Norway ferry deal sends Rolls-Royce to 2-year high
SHARES in Rolls-Royce sailed to their highest price for nearly two years after the firm secured a key deal to build control systems for two hybrid ferries.
The troubled engineer topped the FTSE 100 leaderboard after announcing it will equip the two vessels with an automated crossing system to transport them across a Norwegian fjord.
The ships are expected to hit the water in January 2019. Rolls is up nearly 25pc since a £671m fine in January to settle bribery and corruption claims. Shares rose 2.5pc, or 20p, to 830.5p, the highest since July 2015.
Fellow engineer Meggitt enjoyed a strong session after an upgrade from Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The firm, which provides components to the aerospace and defence markets, was called an attractive cash growth story and given a ‘ buy’ rating. Shares rose 3pc, or 13.6p, to 460.5p.
The FTSE 100 fell 0.2pc, or 16.51 points, to 7348.99. Supermarkets were among the losers after fig- ures from Tesco disappointed. Despite the first rise in sales for seven years, Tesco shares fell 5.7pc, or 11.2p, to 184.4p, while J
Sainsbury slipped 2.7pc, or 7.1p, to 257.9p, and Morrisons was down 1.7pc, or 4.1p, to 232p.
The recruitment sector rally sparked by a record quarter at headhunter Robert Walters this week also continued, with
PageGroup topping the FTSE 250. The hiring firm saw profits hit a record £170.3m in the first quarter, up from £142.2m in the same period last year.
Growth soared in every region apart from the UK, where profits fell 0.1pc as Brexit fears hit recruit- ment activity. Its fortunes also fed into rival Hays, which releases numbers today, putting it among the top mid-cap risers.
Page Group soared 7.1pc, or 31.5p, to 475.4p, while Hays rose 3.4pc, or 5.6p, to 168.2p.
Indian fashion retailer Koovs rose 1.7pc, or 0.75p, to 46.25p, after launching a pop art-inspired range of clothes with Disney.
The collection is the first in a series of ranges set to be rolled out with the US giant this year.
It represents a reversal of fortunes for Koovs, which has been plagued by investors’ concerns over the demonetisation of the Indian currency despite recently reporting strong results. Lebanese restaurant chain
Comptoir Group tanked as it reduced restaurant openings slated for 2018 after taking fewer diners in January and February.
The group – which runs the Comptoir Libanais restaurant chain – said financial performance is likely to be hit in 2018 but it will open more restaurants next year if market conditions allow. Shares fell 12.8pc, or 6.5p, to 44.5p.
Pan African Resources inched down as it secured £40.8m in the largest secondary fundraise for a gold company this year. The firm placed more than 291m shares at 14p each, a 12.5pc discount to its share price of 16p at market close yesterday. The money will fund a processing plant in South Africa expected to add 45,000 ounces of gold a year to the existing 200,000ounce output. Shares fell 1.6pc, or 0.25p, to 15.75p. Ten Entertainment Group, the UK’s second largest ten-pin bowling operator with 40 sites, joined the stock market in London with its shares at 165p each.
It raised £26.8m by selling 25pc of the company to investors, giving it a market cap of £107.25m.
Ten Entertainment, which operates the Tenpin brand, was previously known as Essenden and was listed from 2009 until 2015, when it was taken off the market by private equity firm Harwood Capital. Harwood retains a 69.4pc stake.