Aston Martin Holdings (LON:AML) shares jumps 9.69% to 76.8p as it continues to rise
Shares in the British independent luxury sports car manufacturer have ticked up this afternoon, despite the stock having more than halved in value since the beginning of 2020.
Yahoo Finance reported that the company’s share price slump from March as a result of the global coronavirus pandemic has only added to the car maker’s woes. After starting 2020 at around 150p, the share price subsequently fell down to 46p by the middle of March.
‘In the short term, the stock did trade back above 100p, but unfortunately it’s back at the time of writing to 50p. This represents a fall of 66% from the start of the year,’ it reported.
As of 22 October 2020, AML’s shares were trading at 49 cents a share, down considerably from its nearly $25 IPO float price back in October 2018, CNBC wrote earlier this month.
In recent weeks, the company announced what it described as a ‘game-changing’ £1.3 billion refinancing package that will hand up to 20% of the company to Mercedes-AMG.
‘The loss-making British luxury carmaker seeks to revive its flagging fortunes, the Guardian wrote last month. As part of the expanded partnership, Mercedes-AMG will provide £286m worth of hybrid and electric vehicle technology in exchange for increasing its stake from 2.3%.
Shares in the company have also rallied more than 25% in the past ten days following the news that Pfizer had received positive early results from its coronavirus vaccine trial.
Sunrise Resources (AIM:SRES) shares jumped 20.75% to 0.32p with project progress
The London-listed company told investors on Monday that it has completed its processing of a 100 ton bulk sample of perlite taken from its CS Pozzolan-Perlite project in Nevada, US.
Perlite samples have now been sent out to potential customers across the US for expansion testing while panning is in progress for larger scale pozzolan grinding test and concrete pour.
Meanwhile, at the Clayton silver-gold project, which is also in Nevada, it said core logging has now been completed following the intersection of a massive quartz vein and quartz breccia. The company said that samples have now been submitted for cutting, assay and analysis.
In terms of other projects, the group said its notice of intent to drill the Newark gold project in Nevada being processed by the Bureau of Land Management while a Heritage Survey request has been submitted for proposed drilling at the Baker's Gold project in Australia.
“This summary builds on our recent announcements of 27 October and 9 November as work is ongoing across our project portfolio,” said Sunrise’s Executive Chairman Patrick Cheetham.
Staffline Group (AIM:STAF) shares increased by 21.31% to 30.35p despite COVID-19 hit
Shares in the recruitment and training group opened higher this morning after a month of gradual progress with shares edging their way up from 26.1p from the start of November.
The company brought in a new chief executive last month, former non-executive director Albert Ellis, as Staffline moved “into the next phase of its evolution”, it explained to investors.
The group announced the appointment on the same day that it reported its half-year results for the six months ended June 30. Staffline reported an underlying operating loss of £0.8m for 1H20 compared to £4.4m of profit in 1H19. Meanwhile, revenues fell by 16.9% to £434.9m.
The company said it had been hit hard after experiencing a reduction in volumes in certain sectors including retail, automotive and manufacturing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Conversely, the group saw an ‘unprecedented increase’ in the food sector demand. This surge demand was not sufficient to offset the decline in other sectors during 1H20 however.
Staffline explained in its half-year report that whilst current trading “remained challenging”, the company expects to “perform in line with expectations for the full year” and highlighted that it is on track to deliver an underlying operating profit across each of its three divisions.
With news of a vaccine being ready before the end of 2020, several stocks, particularly those in sectors that were hit badly at the onset of the pandemic, are starting to see some relief.
Shoe Zone (AIM:ZONE) shares continue to marginally improve, rising 20.67% to 45.25p
The same can be said for retail stock, Shoe Zone, which has marginally improved in value since news of a COVID-19 vaccine was first revealed in headlines at the start of last week.
In a full year trading update released last month, the company said it had ruled out dividends for five years and that the reintroduction of business rates could see 20% of its stores close.
The company described trading conditions for 2H20 as “challenging” with store trading down 20% down year-on-year since June 2020 and digital trading broadly 100% up year on year.
Shoe Zone told investors last month that it will consider closing 45 stores prior to April 2021, and then up to a further 45 stores in the 12 months following this period. "Never has the rating system been more unfair," commented Anthony Smith, Chief Executive of the Company.
Commenting on FY20, he added, "Shoe Zone has ended an incredibly challenging year with a robust plan and sufficient funding in place to ensure the future survival of the business.”
The group finished FY20 with cash of £6.3m and is now focused on debt repayments, aware that additional funds may be needed for one of the company's legacy pension schemes.
SSP Group (LON:SSPG) shares fell 6% to 346p but remain strong after news of vaccine
Shares in the global food and beverage outlet operator dipped today despite being amongst several stocks which resurged last week following the news of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.
In recent weeks, SSP Group has announced that it has secured a four-year, £15 million (€16.5m) contract to redevelop the food & beverage experience at Hobart Airport in Tasmania.
The recent jump follows a period of great impact on the travel sector. Shares in SSP Group have more than halved since March 2020. The group has closed global units, granted salary reductions, and implemented several cost measures to preserve cash and liquidity.
“It is with regret that the prolonged nature of this crisis has resulted in us having to restructure and make considerable job losses in order to protect the business,” the company wrote to investors in September 2020, adding, “These are always extremely difficult decisions, and we are supporting our colleagues throughout this process.”
With news of the world’s first ‘milestone’ COVID-19 vaccine, and now a second, shares have seen relief, jumping over 80%, albeit still remaining around half of their pre-pandemic worth.