Top scores for product tester as profits rise 28pc
A ROSY day for heavyweight British companies saw quality assurance specialist Intertek leap to record highs.
The blue- chip business, which checks products ranging from cars to children’s toys, said a thumping profits surge was thanks to a rise in big companies calling it in to scrutinise their wares.
Profits were up by 27.9pc to £190.8m for the six months to the end of June, the company said.
Shares rose 9.2pc, or 394p, to 4695p after the announcement.
Intertek has seen rapid growth in recent years as regulators have demanded more stringent approaches, particularly after high-profile fiascos such as the Volkswagen emissions scandal.
Chief executive Andre Lacroix said: ‘The £189bn global quality assurance industry has attractive structural growth prospects… We are uniquely positioned to seize these exciting growth opportunities with our total quality assurance value proposition.’
It was a good day for several FTSE giants, with strong results also posted by Rolls-Royce (10.2pc or 91p up at 979p), BP (up 2.4pc or 10.65p at 456.45p) and Direct
line (up 5.4pc or 20.4p to 395p) cheering investors and spurring a market rally.
The FTSe 100 rose 0.7pc, or by 51.66 points, to 7423.66 points as the blue-chip firms revealed their positive figures, offsetting drag from the strengthening pound.
HSBC was also up 1pc, or 7.8p, to 764.8p, continuing a rally on Asian markets overnight.
It was a torrid day for others, however. AIM-listed cake decoration firm Real Good Food was left in a sticky spot when a profit warn- ing caused its shares to tumble by more than a third. Despite posting a positive update last month, the company yesterday said an audit had uncovered accounting problems with sugar purchases and development costs.
It said the total impact on earnings would be about £2m for the year to the end of March 2017, with final results for the period delayed until the end of this month.
As shares plunged by 35pc, or 12.25p, to 22.75p, it was also announced that non- executive director Peter Salter had resigned.
Some delays to expansion plans were also likely to dent earnings in 2018 by £2.3m, but it added: ‘The anticipated benefits of these projects remain robust and are expected to be fully realised.’
Meanwhile, e-sports tournament organiser Gfinity had a turbulent day despite revealing it had struck a deal with BT Sport.
Its first season of the Elite Series, which pits professional gamers against each other on titles including Street Fighter, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Rocket League, started broadcasting on the channel yesterday.
However, shares in the AIMlisted company fell 1.6pc, or 0.38p, to 22.62p. The announcement came on the heels of another tieup between the company and the BBC to feature the series on online channel BBC Three.
Sound energy, also listed on the junior market, fared better with a bump in shares.
The British oil and gas explorer rose 4.4pc or 1.75p to 41.5p after confirming it had gained outline approval from authorities in eastern Morocco for the route of a new gas export pipeline. Bosses said it brought the company another step closer to making a gas discovery at Tendrara profitable.
Oil industry analyst Malcolm Graham-Wood, of Interactive Investor, said: ‘This is good news and to an extent shows the value of having good relationships with the important people locally, developed through extensive local social policies.’