Shares erupt as molten metal giant’s sales sizzle

THERE was an eruption in the shares of molten metal specialist Vesuvius yesterday after it was lifted by a surge in steel production in the first three months of the year.

The firm, which mainly supplies the steel industry, had a strong quarter, with production jumping by 5.7pc from the same period in 2016. Despite adding £130.2m to its value yesterday, the firm said it expects growth to fall as its results came from such a low base.

Steel production fell over 2015 and the beginning of 2016 due to costly climate change policies and cheap imports from China.

Vesuvius said it had since benefited from sterling’s weakness and has made additional savings of £5m as a result of an ongoing restructuring programme. Shares rose 8.8pc, or 48p, to 591p.

The FTSE 100 continued to rally after hitting a one-month high in the previous session, advancing 0.6pc, or 43.03 points, to 7385.24.

The index was buoyed by a strong day for retailers, with Asso

ciated British Foods, the owner of Primark, rising by 2.4pc, or 67p, to 2877p following its upgrade to ‘buy’ by Citigroup.

Likewise, Next was up 1.7pc, or 72p, to 4401p after receiving a rare ‘buy’ rating from Investec.

Marks and Spencer rose 0.8pc, or 3.1p, to 383.1p, after Deutsche Bank and Citigroup both raised their price targets for the stock.

Aviva progressed after cutting its Spanish presence to focus on more profitable markets.

The insurer raised £403m by selling its 50pc holding in two life insurance joint ventures and completely selling its retail life insur-

ance business to the Spanish insurer Santalucia.

As well as reviewing its Spanish presence, Aviva has already sold part of its French business this year and is conducting a review of its operations in Taiwan.

Shares climbed by 1.2pc, or 6.5p, to 542p.

Paddy Power Betfair edged down slightly after its announcement of a £37m entry into the fantasy sports market.

The Ireland-based betting company has bought US start-up website Draft, which runs online sports leagues for users to play against their friends.

It has paid £14.7m up front for the company, with up to £22.4m payable over the next four years, depending on Draft’s performance. Draft is expected to post a £15.5m operating loss this financial year after increasing its marketing expenditure.

Paddy Power Betfair shares fell 0.6pc, or 50p, to 8325p. Ship broker Braemar Shipping

Services fell to the bottom of the FTSE Small Cap index after weak global trading conditions hit fullyear performance.

Revenues for the year ended February 28 came in at £139.8m, down from £159.1m the previous year, while profits fell to £3.5m from £13.8m.

As previously announced, the firm’s technical division was hit by a reduction in shipping activity around the world due to weak oil and gas prices.

But it expects a recently completed restructuring of the division to cut costs by an estimated £6m a year.

The company proposed a final dividend of 5p per share, giving a full-year dividend per share of 14p, down from 26p the previous year.

Trading picked up later in the day after investment research firm Edison praised Braemar’s business model.

Although the results remain ahead of the company’s revised market expectations, Braemar’s shares closed down by 3.5pc, or 11.25p, at 308.75p.