Gold miner glistens on hopes of African deal
A gold miner accused of lying to the Tanzanian government enjoyed a lift yesterday after it said it was ‘hopeful’ of getting an export ban lifted.
Acacia Mining, Tanzania’s largest gold miner, has lost £11.7m a month since March, when the country banned the export of gold concentrate, which accounts for 30pc of Acacia’s revenues.
A government investigation even saw the firm accused of undervaluing the gold content of its concentrate by as much as 10 times, which led shares to fall 30pc.
Acacia strongly denies the accusations, arguing that, if true, they would make the firm the third biggest gold miner in the world, producing more than 3m ounces of gold a year from just two mines.
The miner’s efforts to lift the ban have so far been unsuccessful.
But yesterday, the firm said it could still reach an agreement with the government, and refused to make any changes to its fullyear guidance, despite losses. After leading the FTSE 350 throughout much of the day’s trading, Acacia’s shares fell off a little during the afternoon but closed up 2.1pc, or 5.9p, to 289.4p.
The FTSE 100 hit another new record high as stocks were lifted by a wave of positive economic data but the index failed to beat its record closing high, finishing up 0.05pc, or 3.86 points, to 7547.63.
Investment firm Old Mutual topped the index following its acquisition of financial adviser network Caerus, which employs more than 300 advisers and looks after more than £4bn. It rose 3.3pc, or 6.3p, to 197p.
gas and electricity distributor
National Grid fell as it started to buy back £835m worth of shares.
It will do so in two stages, with the first starting yesterday and running no later than december 27. The company wants to give money back to shareholders after it sold a 61pc stake in its UK gas distribution business.
A consortium led by Macquarie paid around £13.8bn for the business in March. Shares fell 1.5pc, or 16p, to 1034p. Chilean mining company Antof
agasta lost out after copper prices dropped by more than 1.3pc. Its shares fell by 1.5pc, or 12.5p, to 805p.
Meanwhile, a drop of more than 1pc in the price of crude oil hit producers of the black stuff across the board. Tullow Oil led losses in the FTSE 350 by a significant margin, down 5.4pc, or 10p, to 176p, while Cairn Energy fell 3.2pc, or 6.5p, to 196.3p, and Premier Oil fell 5.2pc, or 3p, to 55p. In small-cap land, car parts firm
TT Electronics led gains after broker Berenberg raised its target price for the stock to 235p from 150p and raised it to ‘ Buy’ from ‘Hold’. TT makes sensors, controls and electromagnets used in planes, cars and hospitals.
Berenberg said TT will benefit from growing demand for automation and connectivity in its industry, and said it is being undervalued by the market. Fittingly, shares then rose 5.1pc, or 10p, to 206.25p.
In the junior market, spreadbetting company Plus500 reported strong performance despite a drop in market volatility. The firm tends to benefit from high levels of volatility because this can be used by its customers – mainly traders – to make money.
The company also announced that it will buy back up to £7.8m of its shares. They rose 6.5pc, or 33.5p, to 552.5p.
Big data firm Fusionex crashed to another new low as investors continued to flee as a result of the company’s plans to go private.
It fell 8.9pc, or 3.75p, to 38.5p, and is down 70.5pc since Monday.