Virgin Money UK (VMUK) shares ticked up 8.20% to 153.75p as it notes 'a good start to the year'
In an update released on Tuesday, the lender said it has made “a good start to the year”, reporting ‘a profitable and positive’ first quarter for the three months to 31 December 2020.
Virgin was able to report a statutory profit after making no provisions for bad debt. It reported credit provisions of £726m for the period compared with £735m in its previous quarter.
The lender said it has set aside another £18m in provisions in the first quarter to deal with the impact of the coronavirus. CEO, David Duffy said the bank has made a return to statutory profit "while maintaining a disciplined approach" however he did not disclose any figures.
He wrote, “Given the current UK-wide restrictions and ongoing uncertainty, we maintain the cautious economic outlook we outlined in November and our full year guidance remains broadly unchanged.
Looking ahead, the vaccine roll-out and EU trade deal are encouraging for the UK's economic recovery and we remain focused on disrupting the market through a variety of innovative new products and propositions with a customer and brand experience that is the best in the market."
My Health Checked (MHC) shares jump 16.67% to 2.45p following £3m raise to drive commercial expansion
Shares in the consumer home-testing healthcare company have increased by over 35% in value since the beginning of December 2020. In recent weeks, the Company announced its intention to raise around £3m at 1.75p in order to support its recent commercial expansion.
The Company is looking to launch its current products into the retail sector, develop a pipeline of new products and more than double its team by December 2022 as the Group broadens its overall testing capabilities within the home testing market through a multi-sector strategy.
According to Data Bridge Market Research, the compound annual growth rate for the at-home testing kit market is projected to grow 6.8%, from $8.87bn in 2019 to $16bn by 2027.
The group, formerly known as Concepta, rebranded to MyHealthChecked™ in December 2020 in order to reflect its expansion strategy into new markets as it focuses on widening its portfolio to include a broader mix of female health and personalised healthcare products.
Galantas Gold Corp (GAL) shares rose 16.13% to 18p after signing a formal agreement regarding blasting at its gold mine
The Northern Ireland gold producer and explorer which holds a 100% interest in Northern Ireland's Omagh gold mine, said a formal agreement regarding blasting has been reached between its operating subsidiary and the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).
The agreement provides the potential for a materially improved economic arrangement for an expansion of underground blasting, required for full production, to take place at the Omagh Mine. The agreement has followed a comprehensive review by the PSNI and regulators.
Roland Phelps, President & CEO of Galantas Gold Corporation said the new arrangements are designed to permit blasting to be expanded to achieve commercial production levels.
He said the Company is actively working with third parties on the financing arrangements required to recommence and expand blasting underground. Meanwhile, underground maintenance activities continue, as does the processing of low grade stockpile material.
AFC Energy (AFC) shares were up 14.63% to 75.6p as the inaugural Extreme E electric SUV racing series sparks further interest
Shares in the provider of hydrogen power generation technologies have risen by nearly 10% since it unveiled to investors last week its new zero-emission power generator that will be featured in the inaugural Extreme E electric SUV racing series that begins in April 2021.
Extreme E's new all electric off-road racing series, which will kick-start in Saudia Arabia, aims to highlight the impact of climate change on some of the world's most fragile ecosystems.
AFC Energy agreed back in July 2020 to power the Season 1 race vehicles through adoption of the Company's proprietary, zero emission, hydrogen fuel cell technology. Following six months of collaborative engineering and design, its Hydrogen power generator was successfully commissioned, on schedule, and was handed over to Extreme E last week.
“Our collaboration with Extreme E provides an incredible global platform to highlight the deployment of our robust, innovative zero-emission system that will ultimately support the decarbonisation of incumbent off-grid power systems across a number of global industries including maritime, rail and construction,” said Adam Bond, CEO at AFC Energy.
The UNITE Group (UTG) shares fell 5.28% to 933.25p as it recives downgrade from Barclays analysts
Today, the owner, manager and developer of student accommodation in the UK announced an extension to its 50% rent discount for students, originally announced on 11 January.
As a result of a further three-week extension, the Group will factor in a total cost for the seven-week rental discount and tenancy extension of up to £15 million or 4 pence.
All eligible students who applied for the four-week 50% rent discount will now receive the additional three-week 50% discount automatically. They will also be given a 4-week complimentary extension of their tenancy agreement at the end of the academic year.
To date, the firm has collected 91% of rent due to date for the 2020/21 academic year which it said reflects a ‘successful term one rent collection of 96% and a positive start to term two rent collection at 84% to date.’
Commenting on the extension, Richard Smith, Unite Students Chief Executive Officer, said: "Supporting students has been our priority throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, and we will continue to play our part during these exceptional circumstances. We recognise this is a challenging time for students, which is why we've extended our current 50% rent discount period.
Meanwhile, Barclays has downgraded the stock on the back of the student accommodation provider’s ongoing exposure to the Covid-19 pandemic. The bank cut its rating to ‘underweight’ from ‘overweight’ as well as reducing its target price for the shares by 22% to 850p.