European equity benchmarks continue to trade in the red

European equity benchmarks continue to trade in the red amidst what has become a period of light consolidation ahead of the Fed minutes tomorrow evening. Investors are once again faced with the prospect of tapering news flow, which, so far, has allowed for buying opportunities from market participants unhappy to own risk over the scheduled announcement. The DJIA, however, trades close to all-time highs of 16,000 that were reached during yesterday’s session.

 

Elsewhere, Bitcoin has captivated financial markets again, as its ascent to over £500 today has investors considering it as a viable alternative to fiat currencies like never before. The senate hearing yesterday has acted to compound its popularity.

 

As one of the only brokers to offer a cash-settled Bitcoin product to clients, we’ve seen very significant demand. Seeing the price more than double in periods of heightened volatility has traders looking to participate in violent swings. Just today, for example, the price has almost halved from its high, making the prospect of being able to short Bitcoin just as attractive to day traders as being long.

Risers:

easyJet

Budget airline easyJet has posted a 51% rise in fiscal 2013 pre-tax profit, driven by a 11% increase in revenue and highlighting the company's focus on yield over fierce price-cutting, but it warned the situation in Egypt, together with a later Easter would reduce first half revenue per seat. The no-frills carrier plans to return 308m to its shareholders as it ends its financial year with 1.24bn in cash.

 

Afren

Afren plc and Partners Optimum Petroleum Development Ltd and Lekoil Limited announce the suspension of current drilling operations at the Ogo prospect located on the OPL 310 licence offshore Nigeria and an update on estimated gross mean recoverable resources, significantly ahead of pre-drill expectations. The Africa-focused oil firm has said they have found more oil than expected with UBS citing the “discovery looks to be one of the most important made in West African in recent history”.

 

Enterprise Inns

UK pub company Enterprise Inns posted a swing into pre-tax loss during the full year, and announced the resignation of founder and Chief Executive Ted Tuppen, who will be succeeded by Simon Townsend, currently chief operating officer. The firm which has a portfolio of 6,000 pubs recorded a pre-tax loss of £42 million during the year ended Sept. 31, compared with profit of £34 million a year earlier, on revenue of £639 million and £692 million respectively.

 

Keller Group

Keller Group PLC, which prepares the ground for construction projects, said Tuesday that results for the full year are expected to be slightly above the top end of current market expectations after an improvement in trading continued into the second half of the year. Project awards have increased; the value of the like-for-like order book at the end of October, for work to be executed over the next 12 months, is now slightly above this time last year.

 

Thomas Cook

TUI Travel PLC and Thomas Cook Group said Tuesday they each have sold the majority of their interests in The Airline Group Ltd., a shareholder in U.K. Air Traffic controller NATS Holdings Ltd., for £38 million in cash. Shares in Thomas Cook rally on the sale.

Fallers:

 

Intertek

Testing services provider Intertek Group PLC announced that it will buy U.S. building products testing company Architectural Testing Inc. from private equity firm Wafra Partners for $95 million. Intertek, which tests products as diverse as toys and aerospace equipment, said the acquisition will help it expand its building products presence outside the U.S. and penetrate high growth areas around the world.

Sepura

Sepura PLC the provider of TETRA digital radio products and systems, Tuesday posted a 58% drop in pre-tax profit during the half year-end, adding that it is on track to meet full year expectations. Sepura's H1 pre-tax profit more than halved to 1.1m euros, from 2.6m euros a year earlier. Revenue was 46.0m euros, from 43.5m euros, hiked its interim dividend by 15% to 0.59p a share, from 51p.

 

Vectura Group

The specialist in developing products for the treatment of airway-related diseases, Vectura Group, today reported a slightly wider interim pre-tax loss. Vectura Group booked an H1 pre-tax loss of £1.2m, from a loss of £1.1m a year earlier. Revenue was £17m, unchanged. 

 

Smith’s Group

Diversified engineering company Smiths Group PLC said Tuesday that overall trading in the three months to Nov. 2 was in line with management expectations, and expectations for the year remain broadly in line. The company said revenue and headline operating profit have both grown on an underlying and reported basis.

 

Carclo

Touch screen developer Carclo today revealed that it had continued to trade in line with expectations in the first half of the financial year. They post pre-tax profits of £1.76m for the six months to the end of September - 64.3% up on last time. The company’s chairman, Michael Derbyshire, said: “The group’s traditional businesses have produced solid results in the first half of the year and both Technical Plastics and LED Technologies are expected to enjoy a stronger second half with encouraging future growth prospects. The group’s balance sheet remains strong and its financing is secure.” Shares drop despite the news.