The launch of Apple?s (AAPL) new iPhones yesterday gives UK chip champ ARM (ARM) a 5% lift to 987p, within a whisker of the £10 level Shares flagged in July. The talk is that ARM's new 64-bit A7 processor design in the new iPhone 5S could raise royalties from $0.89 to $1 per handset.
Mike Ashley's Sports Direct (SPD) jogs 6.5p higher to 722p early on, as the UK's marketing leading sports retailer confirms a storming start to the financial year. We look at the news in more detail ahead of its likely promotion to the FTSE 100.
North Sea oil play Ithaca Energy (IAE:AIM) gains 13% to 143p on successful results from development drilling on Stella field as we discuss here.
There's a host of stocks going ex-dividend which explains why some big names are falling - the share price is essentially deducting the lump of cash about to be paid to shareholders. Stocks in this situation today include insurer Admiral (ADM), gambler Bwin.Party (BPTY), security group G4S (GFS) and financial services group Standard Life (SL.).
Home improvement retail giant Kingfisher (KGF) falls 7.1p to 412.9p as half-year results show taxable profits off 2% at £365 million, in-line with consensus. A modest 1% increase in the dividend to 3.12p despite a good cashflow performance from the B&Q and Screwfix brand-owner disappoints and investors book profits after a good run.
Strong full-year results from Barratt Developments (BDEV) saw shares fall 2.9% to 322.8p as investors took profits. Group revenues rose by 12.2% for the full year to £2.6 billion while margins rose 9.7% as average selling prices increased to £194,800.
Chocolatier Thorntons (THT) melts 3p to 87p despite serving up forecast-busting full-year figures which trigger yet another round of forecast upgrades. For the year to 29 June, the £61.5 million cap delivers dramatically improved adjusted taxable profits of £5.6 million as well as a better-than-expected £1.6 million net debt reduction to £27.5 million.
Wealth manager Brooks Macdonald (BRK:AIM) rises 1.8% to £13.93 on the back of warmly-received finals. The £183 million cap revealed statutory pre-tax profits up 22% to £10.4 million from 2012?s £8.5 million, with total funds under management at £5.1 billion, 45% ahead of last year?s £3.5 billion closing balance.
Iron ore producer African Minerals (AMI:AIM) falls 15% to 166.25p on disappointing half-year results and fines by its Chinese partner for warranty breaches and not fulfilling production guarantees under its $1.5 billion investment agreement.
No sooner had the chief executive officer been shown the door following a troubled time for the business, African Barrick Gold (ABG) now reveals its chief operating officer is also leaving. That sends the shares down 7.1% to 154.6p.
Mariana Resources (MARL:AIM) jumps 15.9% to 3.28p after getting approval from Peru's mines ministry to drill up to 20 holes at its Condor de Oro project.
Machine tools business 600 (SIXH:AIM) cranks up 15.9% to 18.25p on news of an approach from China's Qingdao D&D investment group. The latter has until 5pm on 9 October to announce a firm intention to make an offer.
Russian oil producer Petroneft (PTR:AIM) advances 3.3% to 3.15p on news it has kept production from its two licences in the country steady at 2,500 barrels of oil per day.
Plastics technology firm Symphony Environmental (SYM:AIM) gains 12.5% to 6.75p as interims reveal a narrowed pre-tax loss of £150,000 (2012: £690,000). Last month (21 Aug) the shares soared as the group secured a five year supply and marketing agreement with Janssen Pharmaceutica, a division of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ:NYSE), one of the world's largest pharmaceutical groups.
Hydrogen fuel cell developer ITM Power (ITM:AIM) rallies nearly 5% to 37.25p after securing its first re-fuelling deal in the US.
Electricity from gas developer Alkane Energy (ALK:AIM) has more than doubled full-year revenues and delivered a 44% hike in output capacity. Yet investors don't seem to care, the shares barely moving at 41.5p. It is worth noting that the stock has rallied over 30% since mid-June, however.
Massive changes over the past year cloud the underlying picture for telecoms services supplier Redstone (RED:AIM). But trying to hit higher margin solutions will be easier said than done, which possibly explains why the shares in the £5.5 million microcap stay flat at 0.88p.
