The FTSE 100 kicked off the week with a robust opening, rising 42 points to 6,329, driven by gains in the banking sector and news that BlackRock had used gold price weakness to increase its stake in miner Randgold Resources (RRS).
Having issued a profit warning after Friday?s (19 Apr) market close, the implications of this setback are now being felt in Albemarle & Bond?s (ABM:AIM) share price. Investors have headed for the door, dragging the pawnbroker down 30% to 130p. We look at the pawnbroker's relationship with the gold price in detail here.
Dixons (DXNS) advanced 4% to 36.72p after agreeing to sell Swedish business Webhallen, the latest in a series of events to tidy up the group. Click here to read Shares' recent story on the FTSE 250 retailer.
Following last week's revelation that private equity group CVC was considering a bid for Betfair (BET), the gambling provider now says it has rejected an 880p proposal, saying it undervalues the business. Its shares moved up 4.4% to 840p in response to the announcement.
Reckitt Benckiser (RB.) rose 11p to £47.20 on a well-received first quarter trading statement from the health, hygiene and home consumer products powerhouse. Organic sales, stripping out the Pharmaceuticals business, were up 6% to more than £2.3 billion, with the £34 billion cap benefiting from a strong cold and flu season in the US.
That wireline revenues are under pressure for telco equipment kit supplier Spirent (SPT) is not surprising. But the intensity has caught investors on the hop, slicing over 5% off the shares to 115.5p, one of the biggest FTSE 350 fallers. Click here for our latest story on the stock.
After announcing in January that 2012 revenue would beat market expectations, portable hotel group Snoozebox (ZZZ:AIM) today says that 2012 revenue will be materially below expectations. This somewhat-odd announcement has understandably knocked the share price, down 16.5% to 57p. Snoozebox says the shortfall is down to IFRS rules as to when it is able to recognise income in its accounts.
Eastern Platinum (ELR:AIM) declined 9.1% to 6.25p after suspending developments at its Crocodile River mine in South Africa. It says there is no point in spending cash when there is weak demand for platinum, ongoing labour unrest in the country and rising costs.
Forecast-beating 2012 results failed to halt a near 6% share price decline to 40p for talent management software supplier NetDimensions (NETD:AIM). The market is clearly a more concerned over the cost of scaling up the business, where hefty sales investment led profits to slump by two-thirds to $450,000. But investors should take note of a maintained 0.5p per share dividend and net cash of $6.8 million (£4.5 million), worth about 40% of its £11.5 million market value. Analysts at Sanlam reckon the shares could double to 80p.
A new contract in the US for insurance process software supplier Innovation Group (TIG) failed to spark the shares, flat at 25.3p. The new deal with specialist churches and schools insurer GuideOne is worth £2.6 million, but investors seem willing to wait until they've heard the story spelled out at a City teach-in today.
A raft of new contracts sparked a 24% hike in revenues in 2012 for automated complex training play SimiGon (SIM:AIM), to $6.81 million. Workloads seem to be scaling up nicely for the Israeli company, particularly in defence, while its $7.1 million (£4.7 million) of net cash underpins a modest £9.8 million market value. The shares jumped 13.7% to 20.75p
Microcap 2ergo (RGO:AIM) nudged ahead 2.6% to 9.75p after flagging several new customers for its contactless mobile coupon payments system Podifi, including an unnamed Premier League football club. The £6.2 million cap recently added former Manchester United and Chelsea chief executive Peter to its board, but investors are more worried about a potentially dilutive fund raising in the pipeline.
Efforts to revive the Welsh gold mining industry continue with pace by Stellar Resources (STG:AIM). Its shares advanced 8.2% to 1.32p after reporting high-grade gold samples from the Clogau deposit.
