DFS, De La Rue and Caledonia Mining

“Blue-chips opened a shade higher with investors continuing to assess the likely economic impact of Prime Minister Theresa May's policy setting speech at the Conservative Party conference. The modest rise for the FTSE100 comes after US markets reached new record levels overnight as the Wall Street bubble continued and with Asian markets generally on the up this morning,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.

“Furniture group DFS was down in early trading after full-year pre-tax profits plunged by more than 22%. The group suffered in a very challenging market environment in the second half as consumers kept a tighter grip on the purse strings. But DFS remains confident that recent strategic investments and its operating efficiency programme will deliver modest profit growth and cash returns in the current financial year. The group’s shares were down by more than 4.3%.

“Bank note printer De La Rue’s shares rose after it clinched a 10-year contract to supply the base material for the Bank of England’s new polymer £20 notes. De La Rue already has the contract to design and print the notes, which will be issued in 2020. Production is expected to start in the 2018-19 financial year. De La Rue’s shares were up by over 1.2%.

“Caledonia Mining was a strong early riser following record quarterly gold production at the Blanket mine in Zimbabwe. Production in the three months to the end of September was 15% up on the previous quarter and the improvement is expected to continue into the fourth quarter. Full-year production guidance has now been narrowed from a range of 52,000 to 57,000 ounces to between 54,000 and 56,000 ounces. Caledonia’s target is to produce 80,000 ounces in 2021. Caledonia’s shares were up by more than 5.7%.”

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