HSBC hands Flutter a boost on Gold Cup day

The bookies may have outbid him at Cheltenham yesterday, even after Galopin Des Champs won the Gold Cup on St Patrick’s Day.

And investors in Paddy Power owner Flutter received a further boost when HSBC analysts raised their share price target to 16900p from 14300p.

The investment bank said the gaming giant’s plans for an additional US listing should boost its value, while clarity on UK regulations in the upcoming White Paper “could be a positive catalyst.”

He also praised ‘strong’ UK trade and ‘excellent’ momentum in the US.

The update came as punters, many with some Guinness in them, watched jockey Paul Townend bring home the 7-5 favorite ahead of Bravemansgame and Conflated.

However, Flutter’s shares fell 1.5 per cent, or 205p, to 13625p, rival Entain, owner of Ladbrokes and Coral, fell 0.5 per cent, or 6p, to 1207.5p and the owner of William Hill, 888, fell 8.1 per cent, or 5.15p, to 58.85p.

The Gold Cup would have provided a much-needed reprieve for many in the City at the end of a tumultuous week. The FTSE 100 was down 1 percent, or 74.63 points, at 7,335.4, in another dismal session for London’s main index. The FTSE 250 fell 1.5 percent, or 287.75 points, to 18,470.83.

Rising metal prices lifted mining shares with Glencore gaining 2.2 percent, or 9.45 pence, to 432.65 pence, Anglo American rising 1 percent, or 25 pence, to 2,504 pence, Fresnillo was up 1.8 percent, or 12.2 pence, at 710 pence. Rio Tinto, however, lost 0.6 per cent, or 31p, at 5250p.

Investors made another run into safe-haven assets, helping lift gold producer Endeavor Mining 2.4 percent, or 42 pence, to 1,760 pence. Oil prices fell to around $73 a barrel as demand was hit by fears about the health of the global economy.

Bodycote, the heat treatment specialist, was among the companies that enjoyed a positive trading session. Revenue increased 20.8% to £743.6m by 2022. Profit increased 23% to £95.3m. The shares gained 5.9 percent, or 34 pence, to 615.5 pence.

Talks about a possible acquisition of John Wood Group will continue after the engineering group asked that its potential buyer have another month to submit an offer.

US private equity giant Apollo has submitted four offers, including its latest offer of 237 pence per share.

Your deadline to bid before March 22nd has been extended to 5pm on April 19th. Jefferies analysts said their “bull case” would be an offer of 290 pence per share.

The shares rose 1.5 percent, or 3 pence, to 205.9 pence. The telecoms supervisor slapped the BT boss on the wrist after he said his company’s network expansion will “end in tears” for some of his competitors.

Ofcom delayed the conclusion of its investigation into a new Openreach pricing plan, as chief executive Melanie Dawes wrote in a letter to Philip Jansen that his comments caused “significant concern”. The shares fell 6.1 percent, or 8.9 pence, to 137.75 pence.

Meanwhile, the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) rose 2 per cent, or 144p, to 7470p after UBS raised its rating to ‘buy’ from ‘neutral’ and raised its price target to 8700p from 8500p. The broker attributed this to an improved forecast for LSEG’s Trading & Banking (T&B) division.

GSK gained 1 percent, or 13.8 pence, to 1,400.8 pence after Deutsche Bank upgraded the company’s shares to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ and raised the price target to 1,700 pence from 1,500 pence.

But private equity group Bridgepoint sank 10.1 percent, or 21.7 pence, to 193.7 pence after Peel Hunt downgraded the company to a ‘hold’ from ‘buy’ and cut its price. target 220 pence from 340 pence.

Technical products provider Diploma raised £235m along with its purchase of Tennessee Industrial Electronics for around £76m. The shares rose 3.2 percent, or 84 pence, to 2,720 pence.