Got MoneySupermarket shares? You’ll feel epic
Price comparison site MoneySupermarket looked epic – as its catchprase says – as shares soared on the back of a 12pc rise in revenue.
The business declared it was set for a record year as it delivered strong performance in the third quarter of the year, with business from insurance policies and home services leading the way.
its TravelSupermarket site – on which users can compare flights, hotels and car hire – saw revenue fall 5pc in the three months to September 30, compared with the same period last year. But the firm said a turnaround is on track, ready for the key January trading period. Lower interest rates on the High Street also held back savings and current account switching.
AJ Bell said the group’s energy business ‘maintained its impressive upward trajectory’; the firm ran a collective switch, which saw 180,000 households move supplier.
MoneySupermarket said group revenue for the first nine months of the year was £242.5m, up 10pc on last year.
chief investment officer Timothy Jones was obviously impressed by the results. He picked up 6,545 shares in the business yesterday under its share save scheme. Shares surged 10.3pc, or 27p to 288.9p. Brokers placed their bets as the
Ladbrokes Coral merger completed and the newly titled company began trading as a single entity with a market cap of around £2.6bn. The group is now the joint fifth largest online gambling business in the world by revenue, level with William Hill.
Morgan Stanley said it expects the firm to grow UK market share from 10.6pc to 12.1pc by 2019. it added increased scale should boost the firm’s earnings margin, but while there is significant value in the firm’s overseas operations, there are risks at home from regulation.
it has a target price on the stock of 190p. Shore capital has a ‘Buy’ rating on the bookies. The broker expects growth from most aspects of the business apart from gaming machines, which could be hit by new restrictions. Shares finished their first day up 2.7pc, or 3.6p at 137.2p.
The FTSE 100 fell 0.5pc, or 37.08 points to 6917.14. Standard Chartered was the greatest faller of the day as it became embroiled in a probe over business in china. Shares slipped 5.4pc, or 38.6p to 673.3p.
Sprue Aegis announced the launch of a new product. The smoke and carbon monoxide detector business has created a new system that uses wi-fi to provide real time monitoring and alarms to businesses.
Sprue reported a doubling of sales – albeit from a low base – following a carbon monoxide awareness campaign in France and also said some of its detectors had received Best Buy status from consumer magazine Which?
it’s a welcome boost for the business whose shares almost halved earlier this year when it reported battery life problems in some of its alarms. Shares gained 2.8pc, or 4.25p to 158p.
cyber defence firm Falanx should have soared as the Government announced a £1.9bn cyber security strategy. But a change at the top seemed to unsettle investors. Nonexecutive director iain Manley has stepped down after more than three years on the board and Stuart Bladen has joined as chief executive.
Falanx yesterday reported revenue in its cyber business had grown 1,130pc to £300,000 in the six months to September 30, while intelligence revenue climbed 17pc to £900,000. The acquisition of cyber business ASc has helped reduce costs and should save the business around £350,000 a year.
Falanx said its orders pipeline is strong, particularly from financial services companies. Shares slipped 1.8pc, or 0.12p to 6.62p.
Franchise Brands, the business, which makes car paintwork repair product chipsAway and Ovenclean, has made its first acquisition – Barking Mad, a franchise provider of dogsitting services across the UK – for £900,000.
Barking Mad has 71 franchisees and reported revenue of £616,000 in the year to April 30, with pre-tax profit of £155,000. Shares rocketed 12.4pc, or 6.5p to 59p.