Shares in the Lithium exploration company slumped this morning after it advised the market of share transactions by the CEO dating back to last August that should have been notified at the time. The equity had been transferred to support a loan agreement and subsequent transfers are also believed to have taken place. The CEO has been suspended as a result – arguably this should have been the headline of the release rather than the anodyne “director’s dealings” - whilst an inquiry is ongoing, further updates have been promised in due course and shares are off some 20% in early trade.
The oil and gas giant BP published an update this morning that pointed to the prospect of higher trading and production volumes for the year ahead. Add that to the fact oil prices are seen as being on an upward trajectory and that ought to bode well, although other headwinds from Egypt’s currency devaluation and falling gas prices are set to weight. The full Q1 numbers are slated for release on May 7th and in early trade the stock was a modest 1.5% higher, although that did leave it as one of the best performers on the FTSE-100.
Shares in fund administration service provider JTC jumped around 5% on Tuesday morning following the publication of their full year results. Revenues added more than 28%, whilst operating profits were 56% higher. Shareholders have received a 12% uptick in the dividend and management are confident that the momentum can be maintained. The stock was the best performer in the FTSE-250 just over an hour into the day.
Headlines we expect to see on Wednesday
Tesco Final Results
This time last year Group sales £57,656m, Dividend 10.9p, Pre-tax profits £1,000m
M&C Saatchi Final Results
This time last year Headline billings £597m, Headline operating profit £35.4m, Dividend 1.5p
