One of this week’s top performers in the oil and gas sector Bahamas Petroleum (LON:BPC) made the list of the most popular searches on Google Finance as traders looked for the latest updates on the company’s exploration campaign in the Bahamas.
Bahamas added a further 15 percent to reach 10.5 pence this morning in an exciting session, which saw strong trading volumes.
The surge in the company’s share price was linked to speculation that Repsol has kicked off a drilling campaign offshore Cuba earlier this month, close to the company’s acreage in the Bahamas. Investors on message boards speculated that a discovery by Repsol could give a boost to BPC shares.
The company is currently looking for a farm-in partner to take a stake in its Bahamas acreage, expecting to bring in a partner by the second quarter this year. Posters on message boards suggested that apart from Repsol, Statoil and BP (LON:BP.) could be on the list of potential farm-in partners.
Fellow oil firm Red Emperor Resources (LON:RMP), which also did well this week, also emerged among the most actively discussed companies on bulletin boards. Investors focused on the upcoming spudding of the company’s second well in the Republic of Georgia.
Late last month, Red Emperor and partner Range Resources (LON:RRL) began preparations to drill the Namakhvani well, which will be spudded this month.
Namakhvani is also known as the Kursebi-6 prospect, and is the “most robust” of the pair’s prospects in the former Soviet state. It will be drilled to a depth of 3,500 metres.
In the meantime, today’s most read RNS statement included updates from cleantech firms Ceres Power (LON:CWR) and Ceramic Fuel Cells (LON:CFU), which both welcomed the government’s decision to hike the feed-in tariff for micro power and heating products.
These products include Ceramic’s BlueGen and Ceres’ fuel cell micro-CHP product.
Ceres said the proposed tariff increase of two pence to 12.5 pence per kWh generated is expected to accelerate customer adoption of the small scale combined heat and power (micro-CHP) technology.
As a result of the increase, the annual FIT for the average UK home with a micro-CHP unit will go up from £350 to £436, on top of the predicted annual energy cost savings of £286.
“The change to the FIT and the Government's support for mass market uptake of micro-CHP represent a fundamental shift in strategic UK residential energy policy,” said chief executive of Ceres David Pummell.
“They reinforce the future importance of micro-CHP as a cost effective solution that can meet the requirements of a significant proportion of the UK's homes.”
Ceramic Fuel Cells noted, that BlueGen is the first and currently the only fuel cell m-CHP product to receive certification under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) and be eligible for the feed-in tariff.
Shares in Ceres were in demand this morning, pushing its share price up 2.5 percent to 10.5 pence.
Flybe (LON:FLYB) also did well in early trade, rising 2.5 percent to 66 pence after reporting an 18.6 percent surge in revenues under management to £165.5 million, which was largely due to the group’s entry into Continental Europe via a joint venture with Finnair.
The contribution from the Finnish JV more than offset weakness in the UK, where Flybe’s revenues dropped 0.3 percent to £133.7 million.
Europe’s largest airline added that the development of Flybe Finland is progressing well, including the expansion of scheduled services into Sweden and Denmark.
“Although we expect market conditions to remain challenging, we have a robust and flexible business model and clear and achievable growth plans. We remain confident about Flybe's long term future,” said chairman and chief executive of Flybe Jim French.
Another interim management statement that made the list of the most popular RNS announcement came from Shaftesbury (LON:SHB). The real estate group, which is focused on the West End in London, reported that trading has been buoyant during the crucial Christmas and New Year period with occupancy rates within its property portfolio reaching historic highs as demand for all uses is high.
At the end of January, Shaftesbury said the value of vacant wholly owned commercial space stood at £2.6 million, representing a 3.4 percent share of the total portfolio. Of this, £0.6 million worth of properties were under refurbishment and a further £0.4 million was under offer.
For the second half of the year, Shaftesbury has planned two projects in Carnaby to meet demand for larger shops, which will result in a short term loss of income until the projects are completed and let.
Phoenix Group Holdings (LON:PHNX) also caught the eye of investors as it said it was unimpressed with the takeover terms offered y CVC Capital Partners and has taken the decision to terminate discussions. The insurance group added that it is currently not in discussions with any other potential suitors.
“Whilst the board is obliged to consider credible approaches, the terms proposed by CVC did not reflect our view of the full value of Phoenix and its stable, long-term cash flows,” said chief executive of Phoenix Clive Bannister.
“Phoenix continues to focus fully on our business, customers, shareholders and staff to maximise the potential of our powerful consolidation platform.”