UK Finance Chiefs Are More Gloomy About Outlook

1206 GMT - U.K. company finance chiefs are getting more downbeat about business prospects amid inflationary pressure and rising interest-rate expectations, a survey showed. Confidence among chief financial officers has dipped to a net minus reading of -10% in the second quarter from a net positive 25% in 1Q, according to Deloitte's latest quarterly CFO Survey of 69 CFOs. Tight monetary policy has replaced geopolitical issues and energy prices as finance chiefs' top concern, Deloitte says. "Businesses have negotiated a series of major challenges in the last four years, including the U.K.'s EU departure, the coronavirus pandemic and supply shortages," Deloitte chief economist Ian Stewart writes. "The legacy of those earlier shocks, in the form of inflation and high interest rates, is now the central challenge." (philip.waller@wsj.com)

COMPANIES NEWS:

Gresham House in Talks on Takeover by Searchlight Capital, Sky News Reports

--Gresham House is in talks about a private-equity takeover by U.S.-based company Searchlight Capital, Sky News reports.

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Churchill China Says 1H in Line With Board Expectations

Churchill China said Monday that its first-half performance remained in line with the board's expectations.

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Entain to Buy Angstrom Sports for Up to GBP122 Mln

Entain said Monday that it has agreed to buy Angstrom Sports for a total maximum of 122 million pounds ($159.7 million), payable over three years, in a takeover expected to complete in the third quarter of the year.

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Virgin Wines FY 2023 Performance Met Internal Views; Revenue, Profit Slipped

Virgin Wines UK said Monday that its fiscal 2023 performance was in line with its expectations, with lower revenue and adjusted profit on-year but progress with strategic initiatives made.

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Searchlight Capital to Buy Gresham House in GBP470 Mln Cash Deal

Gresham House on Monday agreed to be taken over by Searchlight Capital Partners in a deal that values the asset manager at around 469.8 million pounds ($615.1 million) on a fully-diluted basis.

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James Fisher & Sons Backs Full-Year View After 1H Results; CFO to Leave

James Fisher & Sons on Monday backed its full-year view after revenue rose in the first half of the year, driven by growth across divisions, and said that Chief Financial Officer Duncan Kennedy plans to step down.

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Trustpilot Names Adrian Blair as New CEO

Trustpilot on Monday named Adrian Blair as its chief executive officer effective from Sept. 13.

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Brickability FY 2023 Profit, Revenue Rose; Confident in Position

Brickability Group said Monday that pretax profit and revenue both significantly rose in fiscal 2023 on strong momentum across all four divisions, and that it is confident in its position despite macroeconomic uncertainties.

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DFS Furniture Sees FY 2023 Underlying Pretax Profit in Line With Guidance

DFS Furniture said Monday that it expects fiscal 2023 underlying pretax profit to be in line with previous guidance and for fiscal 2024 to be slightly higher.

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Tortilla Mexican Grill 1H Revenue Rose on Growing Demand

Tortilla Mexican Grill said Monday revenue for the first half of the year rose as demand grew, and that the board is confident it can deliver results for the year in line with market expectations.

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Dianomi Sees 1H Revenue Slipping, Full-Year Revenue Below Market Views

Dianomi said Monday that it expects first-half revenue to fall and full-year revenue to miss market expectations, as a decline in traffic volumes across its publishers hit its ability to generate advert revenue.

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Unbound Group's Shares to Be Suspended as It Appoints Administrators

Unbound Group on Monday said its shares will be suspended and that it intends to appoint administrators to its main operating subsidiary.

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Advanced Oncotherapy Plans to Raise Up to GBP110 Mln; Remains in Sales Talks

Advanced Oncotherapy said Monday that it plans to raise up to 110 million pounds ($144 million) through a prospective recapitalization and funding plan, and that it remains in formal sales process discussions.

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Rio Tinto to Become Major Shareholder in Sovereign Metals With $27.6 Mln Investment

Sovereign Metals said Monday that Rio Tinto will invest 40.4 million Australian dollars ($27.6 million) to acquire a 15% stake in the company, becoming a strategic investor.

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Concurrent Technologies Shares Jump After 1H Revenue, Pretax Profit Rose

Concurrent Technologies shares surged Monday after the company said first-half revenue and pretax profit rose for the first half, and that the board expects both to beat full-year market expectations.

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Oxford Nanopore Technologies Expects Strong 1H Underlying Revenue Growth

Oxford Nanopore Technologies said Monday that it expects strong underlying life science research tools, or LSRT, revenue to significantly rise in the first half, driven by new customer acquisitions, and retained its full-year guidance.

