London equities rally in early trade on Friday following the huge 2.4% sell-off on Thursday as bargain hunters return to the market. Resources stocks are to the fore, with some heavily punished financials also enjoying mild appreciation. This after a softer Wall Street and Asia overnight.
Aerospace and marine engineer Rolls Royce (RR.) surges 13.6% to 602p as full-year results are better than feared. Revenue is flat at £13.4 billion and underlying operating profit at £1.4 billion is down 12%. Management guidance for 2016 remains unchanged despite tough current conditions in the industry, sparking a rally in the stock.
Payment processor Worldpay (WPG) continues to defy gravity, gaining 5.2% to 284, despite a heavy sell-off in industry leader First Data (FDC:NYSE) in the US which is down 46% year-to-date. Worldpay by contrast has dipped just 8% so far this year.
Superdry brand owner SuperGroup (SGP) is a weak market, the shares off 8.5% to £12.16 as co-founder and Product & Brand Director Julian Dunkerton offloads £48 million worth of shares (4.9% of the share capital) to institutional investors. The sale of four million shares is said to be due to personal circumstances, though Dunkerton retains more than 22 million shares or a 27.2% stake.
Visitor attraction designer Paragon Entertainment (PEL:AIM) gains 9.3% to 1.5p on news it has entered into a joint representation agreement with H2E, a Latvian designer of museums, attractions and heritage-based projects. Paragon will represent H2E in the UK, while H2E will represent Paragon's offering across Latvia, Scandinavia, the Baltic States and CIS countries.
Warehouse landlord Tritax Big Box REIT (BBOX) slips 2.6% to 124p on raising £200 million through a placing and open offer at 124p a share to fund the acquisition of new assets.
