Centamin (LSE: CEY) plunges on new setback, while Sports Direct (LSE: SPD) slips on strong results.
The FTSE 100 (UKX) fell back a little today after three days of rises, dropping 12 points to 5,933. New stimulus measures announced by the US Federal Reserve were received positively, but had pretty much been expected and were already built into market sentiment.
This is only a modest fall, but sadly there are individual constituents of the FTSE indices faring less well. We look at three that are slipping today:
Centamin
Gold miner Centamin Egypt (LSE: CEY), recently troubled by a legal dispute over its Sukari mine concession, today announced a further dispute with a fuel supplier, leading to the suspension of mining operations. The share price slumped by 21p (41%) to 30.3p, taking it down more than 70% since its pre-crisis peak.
The Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation is seeking a retrospective $65 million for previous fuel supplies, which Centamin described as illegal. And, to add to Centamin's woes, extra legal hurdles have been place in its way by Egyptian customs demanding Ministry of Finance approval for further gold exports.
Sports Direct
Shares in Sports Direct International (LSE: SPD) fell 23.3p (5.7%) to 386p, despite the firm reporting a 25% increase in first-half pre-tax profit, to £125 million. The London Olympics and Paralympics gave the company a boost, helping revenue for the six months to rise by 22.5% to £1.1 billion. Earnings per share rose 28% to 16p.
The company also announced plans to try and reintroduce a bonus scheme for founder Mike Ashley, worth around £40 million in shares dependent on performance targets. An earlier version of the scheme was rejected by shareholders in September.
Advanced Medical
Advanced Medical Solutions Group (LSE: AMS) saw its share price slide by 9.1p (13%) to 59p after warning that full-year performance would be at the lower end of market expectations. The reason, according to the wound care specialist, is that market penetration for its LiquiBand products in the US has been disappointing.
Advanced Medical shares are now down around 35% over the past 12 months, though there should still be reasonable earnings growth expected for this year and next.
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> Alan does not own any shares mentioned in this article.