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IQGeo First-Half Revenue to Double on Demand; Confident of Delivering 2023 Targets

IQGeo Group said Monday revenue for the first half more than doubled as demand rose in its markets, and that it was confident of delivering on its financial and operational targets for the remainder of the year and over the long-term.

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Craneware Sees Positive Start to FY 2024 After FY 2023 Growth

Craneware on Monday said it is well positioned for fiscal 2024 and beyond as it has had a strong start to the year following a rise in sales in fiscal 2023.

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Windward 1H Revenue, Annual Contract Value Rose

Windward said Monday that revenue and annual contract revenue rose in the first half, driven by new customer wins, and that the board was confident in delivering on market expectations for the full year.

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Redcentric Delays FY 2023 Results; Confirms Guidance

Redcentric on Monday said that the publication of its results for fiscal 2023 will be delayed to give its auditors more time and backed its guidance for the year.

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Ocean Harvest Technology 1H Performance Ahead of Year Earlier

Ocean Harvest Technology Group said Monday that its performance in the first half was significantly ahead of the prior year, and that the board is confident of achieving 2023 market expectations.

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East Imperial Shares Rise on Funding Pact With Strategic Investor

Shares of East Imperial rose 18% in early trade Monday after the company said that it is planning to raise 2.2 million pounds ($2.9 million) via the issue of convertible loan notes with a strategic investor, and will use the money toward its expansion plans.

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Caerus Mineral Resources Shares Fall After Trading Resumes

Shares in Caerus Mineral Resources fell 10% on Monday after trading in its shares was restored.

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Oneiro Energy Shares Suspended From Trading Due to FY 2023 Accounts Delay

Oneiro Energy said Monday that trading in its shares on the London Stock Exchange has been suspended as it hasn't been able to publish its fiscal 2023 accounts by the regulatory deadline.

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Tissue Regenix Backs Its 2023 Views After Positive Adjusted Ebitda in 1H

Tissue Regenix Group on Monday said it is on track to meet its views for 2023 as it expects its first-half adjusted earnings to be positive after a rise in revenue.

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Iomart Names Lucy Dimes as Part-Time Executive Chair

Iomart Group said Monday that Lucy Dimes will assume the role of executive chair on a part-time basis, effective immediately.

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Capital Metals to Raise $477,000 to Speed Up Lifting of Sri Lanka License Suspension

Capital Metals said Monday it will raise 364,705 pounds ($477,471) via a subscription and that it will use funds toward accelerating actions aimed at the lifting of the suspension of its industrial mining licenses at a project in Sri Lanka.

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Nostrum Oil & Gas PLC Acquisition of the Stepnoy Leopard Fields

TIDMNOG

MARKET TALK:

UK Capital-Goods Stocks Face Earnings Uncertainty

1113 GMT - U.K. capital-goods stocks merit short-term investor caution amid potential pressure on earnings, says JPMorgan in a note as it tweaks its recommendations on several sector players. "In line with our wider European coverage, our sector view remains cautious in the near term," JPM analysts write. "Valuation is close to all-time highs relative to the market and it's difficult for us to be optimistic on the sector with risk to 2024 earnings." JPM raises Bodycote to neutral from underweight, cuts Rotork to neutral from overweight, reduces Spectris to underweight from neutral and increases Spirax-Sarco Engineering to overweight from neutral. It says its most favored sector stocks are IMI, Melrose & Spirax-Sarco and its least preferred shares are Halma and Spectris. (philip.waller@wsj.com)

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Rainbow Rare Earths New Brazil Project Has Significant Upside Potential

1039 GMT - Rainbow Rare Earths' preliminary agreement with The Mosaic Company offers significant upside potential, Berenberg analyst Richard Hatch writes in a research note. The deal is for developing a rare earth project in the Uberaba area of Minas Gerais in Brazil, and while the size of the phosphogypsum stacks in the area hasn't been made public, Mosaic is a major producer of phosphoric acid in Brazil, the analyst notes. "We would expect the Uberaba project to at least equal the scale of Phalaborwa, and in fact we think it is likely to be larger," Hatch says. For reference, the Phalaborwa project "is one of the best, highest-margin undeveloped rare earths projects globally," the analyst says. Berenberg rates the mining company's stock a buy. Shares are up 9.6% at 14.25 pence. (christian.moess@wsj.com)

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Gresham House Takeover Offer Seen Boosting Foresight's Profile

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07-17-23 0926ET