Nakama Group plc's (LON:NAK) shares tumbled after the recruitment firm issued a profit warning.
When it released its interims at the end of November, the board had expected an improvement in trading in the second half of the year; that improvement has not materialised and the business has continued to make a loss in Australia, Singapore and London.
With a new chief executive and non-executive chairman on board it is little surprise that a strategic review is in progress.
The shares were down 14% at 1.4p on the trading update.
Shares in pay TV and internet service provider Sky PLC (LON:SKY) headed to stratospheric levels after Universal Pictures owner Comcast launched a takeover bid.
The company is offering 1,250p per share to Sky shareholders, significantly higher than the 1,075p a share bid, to which Sky has already agreed, from 21st Century Fox.
The offer might cause some pain to James Murdoch, the chairman of Sky PLC, who is also the chief executive officer of 21st Century Fox - two positions he has attained despite the immense handicap of being the younger son of media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, the former chief executive officer of ... er ... 21st Century Fox.
If @Comcast shoves the Murdochs aside and buys Sky, it's lonely highway time for James and Rupert Murdoch. Another expensive failure in a long stream of financial disasters. The Downward Spiral is well underway already.
- Alt-Rupert (@TheMurdochTimes) February 27, 2018The proposed offer not only pits Comcast against the Murdoch family, but also against Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS), which has agreed to buy a string of assets from Fox once the deal is done, including Sky.
"The independent directors of Sky are mindful of their fiduciary duties and their obligations under the UK Takeover Code,"a stock market statement said today.
The independent directors are presumably the ones that are not called Murdoch.
"Since no firm offer has been made at this point, shareholders are advised to take no action," the directors advised.
The shares were up by a fifth at 1,330.5p and not many people were ruling out a counter offer - or is that a counter-counter offer? - from 21st Century Fox.
"Investors in Sky will be understandably delighted, especially as Walt Disney's own bid for Fox means there is third party involved, a situation which could lead to a pitched battle to get hold of Sky's free cash flow, which has recently been boosted by the lower price paid for Premier League football rights,commented Russ Mould, the investment director of AJ Bell.
"Sky has started to trade well over ?13, a premium over the Comcast, offer to suggest investors will hold out for an enhanced offer from either Sky - Competition and Markets Authority clearance permitting - or Disney and investors could be in line for cash bonanza.
"Besides sitting on their Sky shares, if they have any, investors might also like to remember that John Malone's Liberty Global has a 10% stake in ITV, whose strategic and scarcity value could be enhanced if Sky is gobbled up by Disney or Comcast," Mould observed.
Helal Miah at The Share Centre, reckons that UK and European regulators would be more comfortable with a Comcast takeover than a Fox victory, "as the group has little exposure to these markets at the moment and will not bring up the issues of too much news media power under the influence of Rupert Murdoch organisations".
"The CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) has already made findings that Fox's bid and subsequent control of SKY News channel not to be in the public interest control," Miah said.
Having taken a bath yesterday, shares in doorstep lender Provident Financial PLC (LON:PFG) were the top risers in London this morning.
The stock was hammered yesterday after news of its planned rights issue leaked out.
The reports suggested it was looking to raise ?500mln, but the official announcement says it will raise around ?331mln.
Whether the company was unable to garner support for the full ?500mln or the reports were wrong, we don't know; what we do know is that the shares are being issued at 315p a pop, which represents a discount of 46.4% to last night's closing price - and remember that was after the stocks had plunged 68.6p on Monday.
Provident shareholders will be able to snap up the deeply-discounted shares on the basis of 17 new shares for every 24 currently held.
Provident Financial credit-card lending subsidiary Vanquis Bank will pay out ?170m in compensation, and is fined nearly ?2m for not disclosing charges to customers when they signed up to the Repayment Option Plan
- Sean Farrington (@seanfarrington) February 27, 2018Putting a wry smile on Neil Woodford's face this morning? Provident Financial up 56% pic.twitter.com/QnFYWNK8vx
- Simon Lambert (@_simonlambert) February 27, 2018Persimmon PLC (LON:PSN) gave the whole house-building sector a lift this morning by pledging to return even more cash to shareholders.
Even after paying the board handsomely, the company is so awash with cash it has announced a further increase in its capital return plan.
Additional payments of 125p per share will be made each year for the next three years, increasing the total value of the plan by 375p to ?13 a share; when it was originally announced, the plan was to return 620p per share.
Shares in the FTSE 100 share were up 13% at 2,811p in early deals, 71p above the price target of Liberum Capital Markets, which continues to "prefer the growers to the returners".
The broker's 'hold' recommendation is looking a bit out of sync with the market after this morning's share price surge, but at least it says Persimmon is its preferred 'returner', as it is "confident that it can at least make the payments pledged".
"Additionally, its long land-bank means it could cut land spending to boost cash flows, and the strategic land-bank may keep supporting margins too," the broker added.
