London’s FTSE 100 eases off 43.7 points to 7,245 following overnight softness on Wall Street and in Asia, as markets doubted whether US President Donald Trump would get his tax reforms, including paring of the corporate rate, past Congress.
A 1.4% rise in underlying first quarter profit to £2.08bn helps to put a shine on Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY). Another interesting part of the results is the very healthy 15.1% underlying return on tangible equity figure. The market likes the news, sending its shares up 2.9% to 69.38p.
Drug development firm Synairgen (SNG:AIM) collapses 44% to 14.5p after FTSE 100 partner AstraZeneca (AZN) gives up on the small’s caps AZD9412 immune system treatment and hands back the rights to it. This follows analysis of the treatment’s Phase IIa study data.
FTSE 250 textile services group Berendsen (BRSN) rises 3.1% to 847.5p following a solid trading update. Gains in mainland Europe more than offset an expected decline in its UK textile operations. Coinciding with this update is news that chief financial officer Kevin Quinn will retire from Berendsen in a year’s time.
Georgian Mining (GEO:AIM) soars by 13% to 15.11p after reporting yet another set of very high quality drill results from its KB copper/gold project. Its shares are now up 90% year-to-date as a direct result of positive exploration results.
Small cap restaurateur Richoux (RIC:AIM) joins the ranks of casual dining businesses experiencing a bad start to 2017. Refurbishment work on some of its restaurants has also disrupted trading. To make matters even worse, it has flagged the desperate need to raise new money; news of which sends its share price down 13% to 23.89p.
Online fashion retailer N Brown (BWNG) perks up 4.25p to 230.75p on better than expected full year results revealing a best performance for almost a decade in ladieswear, powered by its JD Williams and Simply Be brands. The retailer also reports a tie-up with Tesco (TSCO) for Simply Be and Jacamo products and an ‘encouraging’ start to the new financial year, albeit the retail backdrop is tough.
Private healthcare play Mediclinic (MDC) is marked up almost 14% to 830p as investors bet on a boost to its business in the United Arab Emirates. The Crown Price of Abu Dhabi has ordered the waiving of a 20% co-payment for holders of a Thiqa medical insurance card when receiving treatment at Abu Dhabi private healthcare facilities.
Car dealer Pendragon (PDG) motors 3.7% ahead to 35p as CEO Trevor Finn flags a strong start to 2017 with ‘significant growth’ in its used car and aftersales operations. Pendragon also received over 8m visitors to its Evanshalshaw and Stratstone websites in the first quarter as its online business continues to grow.
Recruiter Harvey Nash (HVN) improves 3.8% to 71.75p on news of a 16% hike in revenues for the year to January. The group delivered a strong performance despite a challenging economic backdrop in some its markets, not least the UK, and it has started the current year marginally ahead of forecasts.
