FTSE 250 pharma group Indivior (INDV) has warned of a threat to a key product following a legal setback, sending its shares plummeting 35.7% to 267.95p. The company will appeal a US court ruling which says a proposed generic opioid addiction by Dr Reddy’s does not infringe any of Indivior’s patents. The pharma group says the launch of a direct generate substitute to its Suboxone product could see it lose up to 80% of its market share within a matter of months.
Pawnbroker Ramsdens (RFX:AIM) says half year and full year pre-tax profit will now be ‘significantly ahead’ of market expectations. It has benefited from strong summer trading, a rising gold price boosting its precious metals buying and pawnbroking operations, and from jewellery retail initiatives. Its shares jump 16.7% to 167.5p. Read this article to learn why we rate Ramsdens as one of the best small caps on the market at the moment.
A five year master supply agreement puts the spotlight on EG Solutions (EGS:AIM) and sends its shares up 6.6% to 145p. The deal is with an existing (unnamed) customer and makes EG Solutions the preferred supplier of back office workforce optimisation solutions for at least five years. The contract is valued at a minimum of £8.12m.
Healthcare-focused investment trust Syncona (SYNC) says investee business Nightstar is to float on the Nasdaq stock market in the US. Nightstar is a clinical-stage gene therapy firm.
Electronics group Stadium (SDM:AIM) is to pay £2.8m for PowerPax UK, a business serving the industrial power supply market. The company says it will see the full financial benefits of the acquisition from 2018 onwards. Investors like the news, sending its shares up 4% to 131p.
Eland Oil & Gas’ (ELA:AIM) latest production report is described as ‘solid’ by Canaccord Genuity analyst Charlie Sharp who expects further good news in the next couple of months. He has a 90p share price target, implying nearly 60% upside from the current 56.63p price over the next 12 months. Eland says it has produced more than 1m barrels of crude oil gross from its OML 40 field in the past three months.
Zoopla’s parent company ZPG (ZPG) has bought marketing services firm Ravensworth which provides print services for more than 4,500 estate agent branches in the UK.
Car seller Vertu Motors (VTU) has reassured the market that trading is in line with expectations. It has undertaken a sale and leaseback of freehold property on a dealership in Leeds. The £14m sales price is higher than the £10m book value of the property.
The market is disappointed with half year results from TechFinancials (TECH:AIM) which provides technology to financial trading brokers. Its shares fall 3.7% to 6.5p after revealing that revenue, profit, gross margin, cash and earnings per share have all declined in the six month period. The company blames the poor performance on losing its largest customer and tougher regulation in Europe which has impacted demand for its B2B software licensing operations.
Cinema operator Everyman Media (EMAN) has moved into profit for the six months of 2017 versus the same period last year. It has reported £783,000 pre-tax profit on sales of £18.8m. Current trading is said to be fine and plans are in place to open new sites in York, Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow and London. The leisure company’s shares rise 3.2% to 162.5p.
