STOCKS NEWS UK-Songbird shares fall on dilutive placing
STOCKS NEWS Reuters Results diary
Europe [STXNEWS/EU] Real-time Equity News [E] [GB/EQUITY]
UK [STXNEWS/UK] Stocks on the move [HOT-RTRS]
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12:46GMT 09Oct2009-Songbird shares fall on dilutive placing
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Shares in Songbird Estates, the majority owner of Canary Wharf, are down 24 percent at 1.45 pence after the property developer completes a dilutive share sale to raise 1.03 billion pounds and enable it to repay an 880 million pound loan from Citigroup.
The company gets a 59.6 percent initial take-up of the new stock from existing shareholders and sells the remainder in the market at a price of 1.32 pence per share. [ID:nRnsI5042A] [nRnsI5456A]
Matthew Churstain, analyst with KBC Peel Hunt says the current price could represent a buying opportunity.
"Given where the shares are trading, the fact the company has successfully refinanced its bank debt and had a big equity injection at the same time, the shares look cheap," Churstain says.
Reuters messaging rm://sharon.lindores.reuters.com@reuters.net
11:17GMT 09Oct2009-UK small caps fall 0.2 percent midday
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The FTSE Small Cap index .FTSC falls 0.2 percent in midday trade, while the blue chips .FTSE and the midcaps .FTMC are flat.
Intellectual property support services provider RWS Holdings (RWS.L) falls more than 10 percent after saying it expects full-year underlying profits to fall below consensus, but exceed year-ago levels, due to a drop in interest income on lower deposit rates. [ID:nBNG506376]
Clean Air Power (CAPC.L) leaps 31.6 percent as the developer of diesel engine technology signs an agreement with a "major global truck manufacturer", which prompts Charles Stanley to repeat its "buy" rating and a 35 pence target price on the firm. [ID:nL9544310]
Reuters Messaging rm://tricia.wright1.reuters.com@reuters.net
11:12GMT 09Oct2009-Laird gains on promotion to mid-cap index
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Shares in London-listed company Laird (LRD.L), which makes antennae for mobile phones, rise 5.0 percent after the company is promoted to the FTSE 250 mid-cap index .FTMC in favour of Emerald Energy EMEN.L.
Singer Capital Markets analyst Dan Ridsdale rates the stock a 'buy'.
"If you look at the antenna side of the business, connectivity is being put in more and more devices," he said.
"They've gone through a significant rationalisation programme, which has taken a lot of costs out of the business, made their manufacturing process more efficient, so you'd hope for a marginal recovery on the back of that," he added.
Reuters messaging rm://catherine.bosley.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net
10:41GMT 09Oct2009-Clean Air Power up on dual-fuel truck agreement
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Shares in Clean Air Power (CAPC.L) leap 31.6 percent as the developer of diesel engine technology signs an agreement with a "major global truck manufacturer", which prompts Charles Stanley to repeat its "buy" rating and 35 pence target price.
The company says the letter of intent it signed outlines a development agreement to deliver a joint demonstration vehicle designed to establish the technical and commercial viability of a jointly produced Dual-Fuel vehicle.
"This is another very positive step forward on the path to full commercialisation of its Dual-Fuel combustion technology," Charles Stanley says in a note.
The broker says, although no further details were given, the management have been looking towards the U.S., which "is a hugely attractive market and interest in natural gas for HDD trucks has increased markedly due to concerns over energy security and emissions".
For more double click on [ID:nRnsI4998A]
Reuters Messaging rm://david.brett.reuters.com@reuters.net
10:39 GMT 09Oct2009-Kalahari up on high grade zone find
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Shares in Namibia-focused miner Kalahari Minerals (KAH.L) gain almost 7 percent after the company says a new high grade zone of uranium mineralisation has been discovered at Rossing South, owned by Australia's Extract Resources (EXT.AX).
Kalahari holds about 40 percent of Extract.
"These intercepts are phenomenal, and are some of the widest and highest grades yet," Ambrian says in a note, repeating its "buy" rating on the company, along with its 219 pence target price -- which it expects to increase as the resource grows.
The broker says it has previously expressed its confidence that the total resource will exceed 560 million pounds of uranium oxide.
"This news, along with the 31 August 2009 announcement that Zones 1 and 2 likely meet at depth, not only gives us increased confidence that a 560 million pounds resource will ultimately be defined, but also that the resource could be well in excess of 600 million pounds," the broker says.
Reuters Messaging rm://tricia.wright1.reuters.com@reuters.net
09:45 GMT 09Oct2009-Autonomy weak; Piper Jaffray downgrades
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Shares in Autonomy Corp. (AUTN.L) shed 1.9 percent, extending a recent retreat as Piper Jaffray cuts its rating to "neutral" from "overweight", while raising its target price to 1,604 pence from 1,430 pence following the search software firm's third-quarter trading update on Thursday.
Piper Jaffray says, in a note, that Autonomy's third-quarter update came in above expectations that were lowered after its second-quarter results, but was still below the broker's original view.
The broker says it has nudged its full-year 2009 EPS estimate for Autonomy up to 108 cents, implying that it expects Autonomy to raise its EPS outlook by 3 percent when the actual third-quarter results are released later this month.
Piper Jaffray says the Q3 update was decent but not enough to drive the shares higher in the short term, with potential small EPS increases already priced in.
Longer term, the broker says it continue to view Autonomy as one of the best-positioned companies in the sector but it feels that widely-reported talk of a potential bid for the firm from Microsoft (MSFT.O) has been overplayed.
For more on Autonomy's Q3 update, double click on [ID:nL8197792]
Reuters Messaging rm://jon.hopkins.reuters.com@reuters.net
