Balfour Beatty climbs on £100m buyback plans
ConstruCtion group Balfour Beatty soared following a set of solid results as it plans to return £100m to investors.
the FtsE 250 company, which develops and funds public and private infrastructure projects in the uK, us and Hong Kong, said orders improved late last year as interest rates steadied.
Group revenues rose 7pc to £9.6bn, while profits fell 15pc to £244m. Balfour Beatty wants to buy £100m worth of shares back from investors, which means it will have returned more than £750m to them since 2021.
shares gained 9.5pc, or 32.2p, to 372p amid hopes that it can cash in on the green energy transition in the uK alongside its ambitions to strengthen the nation’s power networks.
the FTSE 100 rose 0.3pc, or 24.36 points, to 7772.17 and the
was down 0.01pc, or 1.29 points, to 19,563.92, as figures showed the uK returned to growth as GDP rose 0.2pc between December and January.
Anglo American remained optimistic over the industry’s recovery this year.
its De Beers arm, which mines in Botswana, Canada, namibia and south Africa, estimated it sold £336m worth of diamonds from the end of January to midMarch. that would be higher than the £292m it made during the previous sales cycle.
its shares rose 4.6pc, or 85.8p, to 1937p – but fellow miner Ferrexpo has delayed publishing its annual results, saying it needed more time to finalise its accounts following talks with its auditors and a legal case hanging over a business in ukraine.
the decision comes less than a month after Ferrexpo scrapped its proposed interim dividend due to the court case. shares plunged 4.1pc, or 2.25p, to 52.75p.
Rolls-Royce came within touching distance of closing at a record high. the jet engine maker’s stock peaked at 396.5p in January 2014 and yesterday climbed 0.5pc, or 2p, to 393.8p.
Musicmagpie sales slumped as the electronics reseller’s customers swapped buying DVDs for streaming content online.
Group revenues fell 6pc to £136.6m in the 12 months to the end of november while losses widened to £6.8m from £1.5m. that prompted the shares to drop 5.6pc, or 0.5p, to 8.5p.
Medical data analytics company Ixico nursed even heavier losses – and dipped by 14.7pc, or 1.25p, to 7.25p – after it warned that contract delays from biotech sponsors will hit revenues over the next two years.
And flooring firm Victoria said its annual sales and profits will be lower than expected due to weak consumer demand in Europe. it sank 9pc, or 22p, to 222p.
the Gym Group headed in the other direction, rising 4.9pc, or 5.4p, to 115p, after it said members were working out more.
it said that it had narrowed losses to £8.3m in 2023 – down from £19.4m the year before – while revenues increased by 18pc to £204m.
And it added that sales in the first two months of 2024 are 16pc up year-on-year.
KEYWORDS Studios has said a string of deals will help the video games developer hit £850m of revenues.
It bought five studios for £192m in 2023, and snapped up Digital Media Management, which promoted the summer blockbuster movie Barbie.
It posted a 13pc rise in revenue to £667m in 2023, and expects the industry to recover with player numbers rising and the mobile market returning to growth. Shares ticked up 0.2pc, or 2p, to 1372p.