Time Out plan for street markets in US disappoints

Investors were disappointed with Time Out’s first set of half year results since it listed on the stock market in June.

the AIM-listed firm behind the renowned listings magazine recorded an operating loss of £7.3m in the six months to June 30. revenue increased by 12pc to £15.1m and the firm said revenue of its new Market concept had doubled, with record levels of visitors.

the group is looking to roll out its time out Market concept, a venue for food, shops and culture in popular cities. the original Market is in Lisbon, Portugal and time out is looking to expand the format into other cities, with advanced discussions taking place in London and Porto and talks progressing well in new York and Miami.

time out said there is a high level of interest in other cities too. In its magazines, time out said digital advertising revenue was up 24pc, while print advertising fell 2pc. ecommerce revenue, including bookings of theatre, hotels, music, events and restaurants, grew 49pc. While the firm said results were in line with expectations, those hefty loss figures gave investors pause

for thought. shares dipped 0.4pc, or 0.5p, to 139.5p.

the FTSE 100 pulled back for a second day, finishing 0.15pc, or 10.37 points, lower at 6,807.67

A surprise arrival among the biggest risers of the day was Merlin Entertainments.

shares in the firm, which operates leisure brands including thorpe Park and Madame tussauds, climbed despite the group being hit with a £5m fine for failings over its smiler roller coaster at Alton towers.

Five people were seriously injured when the ride crashed in June 2015. Yesterday a judge said the ‘needless and avoidable’ accident was a ‘catastrophic failure’. Perhaps investors had feared a more severe punishment for Merlin? shares gained 1.4pc, or 6.3p, to 469.4p.

Sky was also among the top flight. It shares rose 1.6pc, or 13p, to 847.5p after broker Kepler Cheuvreux raised its rating on the stock from ‘hold’ to ‘buy’.

the miners made up much of the greatest fallers list, with Randgold the worst-performing falling 1.8pc or 140p to 7760p.

But it wasn’t the bottom of the heap. Standard Chartered fell 2.5pc, or 15.6p, to 610.1p amid reports that the firm faces a Us probe over an Indonesian investment.

United Utilities shares trickled up on a positive trading update.

the firm, which manages the water network in the north West and provides services to around 7m, said underlying profit for the first half is likely to be higher than last year. the business has improved its customer satisfaction rate over the past year and said investment plans which are being accelerated should further improve customer service.

the share Centre has a ‘buy’ rating on the stock. Investment research analyst Ian Forrest said the defensive firm with a healthy yield, which aims to increase dividends in line with inflation through to at least 2020 is particularly appealing as interest rates remain at rock bottom. shares surged 1pc, or 9.5p, to 995.5p.

EasyHotel shares slipped despite the completion of an acquisition in Ipswich. the budget hotel chain announced it had been granted planning permission for a 94-room hotel back in August.

Yesterday it completed on the freehold property, which it expects to open by July 2017. the firm is also developing locations in Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham with a site in Barcelona subject to planning permission. shares lost 1.7pc, or 1.5p, to 84.5p. Cloudtag climbed as it proposed a share subscription worth £550,000.

the business, which makes wearable fitness monitoring technology, wants to issue around 3.5m shares at a price of 15.5p each.

Cloudtag, whose products let users track their progress on weight-loss and fitness programs, expects the shares to begin trading on october 3. shares advanced 8.5pc, or 1.3p, to 15.88p.