QinetiQ Group (LON:QQ. ) shares rose 12.99% to 328.3p with ‘excellent’ 1H21 results
The engineering company which operates in the defence, security and critical infrastructure markets has described the six months to 30 September 2020 as “an excellent performance.”
Shares in Qinetiq topped increased as high as 19¾p, or 6.85%, on the back of what Numis analysts described as an excellent set of half-year results, the Times reported this morning.
In a half-year report for 1H21, Qinetiq saw a 37% increase in orders which drove revenue growth up by 24% and underlying operating profit up 16% with a strong recovery in 2Q21.
As a result, QinetiQ has increased its full year guidance and now expects to deliver low double-digit revenue growth (low to mid-single digit on organic basis) with its FY margin consistent with 1H21 while ‘proactively managing potential risks from COVID-19 disruption.’
Steve Wadey, CEO of QinetiQ, said the company is now entering its second half of FY21 “with confidence, with a significant order backlog, strong customer focus and an evolved strategy reflecting the increasing ambition of the Group and changing customer needs.”
QinetiQ delivered strong cash performance in 1H21, with underlying net cash flows from operations of £92.7m (1H20: £77m), resulting in a cash conversion of 134% (1H20: 129%).
Due to the success of the QinetiQ’s COVID-19 mitigating actions and a strong cash performance in the first half of 2021, the company told investors that its final dividend for 2020, which was deferred due to COVID-19, will now be paid on 16 November 2020.
The group said the final dividend per share of 4.4p ensures that the total dividend for 2020 remains at the same level (of 6.6p) as the prior year. An interim dividend of 2.2p (1H 2020: 2.2p) will be paid on 5 February 2021 to shareholders on the register at 8 January 2021.
Victoria Oil & Gas (AIM:VOG ) shares soar 113.8% to 4.3p after reaching legal settlement
Shares in the oil and gas firm soared over 130% during Thursday trading after Victoria’s Cameroon subsidiary reached a $12.5m legal settlement for a long-standing legal dispute.
A settlement agreement has now been reached between Gaz du Cameroon (GDC), a subsidiary of Victoria Oil & Gas, and Cameroon Holdings Limited (CHL) where the latter will agree to cease all legal action. A royalty agreement held by CHL has also been cancelled.
"The two items addressed in this RNS hopefully demonstrate that the Company is proactively and decisively dealing with intractable legacy issues,” said CEO, Roy Kelly.
“The termination of the CHL Royalty Agreement as part of the Settlement is a considerable benefit to shareholders in terms of future cash flow,” said Kelly who said the settlement removes any financial uncertainty and costs which could have run to a final hearing in 2022.
He said, “Without the distraction of expensive legal proceedings and the considerable drain on management resources, we can now focus on value accretive activities.” The settlement results in ‘a valuable net revenue increase’ to GDC on a monthly basis from December 2020.
Meanwhile, the company said that the La-108 well at its flagship Logbaba field has been successfully cleaned out. Following further perforations and testing, VOG believe the well is ‘highly likely to exceed the capacity of the plant’ which is 20m cubic feet of gas per day.
Nostra Terra Oil & Gas (AIM:NTOG ) shares increased 33.3% to 0.5p after oil well spud
The Texas-focused oil & gas exploration and production company announced on Tuesday that the Cypress farm-out well at the Company's Pine Mills oil field has now spudded.
Nostra Terra owns a 32.5% working interest ("WI") in the planned well, which includes a 25% carried WI. Drilling will be followed ‘promptly with logging and then completion.’
Drilling will be permitted to a total depth of 6,000 feet and is estimated to take around 10 days. The company told investors that the primary target formation is the prolific Woodbine Sand, while the well will also evaluate several other known overburden formations.
"The result of this well can have a significant impact for the Company in terms of cash flow as well as an increase in reserves, also leading the way to additional development in Pine Mills,” said CEO, Matt Lofgran.
He added, “Additionally, we continue progressing our portfolio further with the recent farm-in to the Permian Basin acreage, with the acquisition of the Caballos Creek asset, and assessment of other potential opportunities in line with our previously stated goals."
Wishbone Gold (AIM:WSBN ) shares jump 21.74% to 14p after acquiring the Patersons Range Project
The precious metals trading and exploration firm has completed the acquisition of the Patersons Range Project which is in the Havieron and Telfer region of Western Australia.
The company has issued 11,111,111 new ordinary shares at a price of 3.3 pence per share equating to the total deemed consideration as set out in the acquisition terms of £0.366m.
Chairman, Richard Poulden, said the acquisition represented “an exciting new phase” in Wishbone’s expansion and that the group has now commenced discussions to fast-track its assessment of the four main magnetic targets which is “a significant potential target zone.”
The company informed investors last week that it had received ‘highly encouraging’ results from an analysis of the prospectivity of the major tenement in the Patersons Range Project.
The four main magnetic targets were shown to cover an area of 2,400m x 400m. ‘Significantly,’ the company noted, ‘these targets are much shallower than the Havieron discovery, with the top of the magnetic targets ranging from 150m to 250m below surface.’
The group has said the Paterson Range hosts some of the most exciting gold and copper mines and discoveries in the Western Australian Pilbara region made in recent years.
Spirent Communications (LON:SPT ) shares fell 9.51% to 257p despite strong 3Q20
Spirent said in a 3Q20 trading update that it has seen “continued strategic momentum” throughout the period, with its board still confident of the group showing progress in 2020.
However, shares in the telecommunications firm dropped during Thursday trading despite reporting that demand for its 5G services continues to show ‘strong growth’ during 3Q20.
The company told investors that it ‘remains confident that the group will show progress in 2020’, despite witnessing some impact from laboratory and office closures due to COVID-19.
Spirent said strong momentum and demand for products in the lab and live assurance market has resulted in good growth. It has left its expectations for the full year unchanged.
It said progress in 3Q20 was driven by 5G-led demand for its assurance solutions which offset ‘some market softness in order placement for positioning products from US government contractors, which have been affected by COVID-19 with office closures.
“The demand for data and communications continues to strengthen as customers carefully manage through the pandemic,” said Eric Updyke, Chief Executive Officer of Spirent.
He added, “We are on track to show full year progress in 2020 with, as in previous years, trading performance weighted to the second half of the year and to the final quarter.”