Volution Group 4-month Revenue Rises; Sees Annual Earnings Ahead Of Market Expectations

Volution Group Plc (FAN.L), a maker of indoor air quality solutions, said on Wednesday that it has recorded an improvement in revenue for the first four-month period of the full year, supported by a strong performance in the UK market.

For the four-month period, revenue was around 121 million pounds, up 8 percent from last year.

Looking ahead, the company said: “Our strong start to the financial year, together with the tailwind from the three acquisitions completed in the calendar year, gives the Board confidence in delivering earnings ahead of the current range of market expectations for the financial year.”

The Group believes that current annual market projections expect the company to earn adjusted earnings per share of 25.3 pence to 26.3 pence.

OPG Power Ventures H1 Profit Before Tax Surges; Sees Higher Revenue In FY24

OPG Power Ventures plc (OPG.L), an operator of private sector power projects in India, reported Wednesday that its first-half profit before tax surged to 4.1 million pounds from last year’s 0.7 million pounds.

Profit after tax was 2.4 million pounds, compared to loss of 1.2million pounds a year ago.

Earnings per share were 0.59 pence, compared to loss of 0.31 pence in the prior year.

Adjusted EBITDA increased 30 percent to 7.8 million pounds from last year’s 6.9 million pounds.

The first-half revenue surged 158 percent to 70 million pounds from prior year’s 27 million pounds, due to increased operations.

Looking ahead for fiscal 2024, the company projects revenue to be higher than that of last year. The company expects to deliver strong operational and financial performance.

For more earnings news, earnings calendar, and earnings for stocks, visit rttnews.com.

Pre-market Movers: DUNE, IPA, S, PHIO, ACRS…

The following are some of the stocks making big moves in Wednesday’s pre-market trading (as of 04.53 A.M. ET).

In the Green

Dune Acquisition Corporation (DUNE) is up over 28% at $6.30.
SentinelOne, Inc. (S) is up over 17% at $23.52.
Phio Pharmaceuticals Corp. (PHIO) is up over 16% at $1.31.
Aclaris Therapeutics, Inc. (ACRS) is up over 16% at $1.15.
Altimmune, Inc. (ALT) is up over 9% at $5.67.
Tupperware Brands Corporation (TUP) is up over 8% at $2.02.
Captivision Inc. (CAPT) is up over 5% at $3.98.

In the Red

ImmunoPrecise Antibodies Ltd. (IPA) is down over 28% at $1.10.
Yext, Inc. (YEXT) is down over 15% at $5.92.
Asana, Inc. (ASAN) is down over 12% at $20.35.
NexImmune, Inc. (NEXI) is down over 9% at $3.14.
British American Tobacco p.l.c. (BTI) is down over 8% at $28.93.
Fluence Energy, Inc. (FLNC) is down over 8% at $23.60.
ZyVersa Therapeutics, Inc. (ZVSA) is down over 5% at $2.06.

Inditex 9M Results Climb; Q4-to-date Sales Up; Lifts FY23 Margin View

Inditex SA (IDEXF.PK), a Spanish clothing firm, on Wednesday reported that its nine-month net income climbed 32.5 percent from last year to 4.1 billion euros.

Profit before tax grew 29.8 percent to 5.2 billion euros, and EBIT increased 24.3 percent to 5.2 billion euros. EBITDA for the period increased 13.9 percent to 7.4 billion euros.

Sales grew 11.1 percent to 25.6 billion euros, showing very satisfactory development both in stores and online. Sales in constant currency grew 14.9 percent.

The company noted that sales were positive in all geographical areas and in all concepts.

Regarding the start of its fourth quarter, Inditex said its store and online sales in constant currency between November 1 and December 11 increased 14 percent from last year. AutumnWinter collections continue to be well received by customers, it said.

Looking ahead for fiscal 2023, Inditex now expects a gross margin of around 75 bps higher than last year. The company previously expected a stable gross margin for the year.

For more earnings news, earnings calendar, and earnings for stocks, visit rttnews.com.

Oil Extends Losses On Demand Concerns

Oil extended losses on Wednesday to hover near a six-month low on demand concerns and apprehensions that the OPEC+ alliance may not comply with the supply cuts.

As demand worries intensify and prices drop, it is speculated that oil producers could unwind production cuts next year and “flood the market” to fight for market share.

Benchmark Brent crude futures dropped half a percent to $72.88 a barrel after touching their lowest level since late June on Tuesday amid concerns of softening demand and oversupply. WTI crude futures were down 0.4 percent at $68.34.

Concerns over Chinese recovery weighed on prices in the absence of fresh stimulus measures from Beijing at the Central Economic Work Conference to revive the housing market.
On the positive side, an estimated decline in U.S. crude stocks helped limit the downside in oil prices.

The American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday reported an increase of nearly 600,000 barrels in U.S. crude oil inventories, against expectations of a decline of 2.6 million barrels.

Official inventory data from the U.S. Information Administration (EIA) is due later in the day.

The EIA in its latest short-term energy outlook report raised its forecast for supply this year by 300,000 bpd to 12.93 million bpd from its previous report.

Elon Musk's X.ai Set To Raise $1 Bln In Equity Offering

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup X.ai has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to raise up to $1 billion in an equity offering. The minimum investment accepted from any outside investor is $2 million.

According to the filing, the company has already raised $134.68 million from the sale of securities to four investors, with the first sale happening on November 29. The balance of $865.32 million is remaining to be sold and the filing reveals that the issuer has entered into a binding and enforceable agreement for the purchase and sale of the total remaining to be sold.

The filing also reveals Musk as an executive officer and director of X.ai and Jared Birchall as corporate secretary. Birchall is a former Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley executive. X.ai is based in Burlingame, California.

Musk announced the company as his new AI business at the Twitter Spaces event in early July this year and said the company seeks to “understand the true nature of the universe.”

Musk formed X.ai as a competitor to OpenAI, which he co-founded in 2015 and left it in 2018. He later wrote in a small post on X (formerly Twitter) on November 19 that, “X Corp investors will own 25% of xAI.”

Apart from founding X.AI, Musk is the founder, chairman, CEO and chief technology officer of SpaceX; CEO of Tesla, Inc.; owner, chairman and CTO of X Corp.; founder of the tunnel developer Boring Co.; co-founder of brain-tech startup Neuralink and OpenAI; and president of the Musk Foundation.