London equities push marginally higher in early trade on Tuesday as traders continue to bag value buys after recent sell-offs, in particular focusing on mining and oil issues. Also up are several financials, along with property. Asia gained overnight, but Wall Street was closed for President's Day.
The benchmark FTSE 100 index nudges barely 4 points higher to 5,829, although gains are more pronounced for midcaps and smaller companies.
In corporate news, mining giant Anglo American (AAL) slumps to the head of the Footsie loser board, down 7.3% at 364.95p, as it unveils huge restructuring in response to a massive $5.5 billion pre-tax loss. Management are desperately attempting to improve cash flow in resoponse to the major global sell-off in commodity prices.
Alba Mineral Resources (ALBA:AIM), Doriemus (DOR:AIM), Evocutis (EVO:AIM), Solo (SOLO:AIM), Stellar (STEL:AIM) and UK Oil & Gas (UKOG:AIM) all welcome significant oil flows from the Horse Hill-1 well in the Weald Basin. SOLO jumps 20% to 0.33p.
Premier African Minerals (PREM:AIM) slides 13% to 0.33p as it receives a notice of exercise by Darwin Capital to convert in aggregate £210,000 loan notes into equity.
Digital Globe Services (DGS:AIM) jumps 10% to 56p as it reports a strong second half last year continuing into the current period.
Transport infrastructure software supplier Tracsis (TRCS:AIM) comes off around 5.5% to 465p despite flagging confidence in meeting full year expectations. But a note of caution about challenging markets down the line appears to be spooking investors and the shares have enjoyed a relatively positive February so far.
Industrial controls firm Spectris (SXS) rallies 7% to £16.26 as it confirms full year pre-tax profit of £141.6 million. That's down from £171.1 million last year although not as poor as many had feared.
Steered by industry stalwart Trevor Finn, motor retail giant Pendragon (PDG) pops 3.1% to 37.1p on strong full-year results, showing profit before tax up £9.9 million to £70.1 million and a 44.4% dividend hike to 1.3p. Finn, CEO, also announces a welcome refinancing, which he says provides a platform for the car dealer's further growth.
Consumer packaging company Mondi (MNDI) rises 1.8% to £12.77 after saying its underlying operating profit in 2015 will be ahead of the €767 million profit it posted in 2014. Basic earnings per share will be between 121c and 126c, a rise of 24% to 29% from the previous year.
