Playtech (PTEC)

Cigarettes giant British American Tobacco (BATS) heads the FTSE 100 lower board on Monday following newspaper reports that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) wants to ban menthol cigarettes. The story emerged from the Wall Street Journal over the weekend and it has got investors in BAT worried, with shares in the group slumping 9% in early trade to £31.07. BAT owns Newport, which is the ...

So far in 2018 stocks under Canaccord Genuity’s leisure sector coverage have dropped by 10% on average. This miserable performance, which is worse than the wider market, begs the question of what is going on with this grouping of companies. Investors should note these companies are still profitable for the most part, but have struggled following slower than anticipated profit growth, profit ...

On track for one of its worst weeks this year, London’s FTSE 100 falls 10 points to 7,309 on Friday with the banking sector on the back foot and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Lloyds (LLOY) and Barclays (BARC) all marked lower. British Airways-owner International Consolidated Airlines (IAG) experiences turbulence, marked down 18p (2.6%) to 663.2p as investors weigh the ramifications of a ...

Gambling firm Playtech (PTEC) has struggled with fierce competition from China as new rivals entered the market with aggressive prices, dragging on earnings in the first half of 2018. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell 13% to €145m on declining sales in Asia, although this was in line with broker Shore Capital’s expectations. In ...

London’s FTSE 100 is off 0.78 points at 7,573.5 in early trading, the blue-chip benchmark seemingly ignoring the latest tit-for-tat tariffs between the US and China. Infrastructure giant John Laing (JLG) jumps 6.6% higher to 312.4p as first half results reveal growth in both profit before tax (PBT) and net asset value, bolstered by a gain on the sale of the company’s remaining ...

Shares in gambling firm Playtech (PTEC) have tumbled 27% to 549.6p after warning of a possible miss to expectations by €70m. This is the likely outcome if things do not improve significantly in its Asia business. The region has seen aggressive pricing from emerging rival businesses, putting profits under pressure. Broker Canaccord Genuity has been quick to slash its own forecast earnings ...

London’s FTSE 100 softens 70.2 points to 7,567 on Monday, the UK stock market following parts of Asia lower with weak oil prices dragging shares in Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB) and BP (BP.) lower, as well as many of the big mining stocks. Groceries goliath Tesco (TSCO) cheapens 0.9p to 255.8p, despite announcing a potentially interesting strategic alliance with France’s Carrefour, a likely ...

Demergers are back in fashion with five companies in the FTSE 350 index each preparing to split into two separately-listed entities. Another one has just completed its split and there are rumours that a further FTSE 350 stock could spin off one of its businesses. Unbundled companies often flourish because they have the freedom to be more entrepreneurial and not be part of a larger company where ...

Gambling software supplier Playtech’s (PTEC) €846m acquisition of Italian gaming operator Snaitech is a game-changer according to broker Numis. The company says Snaitech will help it establish a strong presence in Italy, which is Europe’s largest and growing gaming market with an underdeveloped online presence. Numis analyst Richard Stuber has hiked his earnings before ...

After a disappointing day on Friday, the FTSE 100 is building on the record high set last week, up 0.6% to 7,823.96. The weekend saw some progress on trade talks between the US and China. Ryanair (RYA) posts a 10% increase in annual profit after it carries more passengers and fills a greater proportion of seats on each flight. The budget carrier, however, says it expects profit to fall in ...

The FTSE 100 is down by 7 points to 7,250.03 as markets worry about the escalating tensions between major nations over the Syria conflict. Over 50s insurer and travel agent Saga (SAGA) ticks up 7.8% to 126.1p after posting a 1.4% increase in underlying pre-tax profits to £190.1m. The company is also proposing to hike its dividend for its year ending 31 January by 5.9% to 9p per share. Its ...

European shares are beating a retreat in early trading as a flurry of corporate results fail to lift sentiment after a new wave of speculation about faster hikes in U.S interest rates hit Wall Street and Asia and soured risk appetite globally. London’s FTSE 100 falls back 70 points to 7,212 on Thursday, a busy day of corporate news. Among the blue chips, banking giant Barclays (BARC) is bid ...

On a busy day of corporate reporting, Howden Joinery’s (HWDN) shares rise 7% to 441.2p on a good trading update covering the period from 12 June to 28 October. There is a greater emphasis on driving volume over price. The fact the kitchens seller has maintained full year earnings guidance is impressive given a patchy consumer backdrop and other ‘big ticket’ retailers issuing profit ...

It is a typical red flag when a company starts talking about second half weighted earnings. It’s basically City speak for ‘things haven’t gone quite as well as we hoped, but don’t panic, we can pick up the slack in the latter half of the year.’ This can leave companies facing a mountain to climb in terms of achieving forecast earnings. Sometimes companies can obtain the ...

The FTSE 100 opens 12.45 points higher at 7,395 despite many global equity markets being in the red. The main US exchanges all finished down while the only Asian exchange to move up was Hong Kong’s Hang Seng. Heading UK corporate news is a profit warning from high street favourite Dixons Carphone (DC.). Its shares slide by 27.3% to 171.1p on releasing a worrying trading update for the 13 ...

Israeli investor Teddy Sagi will take Camden market-owner and e-commerce business Market Tech (MKT) private after persistent share price underperformance. The billionaire behind FTSE 250 gaming company Playtech (PTEC), has agreed a 188p per share deal for the 29% stake not already owned by LabTech, the investment vehicle owned by Sagi. That values Market Tech at £892.5m, prompting the share ...

Teddy Sagi, founder of gaming technology outfit Playtech (PTEC), banked £330m after selling a 12% stake in the gaming technology specialist. Investment bank UBS conducted the sale which initially aimed to find buyers for 10% of the company’s shares. UBS said ‘strong demand’ from institutional investors helped Sagi secure his 12% disposal though it’s worth noting the deal completed at ...

Shares in gaming tech firm Playtech (PTEC) have declined 8% to 848p after major shareholder and founder Teddy Sagi sold 38.7 million shares for £330m, comprising approximately 12% of the company. The shares were sold at 850p which is a 7.8% discount to last night's closing price of 922p. Sagi is selling his stake in order to further diversify his investment portfolio, although he will ...

The FTSE 100 shrugs off weakness in banking and resources stocks to move 10.27 points higher at 6,782.27. State-owned banking group Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is down 2.6% to 192p as it emerges as the main loser in the latest Bank of England stress test. The company needs to raise at least £2bn of extra capital. Barclays (BARC) and Standard Chartered (STAN) are broadly unchanged as the ...

Gambling and trading platform developer Playtech (PTEC) has agreed to acquire brokerage services firm Consolidated Financial Holdings (CFH) for up to $120m. Investors are buying in on the deal because it will add bolster the developer’s business-to-buisness (B2B) offering. That's put 3.6% on to the share price at 914p. Playtech is initially buying a controlling 70% stake in CFH although ...