In a quiet start to the week, Entain published a well-received trading update ahead of scheduled investor meetings. This noted continued improvements in trading momentum following a strong start to the year, and that net gaming revenue growth is running ahead of expectations in the second half. Further progress in expanding the footprint across the Atlantic is also highlighted, so despite the comparative brevity of the release, the Entain share price is up by more than 6% in early trade.
IT services company Computacenter published interim results this morning. Management were quick to highlight that the company was working against some tough comparatives and the detail also showed meaningful margin improvement in the face of falling revenues. The note also highlighted that the second half of the year had started in a more upbeat fashion but at least some investors have been quick to dump the stock. An hour into the day and the Computacenter share price was around 5% lower.
Casual dining operator Hostmore has seen its valuation rattled again today off the back of a business update. This makes for a tough – if slightly complex – read with an attempt to acquire a partner brand having fallen flat, a planned disposal of assets is set to realise a lower price than had been predicted and a strategic review failed to uncover any other meaningful options to recognise value. Adding to all this was factors driving the 23% decline in sales posted at for the first three weeks of July are being sustained, although some improvement in the underlying situation is now emerging. Hostmore’s shares are trading down by more than 90% as a result.
Headlines we expect on Tuesday
Equals Group Interim Results
This time last year Revenue £45m, Gross profit £23.6m, eps 2.64p
Blackbird Interim Results
This time last year Revenues £985k, EBITDA loss £1.5m, Cash £8.2m
