Investors smile on pure-play online fashion retailer Boohoo.com (BOO:AIM), which rebounds 5.4% to 48.5p following recent negative ASOS (ASC:AIM) read-across. The market likes better-than-expected maiden full-year results. Growth accelerated through the first quarter to May following an increase in marketing spend and there's also an upbeat outlook statement.
English luxury brand Mulberry (MUL:AIM) dips 1.1% to 700p after posting poor annual figures to March, in-line with its latest profits warning. Pre-tax profits slump 46% to £14 million, while news like-for-like sales fell 15% in the first 10 weeks to 7 June and that wholesale revenues will fall double digits this year triggers further downgrades for the high-end bags maker.
Homebase-to-Argos owner Home Retail (HOME) edges 0.3% higher to 201.1p after delivering an in-line first quarter trading update. Though like-for-like sales were up in both the Argos and Homebase chains, gross margins remain under pressure and Home Retail faces tough competitive figures for the remainder of the year.
Recent retail IPO debutante Pets at Home (PETS) nurtures a 3p gain at 220p after posting in-line maiden finals, revealing 31% growth in pre-tax profits to £52.2 million on turnover up 11.2% to £665.4 million.
Discounter B&M European Value Retail (BME) rises 4.25% to 281.5p, having priced its IPO at 270p for a £2.7 billion starting stockmarket valuation. Chaired by Terry Leahy, the profitable cut-price general merchandise retailer reckons 66% of the UK population doesn’t have access to a B&M store, suggesting there's expansion scope aplenty.
Shares in Irish national airline Aer Lingus (AERL) fall 2.75 to €1.44 after the flag carrier issues a profit warning stating that the imminent threat of a strike has 'caused significant damage to Aer Lingus' trading and forward bookings for several months into the future'.
Wound care specialist Tissue Regenix (TRX:AIM) rises 18.2% to 24.2p on launching DermaPure in the $1.4 billion US market. The product uses skin from donors to heal wounds and will be sold by sixty representatives covering 80% of the country.
Specialist care provider CareTech (CTH:AIM) improves 1.5% to 261.5p on upbeat interims, showing underlying pre-tax profits up 12% to £8.5 million and a 16% improvement in cash generation to £10.9 million, as well as an upbeat outlook statement.
A potentially transformational deal sees Hummingbird Resources (HUM:AIM) jump 5.2% to 55.5p. The small cap miner has proposed to pay $20 million for Gold Fields' (GFI:JSE) Yanfolila project in Mali which is close to starting production and has fairly low costs. It would mean that Hummingbird is 26%-owned by one of the world's largest gold miners and is no longer a single asset business.
Respiratory drug company Synairgen (SNG:AIM) soars by 48.1% to 78.5p after securing a licence deal with AstraZeneca (AZN). The pharma giant will pay Synairgen a $7.25 million upfront fee and potential development, regulatory and commercial milestones of up to $225 million. That's a significant sum given the small cap is presently valued at $107 million.
Anti-counterfeiting technologies group OpSec (OSG:AIM) drops 7.3% to 32p after an increase in sales fails to translate into higher bottom line earnings. It reports a £3.2 million pre-tax loss, blaming lower ordering from certain customers and changes in the sales mix 'adversely' impacting operating margins.
Jack up rig contractor Shelf Drilling confirms rumoured plans to list in London with a $500 million IPO. For more on the story click here.
Aim-quoted Enegi Oil (ENEG:AIM) gains 6.5% to 6.4p as it forms a closer partnership with oil services play Wood Group (WG.) in efforts to apply unmanned buoy technology to produce from marginal North Sea oil fields. Under the terms of today's memorandum of understanding Wood will take a 50% stake in the Marginal Field Development Co. (Enegi’s involvement comes via a 50% stake in ABT Oil and Gas the other partner in the venture) and will stump up its share of working capital for the new company, help complete the buoy and provide engineering services worth £5 million with the payment for the work deferred.
Italian oil explorer Sound Oil (SOU:AIM) gushes up 3.4% to 12.8p as it advances plans to access the Laura discovery off the Italian coast through extended drilling from onshore in an effort to limit upfront and operating costs. The company has received a permit for the block that encompasses Laura from the Italian Ministry of Economic Development and chief executive James Parsons says it has an estimated value of €66 million and is capable of generating significant free cash flows.
Kazakh oil producer Max Petroleum (MXP:AIM) slumps 19.2% to 1.51p as it reveals its proved and probable reserves at the end of March were estimated at 9.5 million barrels with an after-tax net present value of $184 million. This is 11% higher than the number reported in September but 14% lower year-on-year - the sell-off may also reflect some profit-taking with the shares still up more than 40% in the last week.
