their holding. We examine the investment case in this article.
Oil services firm Wood (WG.) ticks up 2.7% to 790p as it signals year-to-date performance is slightly ahead of expectations. It continues to expect earnings to be up in 2014, with growth in its PSN business offsetting a slowdown for its engineering arm.
Specialist non-life insurer Novae (NVA) improves 2.2% to 576.7p on a 6% jumpin premiums to £195.1 million in the six months to April. It has exposure to losses from the Malaysian Airline Flight 370 and the Sewol Korean Ferry tragedies.
Global retail meat packing specialist Hilton Food (HFG) falls 1.5p to 527.5p. Though the business performedin line with expectations in the first four and a half months, news of tough consumer markets and ongoing currency headwinds gives investors the jitters.
Manchester-based motor dealer Lookers (LOOK), a running Shares Play of the Week, accelerates 3.8% to 144.5p on a positive first quarter trading statement. Sales and gross margins were ahead of expectations and, with the business motoring on all fronts, analysts drive through another round of upgrades.
Fruit importer Fyffes (FFY:AIM) firms 1p to 94p on strong first-quarter results, revealing an 18.4% pre-tax profits advance to €15.8 million. The Dublin-based group's all-share merger with Chiquita Brands (CQB:NYSE), a deal creating the world's biggest banana company, is being investigated by competition authorities in various jurisdictions.
Fractured basement reservoir play Hurricane Energy (HUR:AIM) falls 4.3% to 28p as 2013 results revealwidened losses. The loss increased to £21.3 million compared with £6.8 million in the previous 16 months but the company attributed this to now-redundant financing arrangements dating back to April 2013 as well as exploration write-offs and the effects of foreign exchange rate movements.
European property developer CLS (CLI) falls 1% to £14.02 despite a solid startto the new calendar year, reporting new lettings and making good progress with its developments during the period.
