With the stock market a bit juddery of late, London’s FTSE 100 trades down 9 points at 7,536.4 on Friday, with the FTSE 250 off 28.1 points at 20,346.
Bucking the trend among second liners however is public sector outsourcer Serco (SRP), which surges 15% higher to 101.3p on a surprise, positive trading update, confirming full year trading will be stronger than previous guidance on sales, profits and cash flow. Net debt is set to end the year lower to boot.
Strong operating performance together with savings and other cost efficiencies mean Serco is upgrading top line guidance from a £2.7bn to £2.8bn range to ‘approximately £2.8bn’ and trading profit guidance from £80m to a £90-to-£95m range, the latter representing year-on-year growth of 30%-to-40%.
Applegreen (APGN:AIM) ripens 8.6% to 584p as the petrol forecourt retailer returns from suspension and publishes the admission document pertaining to its takeover of UK motorway service operator Welcome Break. Dublin-headquartered Applegreen’s placing to part-fund the transformational deal was oversubscribed, raking in a juicy €175m.
Low-cost carrier EasyJet (EZJ) edges 2.5p higher to £13.28 on news its annual profit before tax will come in at between £570m to £580m, which is in the upper half of previous guidance. EasyJet has profited from cancellations at rival Ryanair (RYA), the bankruptcies of Monarch and Air Berlin, not to mention some robust passenger growth.
Water group United Utilities (UU.) softens 6.4p to 686.8p despite expecting to report a rise in first-half revenue, as investors digest the news it will invest an extra £80m this year to cope with higher demand following a spell of hot and dry weather.
RSA Insurance (RSA) cheapens 8.7% to 578.6p on news poor UK underwriting results drove a disappointing third quarter overall, masking a strong performance from its international business.
Pre-tax profit for the year-to-date is higher than 2017, but lower on an underlying basis mainly due to elevated weather costs. CEO Stephen Hester says ‘RSA’s international businesses performed well in Q3, making strong progress against our best-in-class ambitions. However, our UK and “London market” business reported an underwriting loss which is disappointing.'
Elsewhere, high-flying fantasy miniatures maker Games Workshop (GAW) falls 6.2% to £37.05 on the news ex-chairman Tom Kirby has appointed broker Peel Hunt to help him offload £20m worth of shares.
Compliance and safety rules software supplier Ideagen (IDEA:AIM) brightens up 3p to 163p as investors cheer the £20.5m acquisition of Morgan Kai, a profitable, growing software outfit behind a leading internal audit management product called ‘MKinsight’.
Oil and gas explorer Savannah Petroleum (SAVP:AIM) gains 5.7% to 31.5p on half year results revealing an impressive rate of drilling success in Niger and continued strong progress on the acquisition of the transformational Seven assets in Nigeria, as well as announcing a new US$50m debt facility.
Restaurants operator Richoux (RIC:AIM) reverses 2.9% to 8.5p after posting a first half loss and warning it doesn’t expect trading to improve in the second half either.
