The Morning news update with Glencore, Hikma Pharma, Balfour Beatty and AfriAg

FTSE 100

British Land (BLND) – has exchanged on the sale of 52 Poland Street, to Amazon Property for £26 million reflecting a capital value of nearly £1,300psf.

Antofagasta (ANTO) – has appointed Mr. Diego Hernández, who is currently Chief Executive Officer of the group’s mining division, as Chief Executive Officer of the company.

Glencore (GLEN) – Adjusted EBITDA of $6.5 billion, up 8%, for the six months to June.

FTSE 250

Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) – Profit attributable to shareholders increased by 132% to $169 million in the six months to June. Interim dividend flat at 7 cents per share but also announces a special 4 cents per share payment.

Balfour Beatty (BBY) – has considered the terms of the revised merger proposal from Carillion dated 19th August 2014 and consulted with its major shareholders. Has unanimously concluded that the proposal is not in the best interests of its shareholders and has decided to reject the proposal.

UK Commercial Property Trust (UKCM) – reports a NAV per share of 78.1p as at 30th June, a rise of 6.8% mainly due to a 6% like-for-like increase in the capital value of the property portfolio, which is now £1.1billion.

Small caps

AfriAg (AFRI) – AfriAg Marketing, the company’s new wholly-owned agri-produce marketing and sales and distribution division has now been established in South Africa and expects to secure its first contracts shortly.

Robinson (RBN) – operating profits down from £2.08 million to £131,000 in the six months to June. Interim dividend increased by 12% to 2.25p.

Chariot Oil & Gas (CHAR) – subsidiary, Chariot Brasil Petróleo e Gás Ltda., has signed a farm-out agreement with AziLat Limited Subject to the approval of the Brazilian authorities, AziLat will hold a 25% equity interest in Chariot’s BAR-M-292, BAR-M-293, BAR-M-313 and BAR-M-314 blocks in the Barreirinhas Basin, in return for paying 50% of the 3D seismic acquisition and processing costs to be incurred across these blocks. Chariot will remain Operator with a 75% equity interest.

EG Solutions (EGS) – trading during the six months ended 31st July 2014 has continued strongly and, following a significant new contract win and strong momentum in trading, eg now expects to report financial performance for the full year to 31st January 2015 ahead of current market expectations.

Clinigen (CLIN) – announces the acquisition of the global rights to the oncology support therapy, Ethyol® (amifostine) from AstraZeneca.