Goals Soccer Centres strikes it rich

Published on Friday 3 July 2009 21:26

SCOTS STOCKS

GOALS Soccer Centres, the East Kilbride-based five-a-side football pitch operator, rose 3 per cent after it said it was on track to meet market forecasts, despite taking a hit of around 300,000 because of February's snow, which closed sites across Britain.

The company has been hit by a fall in non-pitch revenue, but yesterday it said that there were signs of a recovery in spending in its bars.

Shares in the Aim-listed company rose 6.5p to 208p, double the low hit in February.

Paisley-based rival Powerleague, meanwhile, was unchanged on 39p. Powerleague has been in an offer period since early April when Patron, the private equity group, said it was reviewing its options over its 29 per cent stake in the company, which could lead to a bid to buy the company.

Oil explorer Melrose Resources rose 4.6 per cent to 279.25p, despite crude oil falling 4 per cent on reports a recent spike was caused by rogue trading.

Cairn Energy, Scotland's largest oil explorer, dropped 1.9 per cent to 2,295p, while Dana Petroleum slipped 12p to 1,368p.

Wood Group, the oil services giant, dropped 2.25p to 265p. Transport company Stagecoach rose a penny to 127.5p as Nomura Code Securities initiated its research on the company with a "buy" recommendation and a 174p target price.

Its rival Aberdeen-based FirstGroup, which Nomura analysts gave an initial "neutral" rating, rose 2.75p to 348p.

Elsewhere, John Menzies, the international logistics company, eased a penny to 167p, as analysts at Altium notched down their rating to neutral after a recent share rally.