Broker directs Fusionex flurry
‘THEY smashed it!’ were the first three words on a ‘flash’ note on Fusionex International written for Panmure Gordon’s clients by its award-winning technology analyst George O’Connor yesterday morning after the broker had successfully and exclusively masterminded a heavily oversubscribed £13.975m placing of 4.3m shares at 325p a pop with institutional investors.
Together with a trading update announcing that results for the year ended-September will be ahead of market expectations, it helped the shares jump 32.5p or nearly 10pc to 362.5p.
O’Connor lifted his target price to 722p from 692p and said that proceeds of the placing will be used to dramatically accelerate the growth of the business compared with current market expectations.
Fusionex launched its Big Data Analytics Software GIANT in December 2013 and continues to attract major new clients.
It has made significant progress securing new client mandates in addition to further broadening its geographical reach, particularly in the Asia Pacific region.
O’Connor is of the opinion that Fusionex is one of AIM’s most exciting technology ‘plays’, and it is atypical among its peer group: it is well established, generates cash and profits, pays a dividend and is ‘born global’.
Which is more than can be said for its lossmaking Big Data rival WANdisco. It closed 2p easier at 121.5p and a million miles away from its early December 2013 peak of 1549p amid growing speculation that a fund-raising could be just around the corner.
After weak US retail sales figures on Wednesday suggested the Federal Reserve will not now raise US interest rates until next year, the Footsie rallied 69.06 points to 6338.67. Dealers are confident that the Bank of England will not make a move on domestic rates before the Fed shows its hand across the Pond. Revived US bid gossip lifted chip designer ARM Holdings 46.5p to 979.5p. Apple and Intel have often been mentioned in the same breath as ARM.
Shares of the London Stock Exchange jumped £1 to 2475p amid speculation about what plans the Qatar Investment Authority may have for its 10.3pc stake in the premier bourse. The Qataris have recently sold its stakes i n German construction group Hochtief and Vinci, building a significant war chest in the process.
Irish drugs giant Shire rose 54p to 4375p as shares of American bone-disease specialist Radius advanced 3pc to $56-plus in New York. Speculation suggested that if Shire’s $30bn offer for Baxalta eventually fails, Shire will make a move for Radius. Shire’s board became pro-active after it almost succumbed to a £34bn bid from AbbVie last year.
Numero uno spread betting firm IG Group rose 12.5p to 734p following an upbeat AGM. Word is IG is trading its socks off. Broker Numis was dismissive of a newspaper report suggesting that City regulator the FCA has ordered fresh scrutiny of spread betting and all providers of contracts for difference or CFDs. Analyst James Hamilton said: ‘We do not believe there is any specific review being undertaken and if there is the market leader IG is unaware of it.’
Precision engineer Renishaw advanced 146p to 2036p despite cutting its full-year revenue forecast, citing a difficulty in predicting large orders this year. Revenue for 2016 would now be between £440m and £465m, down from an earlier range of £460m to £485m.
Sellers dragged Carclo 20.25p down to 126.5p after the company warned that likely delays to Volkswagen’s flagship luxury vehicle will mean full-year results will miss expectations.
Blinkx put on 1.25p to 27.5p after Martin Hughes’ Toscafund lifted its stake to 25pc.
Gulf Keystone Petroleum improved 1.5p to 30.5p after receiving a gross payment of £7.8m for Shaikan crude oil exports. The October 2015 payment follows a similar payment in September and is in line with the statements made by the Kurdistan Regional Government in August and September regarding regular payments to the exporting international oil companies in the region.
Barclays reckons online retailer ASOS is back in fashion and lifted its target price to £45 from £42. The shares responded with a gain of 67p to 2997p. The broker believes sales growth can accelerate on price investments, while earnings margin is unlikely to fall below 4pc and can expand in the next two years without jeopardizing sales growth.
Zytronic, a developer and manufacturer of a range of touch sensor products, advanced 45.5p to 349p after saying full-year profits will be materially ahead of analysts’ forecasts. Retailer Scholium rose 15.5p to 44p after reporting it expects to show a substantial increase in turnover and a return to profitability in the first-half of the year.