Last checked at LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Wednesday.
----------
FTSE 100 - WINNERS
----------
Oil companies - Royal Dutch Shell 'A', up 1.3%. Shell 'B', up 1.2%. BP, up 0.5%. Resource stocks recovered from their losses on Tuesday, following comments from an OPEC official suggesting the possibility of an output freeze deal soon. All signs suggest a meeting of oil-producing countries in Doha, Qatar, on April 17 will deliver an agreement to freeze output, Reuters reported. The news agency cited Kuwait's OPEC governor and two sources, suggesting Iran's aim to raise supply will not scupper a deal aimed at supporting prices. Brent was trading at USD38.71 a barrel compared to the USD37.66 a barrel at the London equities close Tuesday.
----------
FTSE 100 - LOSERS
----------
easyJet, down 2.5%. The low-cost carrier said the number of passengers carried rose in March year-on-year, but its load factor declined following cancellations due to strikes in France. The low-cost airline said the number of passengers carried grew by 4.3% in March to 5.7 million from 5.5 million in the same month the year before. Load factor, however, declined by 1.3 percentage points to 91.3% from 92.6%. easyJet said there were 611 cancellations in March, with the majority due to air traffic control strikes in France. British Airways parent International Consolidated Airlines Group and Eastern European-focused airline Wizz Air Holdings were also down 0.6% and 1.6% respectively.
----------
FTSE 250 - WINNERS
----------
Tullow Oil, up 3.9%. The oil and gas company said it has received successful results from drilling the Wisting exploratory appraisal well in offshore Norway. Tullow said the well encountered an oil column of 22 metres in a 1,402 metres horizontal section with 1,250 metres of net light oil pay. The main reservoir in the well was thicker than originally anticipated, Tullow said. Tullow expects the results from the well to provide an increase to in-place volumes in the Central South and Central West segments of the Wisting project, improving overall certainty over reserves at the site.
----------
FTSE 250 - LOSERS
----------
Telecom Plus, down 2.5%. Berenberg downgraded the utility services provider to Hold From Buy. "With wholesale commodity prices weakening further and the gap between the cheapest and most expensive suppliers persisting, we think growth at the firm will continue to be hampered in the coming years," the German bank said.
Auto Trader Group, down 1.6% at 385.00 pence. The digital automotive company said a group of current and former directors and managers of the company have agreed to sell 1.2 million shares in the company, or a 1.6% stake, at a price of 370 pence each. The sale follows the expiry of the lock-up undertakings given by the individuals at the time of the company's initial public offering, and following the sale the current managers and directors will continue to have an interest in 39.8 million shares in the company, or a 4.0% stake. Chief Executive Officer Trevor Mather and Finance Director Sean Glithero sold 7.1 million and 1.6 million shares, leaving them with 12.0 million and 3.6 million shares in the company respectively.
----------
MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
----------
Cyan Holdings, up 119%. The smart metering & lighting technology group said it has secured an order for around GBP10.0 million for implementing smart meters of electricity in Iran. Cyan has won the contract with telecommunications contractor Micromodje to implement around 360,000 smart meters using Cyan's CyLec's advanced electricity metering infrastructure. Cyan said the hardware shipments are expected to start towards the end of 2016. The order follows Cyan having secured an initial purchase order with Micromodje in February.
Solo Oil, up 24% and Aminex, up 17%. Oil and gas company Aminex said it has achieved first gas production from the Kiliwani North project in Tanzania, in which fellow oil and gas firm Solo Oil also has a stake. Aminex said initial production from the Kiliwani North-1 well started this week and is expected to build to 25 million to 30 million cubic feet of gas per day over the next 90 to 100 days. Aminex is the operator of the licence. Its stake is set to fall to 51.75% from 55.575% previously due to the partial disposal of a stake to Solo Oil. That will take Solo's share in the licence up to 10%.
Styles&Wood Group, up 17%. The property services company said its pretax profit tripled in 2015, on the back of double-digit revenue growth, as it said its order book going into 2016 was robust. The group reported pretax profit of GBP2.4 million for the year ended December 31, multiplying from GBP579,000 in 2014, as revenue rose 19% to GBP115.0 million from GBP97.0 million.
----------
MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
----------
Taihua, off 34%. The China-based pharmaceutical company said total sales fell in 2015 due to poor weather conditions hitting harvests at its two plantations. Taihua said total sales in 2015 fell to CNY35.0 million from CNY53.1 million in 2014. The combined harvest of its two plantations decreased to 704 tonnes from 1,145 tonnes which Taihua said was due to adverse weather conditions during winter and spring. It said it is working with research institutes to investigate ways that the harvest can be maximised in the future, including measures such as frost-resistant strains.
Cluff Natural Resources, down 14% at 1.28p. The natural resources sector investor said it has raised GBP727,000 via a placing and subscription. Cluff issued 58.2 million shares at 1.25p per share. Cluff said the proceeds from the placing should fund the company through to the end of 2016 and provide cash to carry out further geological and technical work on its existing North Sea portfolio and secure additional North Sea licenses.
HSS Hire Group, down 5.2%. The tool and equipment hire company said its full-year results had come in line with its expectations, with its pretax loss widening on higher depreciation charges and administration costs. HSS said revenue rose 10% to GBP312.3 million for the year ended December 26 from GBP284.6 million the year earlier, but its pretax loss widened to GBP13.8 million from GBP8.5 million, as both cost of sales and administrative expenses ramped up.
----------
By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com; @ArvindBhunjun
Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
IN BRIEF: Aminex acquires land for Ntorya to Madimba pipeline
Aminex PLC - oil and gas investment in Tanzania - Acquires land required for Ntorya to Madimba pipeline. Says Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation gives firm commitment to first gas at Ntorya by mid-2025. Says TPDC is constructing pipeline, expects to issue construction tender in July. Chair Charles Santo says: "We are very appreciative of the TPDC's update on the Pipeline, the construction of which is a critical milestone in bringing Ntorya gas to the people of Tanzania. We wish to note the professionalism and commitment of the TPDC and highlight the importance the Tanzanian Government attaches to completing the Pipeline as soon as possible. This commitment is rooted in Ntorya's importance in helping to relieve energy poverty and improve energy security for the people of Tanzania. Although this construction is outside our control, we will endeavour to keep shareholders updated as we receive information from the TPDC as construction proceeds".
Read more