Persimmon ramps up push into offsite manufacturing - Firm says it will begin making its own roof tiles in addition to bricks as 2017 profit soars https://t.co/pepUnag4Jb
- Building News (@BuildingNews) February 27, 2018Sector peers advanced in Persimmon's wake, with Barratt Developments PLC (LON:BDEV) up 2.9%, Taylor Wimpey PLC (LON:TW.) up 2.6% and Berkeley Group PLC (LON:BKG) up 2.5%.
Strategic Minerals Plc (LON:SML) expects to tie up the acquisition of the Leigh Creek Copper mine in Australia by early next week. All requirements, including Foreign Investment Review Board approval, have now been met, Strategic said, with settlement to take place within five business days. Consideration will be A$1.5mln ( ?850,000) cash and shares worth A$1.45mln. Big Pic needed.
Chariot Oil & Gas Limited (LON:CHAR) has confirmed a US$15mln fund raise has now taken place, via a share placing to new and existing institutional (and other) investors. Some 82.5mln new shares are being issued, at a price of 13p each. The capital injection is intended to allow Chariot to drill the Prospect S exploration target offshore Namibia - giving the explorer a second-high impact well this year. It also has a 10% stake in the Eni operated Rabat Deep venture, offshore Morocco. Big Pic in August.
Marketing automation platform operator dotdigital Group PLC (LON:DOTD) is on course to meet full-year expectations after a "transformational" first half to the fiscal year. Revenue in the six months to December 31, 2017, surged to ?18.77mln from ?14.98mln the year before. Organic revenue grew 17% to ?17.5mln from ?15mln the previous year. Big Pic down two weeks ago.
Kibo Mining PLC (LON:KIBO) has unveiled plans to raise ?750,000 via a share placing as it progresses its strategy to create a regional electricity supplier. In a statement, the AIM-listed firm said it has received commitments for a placing of 17,647,060 ordinary shares at a price of 4.25p each. In mid-morning trading, Kibo's were trading at 5.3p, down 6.2% on last night's close. Louis Coetzee, Kibo's CEO, said: "The funds raised today enable us to build on our strategy to create a strategic regional electricity supplier."
Genedrive PLC (LON:GDR) has been awarded ?1.1mln in funding by Innovate UK for product development of its Genedrive tuberculosis testing kit. The grant will be used for the further development of a high-sensitivity bacterial sample preparation module for the Genedrive instrument. Big Pic in January.
Clinigen Group PLC (LON:CLIN) said second-half trading so far was in line with expectations as it served up a solid performance in the first six months of the trading year. Its top line growth had been well flagged in an update last month. Big Pic last month.
SDX Energy Inc (LON:SDX, CVE:SDX) has told investors that it has begun drilling operations for the SAH-2 development well on the Sebou permit, onshore Morocco. The company said that the SAH-2 well is expected to take between fifteen and twenty days to drill. Big Pic in November.
WideCells Group PLC (LON:WDC) has taken a "significant step" towards becoming an end-to-end stem cell service company, according to chief executive Jo??o Andrade. His comments followed the grant of a licence by the UK's Human Tissue Authority, which allows the company import, export, process, store and distribute for treatment umbilical cord blood and tissue. Big Pic in September.
W Resources PLC (LON:WRES) has secured access and approvals for trial mining to commence at the Regua tungsten project in Portugal. Chairman Michael Masterman referred to W's La Parrilla project in Spain as the "flagship" and to Regula as the "quiet achiever."
Stratex International plc (LON:STI) ended the year to December 2017 with ?2mln in the bank, after booking losses on the sale of its stake in Goldstone Resources and costs relating to the aborted acquisition of Crusader Resources. US$8mln in profit was made on the sale of an interest in the Altintepe mine in Turkey. Overall, the net loss after tax rang in at ?5.4mln. Big Pic in February.
Amur Minerals Corporation (LON:AMC) has outlined a substantial programme of works for 2018 at its Kun-Manie nickel sulphide project in Russia. The programme includes significant conceptual development work, as Kun-Manie now moves beyond the exploration phase. In addition, Amur will consider options for the production of a product designed for the electric vehicle market. Big Pic in July.
Marketing and media analytics consultancy Ebiquity plc (LON:EBQ) has named Rob Woodward as its chairman-designate with effect from 1 March 2018. The AIM-listed company said Woodward - appointed a non-executive director from that same date - will succeed Michael Higgins, the company's chairman for the past 12 years, who will step down from the board after the group's annual general meeting on 9 May 2018. Big Pic in February.
Eckoh PLC (LON:ECK) said it has received notification that on 26 February 2018 its chief executive, Nik Philpot purchased 50,000 ordinary shares of the company at a price of 39.4p each. In addition, Philpot has transferred 50,000 ordinary shares of his own beneficial holding to his Self Invested Pension (SIPP), together with the newly purchased shares, also at a price of 39.4p each. Furthermore, the company said it has also been notified that on 26 February 2018 its non-executive chairman Christopher Humphrey also purchased a total of 50,000 Ordinary Shares at a price of 39.349p each. As a result of his share purchase, Philpot's holding in Eckoh is a total of 6,926,285 ordinary shares, representing 2.74% of the issued share capital, and Humphrey's holding is a total of 400,000 ordinary shares, representing 0.16%. of the issued share capital.