Not for the first time in recent months, professional punters were suddenly mad about Afren. of the Africa-focused oil explorer gushed 7p to 134.1p on revived talk of a £2.1bn, or 195p a share, cash offer from Exxon Mobil, the world’s largest energy company.
Afren is attractive as it has a good mix of production and exploration and its geographical footprint ranges from its Nigeria roots across Ghana and Kurdistan. Analysts say it offers exposure to some of the most exciting prospective areas in the world.
Afren has an active exploration drilling campaign underway and expects final results from the Jebel Simrit-2 testing programme in Kurdistan during May. It has plans to drill 14 wells during 2013, including four key wells across East Africa.
All the major oil and liquefied natural gas groups are looking to acquire assets in the East African region. ExxonMobil, the largest of the world’s supermajors with daily production of 3.921m barrels of oil equivalent, has the financial clout to swallow Afren with loose change.
Optimism about a European Central Bank interest rate cut this week increased following news that eurozone inflation fell to 1.2 per cent in April. But it petered out when Wall Street traded 59 points lower in early dealings after disappointing mid-west business activity data. The Footsie lost a 27 point gain to close 27.9 points lower at 6,430.12.
British engineer Invensys climbed 19.9p further to a 52-week peak of 384.7p as speculation intensified of an imminent £4bn, or £5 a share, cash bid from French electrical equipment group Schneider Electric.
More... FTSE CLOSE: Eurozone woes drag Footsie down Market report brought to you in association with Killik & Co. For market advice check out killik.comBuoyed by good results from fellow taxpayer-backed bank Lloyds Banking Group (0.83p dearer at 54.33p), Royal Bank of Scotland rose 12.3p to 306.3p.
A Westhouse Securities sell recommendation in the wake of news that its Number 2 furnace will be shut for 30-40 days due to an incident dragged platinum miner Lonmin 16.3p down to 269p. The broker reckons the problem at the No 2 furnace could reduce 2013 full-year sales by anywhere between 15-35,000 ounces, which would mean platinum sales of between 625-645,000 ounces this financial year against the company’s target of 660,000 ounces.
Centrica came on offer at 371p, down 8.6p, after Credit Suisse downgraded to underperform from neutral. Tullow Oil remained friendless and lost 20p to 1001p.
On the other hand, strong third-quarter results helped Aquarius Platinum rise 3p to 42.25p. Dealers were pleased to see its cash position has increased to £60m, a big increase of more than £6m on the previous quarter.
Scrappy selling ahead of tomorrow’s first-quarter results left Shire 15p cheaper at 2002p. Broker Panmure Gordon does not expect the results to drive upgrades, but notes that consensus implies earnings per share growth of some 8.4 per cent.
Demand ahead of results due this month helped babywear retailer Mothercare climb 15p to 317p.
British food company Cranswick put on 3p to 1057p following the acquisition of East Anglian Pigs Ltd, which is involved in the breeding, rearing and finishing of British pigs and which had gross assets of £11.8m at March 2012.
Ladbrokes cheapened 1.6p to 189.4p despite a Numis recommendation and target price of 260p. Its recent software and advisory services deal with Playtech comes effective today. Playtech’s systems are replacing the marketing systems across Ladbroke’s online business and the majority of the software behind the casino, games and poker. Playtech will also be providing advisory services to Ladbrokes Israel which will be largely run with people closely allied to Playtech.
Digital sports media group Perform shed 7p to 518p despite a solid first-quarter trading statement. Revenues were up 37 per cent to £43m and overall contracted revenue visibility is 70 per cent for the current year. Peel Hunt’s target price is 540p.
The optimistic tenor of retiring chairman Sir Rodney Walker’s AGM address left Goals Soccer Centres, which operates 43 five-a-side soccer centres in the UK and the US, hamstrung at 136p. The company is trading in line with the board’s expectations. Bank debt has been reduced to £48.75m from £50.2m.
Shares of eServGlobal edged up 0.25p to 24.75p after announcing a new three-year £7.75m contract within its core business to provide mobile money services to a major mobile operator group in the Middle East and Northern Africa. Jamie Brooke is stepping down from the board and will be replaced by John Conoley, who was previously the chief executive of Psion. Charles Stanley Securities has a target price of 51p.
Water-based clean technology company PuriCore rose 35p to 49p after reporting a narrowing pre-tax loss for 2012 and two major deals for its supermarket retail business valued at around £5.8m.
Endoscopy revenue rose 4.6 per cent and wound care revenue soared 160 per cent during the period. A £2m share placing has significantly strengthened the balance sheet and prospects look bullish.