Investors in deep water after Gulf Marine delay
AFTER an already difficult year, the last thing Gulf
Marine Services investors would have wanted yesterday was more turbulence. But that is exactly what they got.
The troubled firm delayed publishing its half-year results while it continues talks with one of its lenders about a short-term loan – but pledged to release the figures by the end of September.
The oilfield services contractor has a staggering debt pile – more than £300m at the end of 2018 – for a small-cap firm and is planning a longer-term restructuring of its finances.
The Abu Dhabi-based firm operates support vessels that service deepwater oil and gas rigs and offshore wind farms.
It was stung when it made investments to build a range of new boats before the oil price crash of 2014 and 2015, which then put customers off using expensive services such as those offered by Gulf Marine. In December it released a profit warning that hammered its share price and so far this year it suffered a bruising investor revolt against its 2018 executive pay in May, following which chief executive Duncan Anderson left last month.
The company’s shares sank 18.7pc, or 1.37p, to 5.95p.
Meanwhile, Capital & Regional soared after South African real estate firm Growthpoint Properties kicked off talks to buy a majority stake in the British shopping centre owner.
Growthpoint has made its approach at a time when Britain’s malls have been hammered by struggles in the retail sector, which have led to mass shop closures and falling rents.
Rival firm Intu surged on Monday after reports at the weekend that private equity firm Orion Capital Managers is mulling a buyout. Shares in Capital & Regional, which owns eight shopping centres, surged 12.2pc, up 2.02p, to 18.52p.
Its peers seemed to be buoyed by the news, with Intu closing up 9.8pc, of 4.08p, at 45.78p, and retail property group Newriver rising 6.1pc, or 10.4p, to 181.8p.
Global stocks were buoyant as China waived tariffs on some US goods for the first time since its trade spat with the US began, helping lift the FTSE 100 by 1pc, or 70.08 points, to 7338.03 points. But it was the mid- cap FTSE
250, which ended 1.2pc, or 243.3 points, higher at 19,982.16, that seemed to be bursting with news.
Galliford Try stock was seemingly immune to the news that the costs of a bypass in Aberdeen have taken a hefty chunk out of its profits.
The FTSE 250 construction giant’s profit dropped to £105m for the 12 months to the end of June, compared with £144m the year before – and revenues fell from £2.9bn to £2.7bn.
But the news on Tuesday that it is planning to merge its housebuilding arm with Bovis’s equivalent division was still working its charm on Galliford’s shares, which closed up 2.4pc, or 16p, to 680p.
Waste collector Biffa lost ground after it scooped up two small businesses for a total of £2.9m and reassured investors its full-year guidance is unchanged.
It shares fell 1.6pc, or 3.5p, to 218.5p yesterday.
Chemring advanced 4.2pc, or 7.6p, to 189.2p, after it won four contracts with the US navy and air force. And mid- cap investment firm
Man Group rose 0.9pc, or 1.5p, to 170.1p, after it announced president Jonathan Sorrell will be leaving for a rival asset manager.
The former Booker Prize sponsor declined to say where Sorrell, the progeny of ad kingpin Sir Martin Sorrell, will go next.