£200 million boost for Renishaw founders
The octogenarian co-founders of Renishaw saw the value of their stake soar after the precision engineering group delivered an upbeat assessment of the months ahead.
Sir David McMurty, 83, and John Deer, 86, set up the company in 1973 and are still on the board today as chairman and deputy chairman respectively.
The FTSe 250 group reported a challenging half-year with revenues down 5pc to £330.5m in the six months to the end of December and profits fell 27pc to £56.5m.
But Renishaw chief executive William Lee said ‘ we expect an improvement in our trading performance in the second half of the financial year’.
It is now looking to make annual revenues of between £675m and £715m and a profit of £122m to £147m. This compares with analyst forecasts of £674m of revenues and £132m of profit. Shares soared 16pc, or 550p, to 3986p.
That sent the value of the combined 53pc stake held by McMurtry and Deer up £212m to £1.53bn. The pair put their shares up for sale in March 2021 and attracted interest from companies such as Siemens, hexagon and Schneider electric.
But months later they chose against selling the business and their stock after failing to find a suitable buyer.
Renishaw specialises in metal 3D printing which has been used by others to make products such as a titanium watch strap.
It also makes neurological products that help clinicians, including devices that can be implanted to treat patients who suffer from serious central nervous system (CNS) diseases.
The FTSE 100 rose 0.9pc, or 68.15 points, to 7681.01 and the FTSE 250 gained 0.8pc, or 152.79 points, to 19171.34.
Defence stocks were riding high. BAE Systems added 2.3pc, or 26.5p, to 1205.5p after it was upgraded by analysts at Bernstein and Rolls-Royce increased by 2.6pc, or 8p, to 317.8p, its highest level for nearly five years.
Prudential’s rating was raised by analysts at Barclays who expect the Asia-focused insurer to cash in on India’s growing insurance market. Shares rose 3.8pc, or 31.4p, to 849.2p.
But Ladbrokes and Coral owner Entain sank after Barclays flagged concerns over its recovery.
The broker said that the betting giant needs to see an improved performance for its online arm and in the US though neither are certain. Shares fell 2.4pc, or 23.8p, to 966p.
Sales at the electronics components business Discoverie slowed in the four months to the end of December. Shares dropped 0.5pc, or 4p, to 762p.
education publisher Pearson was on the slide. Analysts at Barclays warned that demand for its english Language tests could be affected by Canada’s plans to cap student visas and Australia seeking to reduce migration. Shares slipped 3pc, or 29p, to 939.6p. There was a triple dose of good news, however, for investors in GSK. The pharmaceuticals giant reported positive updates for its drugs that help to treat the blood cancer multiple myeloma, shingles and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) disease.
Despite the good news, shares fell 0.6pc, or 9.6p, to 1653p.
Beeks, the financial services group, enjoyed a great session after it announced that it has won two major contracts and expects its results for the next financial year to be ‘significantly ahead’ of previous forecasts. Shares surged 31.9pc, or 34.5p, to 142.5p.
Also on the rise was Futura Medical after the consumer healthcare company made its first revenues generated from product sales last year. Shares jumped 40.7pc, or 11.1p, to 38.8p.