Specialist lender Charter Court Financial (CCFS) and natural resources group Curzon Energy (CZN) have made their debuts on the UK stock market, with Charter Court Financial potentially vying for a spot in the FTSE 350 in the near future.
Charter Court Financial is a specialist lender for the UK residential mortgage market and an online retail savings bank offering a fixed deposit to consumers.
Today marks the first day of unconditional dealings, having undergone restricted trading on the market last week (29 Sep).
So far the stock is up 2.4% to 235.7p versus the IPO (initial public offering) price. It has a market cap of approximately £563m which puts it in a strong position to qualify for the FTSE 250 before long, assuming its shares are able to keep rising.
To put its market cap in context, Frankie & Benny’s owner The Restaurant Group (RTN) is currently the smallest stock by market cap on the FTSE 350, worth £607m.
In the first half of 2017, Charter Court Financial delivered pre-tax profit of £59.3m, up from £20.2m in the same period last year.
ENERGY FIRM ON TRACK FOR FIRST GAS IN 2018
Curzon Energy is an energy business that has acquired the operator of 45,370 acres of coalbed methane leases, Coos Bay Energy, which it aims to develop.
Regency Mines (RGM:AIM) also has a 10% stake in the company.
Shares in Curzon Energy have so far risen 5% to 10.5p since it joined London’s Main Market this morning (4 Oct).
Coos Bay has an estimated 273.5bn cubic feet of coalbed methane gas and over 400 potential well locations. According to management, Curzon is on track to target first gas and generate revenue by the second quarter of 2018.
The company raised approximately £2.3m before expenses and has a market cap of £7.6m.
