Market report: Takeover talk drives Gulf Keystone Petroleum higher
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Version 0 of 1. Gulf Keystone Petroleum roared higher yesterday amid rumours that the exit of Chairman and founder Todd Kozel could leave it vulnerable to a takeover bid. The Kurdistan-focused oil and gas explorer announced earlier in the week controversial former chief executive Kozel will step down at the company’s AGM. With Kozel heading for the door speculation is swirling that oil majors are mulling offers for Gulf Keystone in a bid to get hold its crown jewel, the Shaikan oil field. Shaikan, which GKP holds a 75 per cent stake in, is the world’s largest independent onshore oil field. Exxon Mobil and Chevron are discussed as potential bidders, with a hefty premium hoped for. Gulf Keystone added 14.75p to 95p. Takeover talk also drove Kenmare Resources 3.75p higher to 15.75p, after the Dublin-based miner revealed it had rebuffed a share for share merger offer from Iluka Resources. Punter hope the Aussie miner will return to the table with a better offer, with JPMorgan saying “any sensible bid could be well received by Kenmare shareholders”. The topflight index just managed to mark its first positive session of the week, closing up 1.50 points at 6735.12. Housebuilders helped markets higher, with traders buying into what was seen as ‘light touch’ measures on mortgage lending from the Bank of England. Persimmon was 60p better at 1259p,and Barratt Developments added 16.6p to 362.9p. Private investors bought into AA at a knockdown price on its first day of unconditional trading. The breakdown assistance giant climbed 5p to 242p, but is still shy of its 250p offer price. On the mid-cap index, packaging group DS Smith became the latest company to suffer from the strong pound. Despite profit doubling to £167m in the year to April, the company slipped 18p to 2877.3p after warning that earnings this year will be hit by unfavourable exchange rates. Ophir Energy announced its fourth failed well in six months, as its latest drill in Gabon came up empty. The oil and gas explorer fell 9.3p to 231.2p. AIM-listed travel operator Dart Group warned operating profit for the year ahead is likely to be below expectations, after a lull in summer bookings. The Jet2 Travel operator hiked its divided by 47 per cent to 2.74p in light of a solid performance in the year to March but couldn’t stop shares falling 61.25p to 190p. |