(Alliance News) - Fuller, Smith & Turner PLC on Thursday celebrated an "excellent Christmas trading period" as it approved a further share buyback programme. Read More
(Alliance News) - The following is a round-up of updates by London-listed companies, issued on Thursday and not separately reported by Alliance News: Read More
Caledonia Mining Corp PLC - Jersey-registered operator of Blanket gold mine in Zimbabwe - Prices USD125 million in convertible senior notes due 2023 with a 5.875% coupon. The private placement with institutional buyers is increased from the originally intended USD100 million. The buyers of the notes also have a 13-day option to buy up to USD25 million more. The notes will be convertible at USD40.51 per share, a 25% premium to the stock's New York close on Wednesday, starting from January 21, 2030. Caledonia will receive USD120.2 million in net proceeds, or USD144.4 million if the option is taken up in full. The funds raised will be used to develop the Bilboes gold project in Zimbabwe, which is in development, and for general operations. Read More
Asos PLC - London-based online fast-fashion retailer - Camelot Capital Partners LLC buys 123,725 shares at GBP2.94 to GBP3.00 per share, worth just under GBP360,000, on Thursday last week to Tuesday this week. Camelot now has 18.6 million shares, a 15.5% stake. Asos Deputy Chair William Barker is connected to Camelot. Read More
(Alliance News) - British American Tobacco PLC announced this week it planned to shut down its manufacturing plant in South Africa after around five decades, citing illegal cigarettes, Business Day reported. Read More
Lion Finance Group PLC - Tbilisi-based lender formerly known as Bank of Georgia Group - Recruits Giorgi Shagidze to be its new group chief financial officer, as well as deputy chief executive officer & CFO of Georgian banking subsidiary JSC Bank of Georgia. Shagidze joins from maib, which Lion Finance describes as Moldova's largest bank. Shagidze has been CEO since 2021, leading the development of maib's digital capabilities. At Lion Finance, he replaces Sulkhan Gvalia, who also was group and bank CFO and steps down after 20 years with the company in March. Gvalia will remain a non-executive director of Lion Finance's Ameriabank subsidiary in Armenia and of other subsidiaries. Additionally, Giorgi Gureshidze, who leads Bank of Georgia's Mass Retail Banking initiative, is promoted to deputy CEO of Bank of Georgia. Read More
AEP Plantations PLC - operates sustainable palm-oil plantations in Indonesia and Malaysia - Says the majority of operations have resumed at the PT Cahaya Pelita Andhika estate in Central Tapanuli in North Sumatra, Indonesia, following severe rainfall in late November. All employees and their families are safe, and there have been no major palm tree losses, AEP says. Transport of fresh fruit bunches remains constrained, however, by damage to the main access bridge caused by the flooding. AEP is putting in place interim arrangements for deliveries, and it doesn't expect the flooding to have a "material impact" on its overall fruit production or financial results. Read More
(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London were higher at midday on Thursday, supported by stronger-than-expected UK economic data. Read More
Raspberry Pi Holdings PLC - Cambridge, England-based maker of personal-use computers and modules - Launches AI HAT+ 2 add-on board for Raspberry Pi 5, broadening the company's product portfolio to support on-device generative artificial intelligence. The new add-on board is an update of HAT+, which was launched in October 2024. While HAT+ used the Hailo-8 neural network accelerator, HAT+ 2 is based on Hailo-10H and includes 8 gigabytes of dedicated on-board dynamic random access memory. This enables "access to larger models and efficient acceleration of large language models, vision language models, and other generative AI applications on Raspberry Pi 5," the company explains, adding: "With few, if any, existing solutions at a comparable price point for generative AI at the edge, the AI HAT+ 2 opens new revenue opportunities across security, premises management, process control, and a wide range of applications where on-device processing addresses cost, data privacy, or resilience requirements." Read More
(Alliance News) - Glenveagh Properties PLC on Thursday launched a EUR25 million share buyback programme and said its earnings came ahead of guidance for 2025. Read More
(Alliance News) - Essentra PLC on Thursday said revenue continued to be boosted by pricing and strategic targeting as it expects to report an adjusted operating profit in line with market consensus. Read More
Great Portland Estates PLC - London-based commercial real estate developer and landlord - Signs 17 new leases and renewals in the three months that ended December 31, the company's financial third quarter, generating annual rent of GBP8.9 million, of which GBP8.5 million is its share. Great Portland says market lettings are 9.1% ahead of March 2025 estimated rental value. Within this, the GBP7.3 million in managed office leases are 8.3% ahead of ERV, and the GBP1.6 million of retail leases are 12% ahead. For the first nine months of Great Portland's financial year, which ends March 31, 60 new leases are signed for GBP46.5 million in annual rent, with GBP45.4 million as the company's share. These are 7.5% ahead of ERV, with offices 7.4% ahead and retail 8.8% ahead. Read More