London’s FTSE 100 started 2020 on the front foot, nudging 68.6 points higher to 7,611 as the markets eagerly await signature on a phase one trade agreement between the US and China, promised on 15 January. Miners were among the top performers and UK property investor British Land (BLND) was among the laggards.
Shares in Africa-focused oil producer Tullow (TLW) shed 7% to 59.5p on the news ‘net pay’, the part of an underground reservoir containing oil which it would be economic to produce, and reservoir development at the Cararpa-1 well offshore Guyana are below pre-drill estimates, albeit Tullow is encouraged by the quality of the oil discovered.
Shares in the oil firm slumped back in December on production downgrades, the suspension of the dividend and key management departures.
IP Group (IPO) advanced 3.8% to 73.7p on news of another successful fundraising for portfolio company Oxford Nanopore that boosts the value of IP’s holding and will bring in £22m in cash from a partial sale of its stake.
The intellectual property commercialisation play also reported that cash exits from its maturing portfolio in 2019 were more than double the amount recorded in 2018, ‘leaving the business well-funded and well positioned for 2020’.
Wealth manager Quilter (QLT) improved 0.75p to 161.8p after completing the £445m sale of Quilter Life assurance to ReAssure for £445m, a transaction that leaves Quilter flush with £375m of surplus proceeds which it plans to return to shareholders.
Building materials business CRH (CRH) rose 2% to £31.02 after confirming that Richie Boucher has become chairman, succeeding N. Hartery who stepped down from the board on 31 December 2019.
Video games outfit Team17 (TM17:AIM) ticked up 2% to 382.5p after announcing the £1.4m acquisition of software developer and digital publisher Yippee, a deal that boosts Team17’s studio capacity and accelerates its recruitment plans in the North West.
Investors also acquired an appetite for Tasty (TAST:AIM), the restaurant owner and operator surging 22.7% higher to 3.35p on a balance-sheet-strengthening property disposal. The casual dining sector operator also expressed confidence in meeting forecasts for the 2019 calendar year.
