The food company which also owns Primark has this morning announced that it intends to buy bakers Hovis. The deal had already been mooted and will require regulatory clearance given the dominant market position this will create but management note the deal will drive significant costs synergies and efficiencies, creating a profitable UK bread business that is sustainable over the long term. It would also see expansion into new product lines. Given the fact this news has already been announced and the fact completion could come at a cost, the market reaction has been muted but the ABF share price was up around 0.5% in early trade.
The FTSE-250 listed reseller of computer technology this morning provided an update to the market that it had commenced a share buyback of up to £25m. This is part of the company’s capital allocation programme and it is expected to be completed by the end of the year. Given the roughly £1billion market cap of the company, the 5% increase in the Bytes Technology share price could be seen as underlining investor confidence over the longer term.
London and Toronto listed SolGold, the Copper-Gold focused discovery company, issued an update this morning regarding some exceptional near-surface metals intercepts at a project in Ecuador. The location of these deposits mean that extraction costs would be low and could in turn generate significant cashflows. The market reaction has been to offer another boost for the stock. The SolGold share price has added 20% in the first hour of trading, taking gains for the month to more than 100%.
Most read news on Investegate this morning
Fundraising of £507,450 - - Altona Rare Earths (REE)
MONTE MUAMBE: Gallium and Fluorspar Update - - Altona Rare Earths (REE)
Exceptional Near-Surface Intercepts at Tandayama - - Solgold (SOLG)
