Gem Diamonds issued a statement this morning advising the market that it had recovered a 910 carat diamond from a mine in Lesotho. This is believed to be the fifth biggest gem-quality diamond ever recovered and it was extracted from the Letseng mine, which itself is deemed by some metrics as being the most productive in the world. Mining investments can be a rollercoaster ride, but hidden gems (sorry) can be found along the way.
Carillion, the struggling outsourcer whose shares have been under significant pressure over the last couple of years has announced it has gone into liquidation, leaving shareholders with nothing. The company runs a number of high profile government projects and is the country’s second largest builder so the pressure will be on for some state intervention – the consequences of failure here will be felt far and wide.
Speculation in the media over the weekend was that Premier Foods was on the cusp of selling its Batchelor’s brand – the custodian of student-favourite Pot Noodle – to Nissin Food Holdings. The company this morning has been keen to play down the prospect, saying only that it is continuously looking for ways to deliver best value to shareholders. But it’s worth bearing in mind that in 2016, a takeover offer of 65p a share was rejected with the board saying this undervalued the company’s prospects. The shares now trade at just over 40p each…