Stanley Gibbons failing to coin it
Coin and stamp dealer Stanley Gibbons has been around since 1856 and has a royal warrant from the Queen. Yet it’s another wellknown established name to be caught up in Asia’s market turmoil. Shares collapsed a further 9p or 13pc to a low of 59.5p after the board came clean and said the pips are squeaking big time or, in its own words, ‘it is considering a number of fundraising options to reinforce its working capital position’.
A fresh injection of cash, or fundraising, is one option, but the discount to the group’s net asset value makes that relatively unattractive compared with alternatives. in november, Gibbons scrapped its interim dividend as profits crashed to £0.4m from £3.7m. Debts at the half-year totalled £17m. it then said that the weakness in Asia and difficult market conditions for some of its higher-value stock would affect full-year figures.
Dealers now suggest a heavily discounted rights issue must be rubber-stamped for the group to make progress. To do that the Gibbons board needs to get major shareholders – including Henderson Global, Artemis, FIL, Standard Life and invesco – on side.
Digital-printing firm Xaar jumped 49p or almost 11pc to 500p after a much better-thanexpected year-end update. Profitability was higher than expected because of improved plant efficiency in both Sweden and Huntingdon. Broker n+1 Singer lifted its 2015 pre-tax profit forecast 10pc to £19.1m. net cash rose to £70m or 91p per share.
Connect Group, the former Smith news newspaper and magazines distributor, was u[ 2p to 168.5p after an upbeat trading statement and news that online fashion retailer ASOS (56p better at 3180p) has signed up as the second customer for Pass My Parcel, the group’s Click & Collect service.
Connect’s shares soared in october when the company announced that American e-commerce giant Amazon was its first customer for the same-day delivery service in the UK. The agreement enabled online shoppers to pick up orders from their local newsagent within hours. ASOS is initially offering this package in 20 outlets and will roll it out across its remaining 3,000 outlets over the coming months.
Surprisingly upbeat Chinese trade data in December showing that exports eased to a 1.4pc year-on-year decline from a fall of 6.8pc previously, helped the London market to improve on Tuesday’s rally. The FTSE 100 rose 31.73 points to 5960.97 and the FTSE 250 edged up 7.86 points to 16,695.77. Wall Street lost an initial 70-point gain to close 364.81 points down at 16,151.41 as the oil price tumbled below $30 a barrel for the first time since early 2004 after data showed a bigger-thanexpected increase in US crude stockpiles last week.
Provident Financial fell 69p to 3160p on a Liberum Capital sell recommendation and target price of 2459p. The broker says its premium to the market has been justified in recent years because of the great success of Vanquis Bank, the sub-prime credit card business. However, it is concerned by aggressive growth in this division and now detects a more competitive environment.
Satellite TV giant Sky shed 20p to 1083p after Haitong Research initiated coverage with a sell and fair value price of 875p. The broker expects BT and ofcom to increase pressure on Sky’s pricing power in the UK, which will still generate 76pc of group earnings in 2018. Vodafone (up 1.2p at 222.5p) has joined those lobbying ofcom to, in effect, restrain Sky’s progress over here and may also bid against Sky for top football rights in Germany this year.
Vague takeover gossip prompted a 13.8p gain to 237.4p at supports services group Electrocomponents. Reports of a pending bearish circular dragged Mitie Group 20.2p down to 280.8p and BBA Aviation lost 10.9p to 171.5p despite a Citigroup buy recommendation. iron ore pellet producer with mines in the Ukraine, Ferrexpo, fell 2.25p or 10pc to 19.75p as the continuing weakness in the iron ore price caused some nervous selling.
Energy Assets, the gas & electricity metering service provider, jumped 33.75p to 519p on a strong third-quarter trading statement. Total revenue increased 22pc to £31.5m and the group’s owned and managed asset portfolio has risen by 23,000 since the half year to 427,000.
Aminex edged up 0.25p to 1.75p after the Africa-focused oil and gas firm announced a landmark gas sales agreement with the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation for its Kiliwani north gas field.
Fusionex International was up 5p to 330p after announcing it has secured its first enterprise win for its Big Data analytics software, Fusionex insights, in the fast-growing medical analytics market. The contract is with a hospital, based in Asia, which provides medical and rehabilitative services. Panmure Gordon remains a buyer ahead of the annual results on January 21.
÷ SHRUGGING off news of chief executive Jeremy Stafford’s surprise resignation for personal reasons, John Menzies rose 20.25p to 408p. The board is not looking for a successor and will return to the tri-partite structure in place before Stafford’s appointment in October 2014. Trading has continued in line with expectations and it is confident of meeting forecasts for 2015. Peel Hunt’s target price is 535p.