Budgets for UK mid-caps are boosted by pubs, builders and bookies
The UK midcap stocks rose on Wednesday, as investors deemed that the first UK budget of the new Labour government was less punitive than they had feared. Mid-cap shares outperformed blue-chip stocks, even though UK Finance Minister Rachel Reeves had announced a number of new tax increases to the tune 40 billion pounds per year. These would mostly impact businesses. "UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered a fair but tough budget.
London's FTSE 100 continues to recover on the back of financials and corporate earnings
London stock markets rose broadly for the second consecutive session on Wednesday. Gains in financial stocks, and positive corporate earnings helped the indexes recover most of their losses earlier this week. The blue-chip FTSE 100 ended the day 1.8% higher, its highest showing in over four months. Meanwhile, the mid-cap FTSE 250 closed 1% up. Gains were made…
Hunting Warns on Profit
British oilfield services firm Hunting Plc warned on Tuesday that annual core profit would be at the lower end of market expectations as it grapples with a slowdown in the U.S. onshore drilling market, sending its shares down as much as 7%.Without giving numbers, Hunting said profit for the third-quarter had declined compared with the two preceding quarters while…
Bribery Probe Slows Petrofac Sales
Petrofac Ltd on Wednesday reported a fall in first-half order intake and forecast lower 2020 revenue, citing uncertainty relating to an investigation into the oilfield services company's dealings in Saudi Arabia and Iraq.Petrofac, which designs, builds and operates oil and gas facilities, said in June it had lost out on $10 billion worth of contracts globally due to the investigation by Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO)…
Wood Sells Nuclear Unit for $305 Million
British oilfield services provider Wood Plc said on Tuesday it would sell its nuclear energy business for about $305 million to Jacob Engineering, acting to reduce its debt burden as it reported a 2.6% drop in first-half revenue.Wood's debt surged in 2017 when it paid $2.7 billion to expand into the U.S. onshore shale oil and gas sector with the purchase of Amec Foster Wheeler.
Wood's Profit Beats Estimates
Wood Plc's 2018 profit topped market expectations as the British oilfield and engineering services provider trumpeted the success of its 2017 takeover of smaller rival Amec Foster Wheeler and increased revenue synergies from the deal.Aberdeen-based Wood said on Tuesday it had secured contracts worth over $600 million following the Amec Foster deal, winning business…
Weir launches sale of flow control business
British engineer Weir has launched the sale of its flow control business in a move that could value the supplier of pumps and valves at more than 300 million pounds ($389 million), according to sources with knowledge of the matter.Bankers for the FTSE 250 listed company have sent out confidential information about the division to prospective buyers ahead of an auction of the business…
Vivo Energy IPO Launches with 2 bln Pound Valuation
Largest Africa-focused IPO since 2005; Vivo to join FTSE 250 index. Vivo Energy PLC launched on the London Stock Exchange on Friday with a valuation of nearly 2 billion pounds ($2.7 billion), the largest London IPO so far this year and the largest Africa-focused IPO in more than a decade. The initial offer price for the just under 30 percent of the company floated…
Petrofac Expects 2016 IES Division Loss
IES division to post a loss in 2016. British oilfield services company Petrofac said its integrated energy services (IES) division, whose performance is linked to oil price moves, will post a loss in 2016 due to the slump in crude prices. The company, a member of the FTSE 250 index of mid-sized stocks, said it will move parts of the expected loss-making business into its main engineering and construction unit on Jan.
UK's Hunting Warns of Profit Slump
Oilfield services company Hunting Plc warned operating profit may slide by up to 75 percent this year as weak oil prices lead to ongoing cuts in oil drilling, although there were some signs that demand is stabilising. Hunting shares fell more than 7 percent in early trading on the London Stock Exchange, making the stock the biggest loser on the FTSE-250 midcap index.
Rotork Sees no Impact from Weak Oil
Martin Lamb to replace Roger Lockwood as chairman. March 3 (Reuters) - Valve-control systems maker Rotork Plc said it had yet to see any noticeable impact on orders despite weakness in the oil and gas exploration industry, helping to send up the company's shares more than 9 percent on Tuesday. The steep slide in oil prices has prompted many energy companies to slash capital spending and cut jobs.
Britain's FTSE Bolstered as BP Rises
Britain's top share index rose towards a 4-1/2 month high on Tuesday, boosted by energy stocks as BP's results beat earnings expectations. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index ended up 1.3 percent at 6,871.80 points, near its highest level since September 2014. Intertek, whose services include testing products to make sure they comply with safety standards, rose 6.5…
Wood Group Sees Resilient 2015 Despite Oil Drop
John Wood Group Plc, a British energy services company, said it expected relative resilience in 2015 helped by its largely reimbursable order book and range of longer-term contracts. The company, which provides engineering, production support and turbine services to the oil and gas, and power sectors, said it anticipated full-year 2014 performance to be higher than last year's and in line with expectations.
Oil company Afren Suspends Associate Directors
Oil company Afren Plc said its board suspended associate directors Iain Wright and Galib Virani from the company for receiving unauthorised payments. Shares in the FTSE-250 company fell as much as 4 percent to 106.1 pence on the London Stock Exchange. Reporting by Abhiram Nandakumar
DCC Eyes Energy Expansion Following Esso Deal
Support services group DCC said on Thursday it saw further opportunities to expand its energy division after agreeing to buy Esso's motorway retail network in France, its biggest ever acquisition, for 84 million pounds ($139 million). Chief Executive Tommy Breen told Reuters he planned to grow the company's energy business over the coming years and hoped for a 15 percent return on investment from the new business.
Amec Cuts Sales Forecast on Weaker Exploration
Amec Plc, a British engineering and project management firm, cut its revenue growth forecast for this year as customers cut back on oil and gas exploration. Amec's shares fell as much as 3.3 percent after it reported a 30 percent fall in first-half profit as a stronger pound overshadowed an increase in orders. The company said it expects a "modest" growth in underlying revenue in 2014. It had earlier forecast "good" underlying revenue growth.
SNC-Lavalin to Buy UK's Kentz for $2 Billion
Canadian engineering and construction company SNC-Lavalin Group Inc said on Monday that it would acquire British energy services provider Kentz Corp for about $1.98 billion in cash to expand its offerings in the oil and gas sector. Montreal-based SNC said the acquisition of Kentz would allow it to carry out larger and more complex oil and gas projects. The deal…
Disappointing Results for Ophir Energy Offshore Gabon
London-listed oil explorer Ophir Energy said it had not discovered any significant volumes of oil and gas at its Affanga Deep-1 well offshore Gabon, the company's second disappointing well in the area in as many months. The news sent shares in Ophir Energy down 6 percent on Tuesday to 245.2 pence at 0733 GMT, making it the biggest loser on the FTSE 250 index.
