London’s FTSE 100 firms 37.4 points to 7,272 on Friday, boosted by miners which are up on hopes that the US and China are making progress with trade talks. Continued strength with oil prices is also giving the blue chip benchmark support with both BP (BP.) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA) ticking higher.
Drugs giant AstraZeneca (AZN) cheapens 4.2% to £62.21, despite inking a $6.9bn agreement with Daiichi to develop and sell the Japanese partner’s breast and gastric cancer treatment trastuzumab deruxtecan. The announcement AstraZeneca plans to raise up to $3.5bn to fund the deal weighs on sentiment, while some investors believe AstraZeneca may be overpaying.
Elsewhere, tour operator TUI (TUI) tumbles 8.1% lower to 707.8p after slashing its full year 2019 earnings guidance to reflect the impact of the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.
Renewi (RWI) slumps 16.2% to 20.25p as the waste collector warns profits for the year to March 2020 will disappoint due to the impact of new regulations for soil treatment in Holland. Seeking to reduce debt levels, Renewi is also cutting the dividend for 2019 and 2020, news that causes many investors to bin their holdings.
Veterinary services specialist CVS (CVSG:AIM) is purring again following January’s profit warning, the shares bid up 15% to 595p despite disappointing first half results.
There is a relief rally as management flags a ‘significant improvement in many areas’ where CVS had been experiencing operational and cost pressures and says it will focus on organic growth. Getting a grip on staffing costs, CVS’ like-for-like sales are in positive territory and the company now sees full year results being better than the guidance given in January.
Investors flock to Bioventix (BVXP:AIM), the supplier of high-affinity monoclonal antibodies generated in sheep herded 210p or 5.8% higher to £38.10 on healthy half year results showing sales and pre-tax profits up 24% to £4.4m and £3.2m respectively.
Home safety products play FireAngel Safety Technology (FA.:AIM) firms 7.9% to 20.5p despite poor 2018 results, as investors applaud a £6m funding to accelerate its turnaround.
Mobile phone marketing minnow Mobile Streams (MOS:AIM) crashes 47% to 0.2p on first half figures showing a further loss after sales more than halved due to the imposition of tighter marketing regulations in India. There’s also a downbeat outlook, with management expecting second half revenues to fall short of expectations.
Technology group MTI Wireless Edge (MWE:AIM) sparks up 4.5% to 23p after winning a new contract with an existing customer worth around US$1m for the development and manufacture of military antennas. ‘We continue to see expansion and growth opportunities in all sectors of the antenna industry, particularly in the 80 GHz spectrum as mobile operators start to plan their implantation of 5G,’ enthuses CEO Moni Borovitz.
