AFC Energy Share News (AFC)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are amongst the biggest risers and fallers within the main London indices midday Thursday.
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FTSE 100 WINNERS
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Fresnillo, up 1.4%, and Randgold Resources, up 1.1%. Both miners are higher as the price of gold rises due to the escalation of hostilities in Yemen. The metal trades at USD1,206.69 an ounce, its highest level since the beginning of the month.

Weir Group up 1.9% and BP up 0.2%. Both oil companies are benefiting from the rise in oil prices amid concerns about the political situation in Yemen. Saudi Arabia has launched airstrikes targeting Houthi rebels in Yemen with the support of Gulf region allies and the US. Brent oil hit a intraday high of USD59.72 a barrel Thursday morning and currently trades at USD58.47 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate touched USD52.45 a barrel and is quoted mid-morning at USD51.17.
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FTSE 100 LOSERS
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London Stocks Exchange Group, down 8.6%. Borse Dubai has sold its 17.4% stake in LSE in a block sale managed by BofA Merrill Lynch, Barclays Bank and Nomura International. Borse Dubai had been the biggest shareholder in the LSE but said will no longer hold any shares in the exchange operator.

ARM Holdings, down 4.4%. The chip maker's shares are down after the Nasdaq Composite ended down 2.4% on Wednesday amid concerns about the tech sector. Augustin Eden, research analyst at Accendo Markets, says there are concerns that the markets for smartphones and tablets are becoming saturated leading to many consumers opting for cheaper devices with the same guts as fashionable market leaders, just without the badge. "Crucially, these pay lower royalties to parts suppliers like ARM," he says.

Whitbread, down 2.5% at 5,170 pence. Panmure Gordon has downgraded Whitbread to Sell from Hold, saying rising debt levels and falling returns means the hotel and coffee-shop chain operator should no longer be considered a safe haven. Panmure has a 4,250.00 pence price target on the stock.

Schroders down 5.1%, Prudential down 3.8%, Smiths Group down 3.1% and British Land Co down 2.9%. The stocks are down after they all went ex-dividend, meaning new buyers no longer qualify for the latest dividend payouts.
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FTSE 250 WINNERS
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Supergroup, up 6.2%. The clothing retailer maintained its profit guidance for the year as it outlined the outcome of its strategic review, including the acquisition of its North American distribution licence and plans to start paying dividends in its 2016 financial year. SuperGroup said it expects its profit for the 2015 financial year to be in the GBP60 million to GBP65 million range, in line with its previous guidance. Analysts are positive on the company, with Investec saying it continues to believe the clothing retailer is capable of delivering sustainable double-digit growth.

Ophir Energy, up 2.1% at 144.3p. According to traders, Jefferies upgraded the oil company to Buy from Hold.

Polymetal International, up 0.2% at 572.5p. Golman Sachs included the precious metals miner in its "Conviction Buy List", lifting its price target to 690p from 670p. Polymental said it has completed an audit of the ore reserves at the Kuytn open pit mining project in Russia but said it is considering its options for the project as it focuses on the Kyzyl project in Kazakhstan. Polymetal said the study, carried out by Snowden Mining Industry Consultants, has confirmed a total open-pit ore reserve estimate of 3.6 million tonnes of ore at 3.3 grams per tonne of gold, translating to 0.4 million ounces of gold.
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FTSE 250 LOSERS
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Bodycote down 6.2%, Ladbrokes down 5.7%, Essentra down 4.0%, Countrywide down 4.0%, Phoenix Group Holdings down 3.7%, Segro down 3.6% and Bovis Homes Group down 3.2%. The stocks are down after they all went ex-dividend, meaning new buyers no longer qualify for the latest dividend payouts.

Euromoney Institutional Investor, down 3.6% at 1,089p. The publishing, events and information company said it expects to post a fall in pretax profit before amortisation and other exceptional items related to acquisitions in its first half to end-March, as challenging market conditions have not improved since its first quarter and it experienced a lower operating margin. N+1 Singer downgraded the company to Hold from Buy, retaining its 1,100p price target, as the broker believes the shares are now fairly valued after a rise in the past month.
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AIM ALL-SHARE WINNERS
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Plexus Holdings, up 20%. The oil and gas engineering services company said it has signed a framework agreement with Chinese oil services company Yantai Jereh Oilfield Services under which the pair will work towards formalising a licence agreement which will allow Yantai Jereh to manufacture and sell Plexus wellhead equipment in the Chinese and wider Asian oil and gas markets. Yantai Jereh will subscribe for shares in Plexus totalling up to 5% of its issued share capital under the arrangement at a price of 180 pence per share.

AFC Energy, up 20%. The industrial fuel cell power company said it has received the first partial building permit in Stade in Germany to build an industrial alkaline fuel-cell facility. The permit will mean AFC can proceed with foundation works and the reinforced steel concrete base at the site, along with support for this work. AFC said it expects construction work to start at Stade next week.

Oilex, up 17%. The oil and gas explorer and producer said construction of the oil and gas construction facilities at the Cambay-73 well in India was progressing well and it hopes the joint venture will be able to start production during May. Oilex has a 45% participating interest in the Cambay field through a joint venture with Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation and Niko Resources.

Metminco, up 13%. The exploration and mining company said it had discovered a "significant copper occurrence" to the southwest of the main deposit at the Los Calatos copper project in southern Peru and it's revising its structural model for the project.

Ironveld, up 8.7%. The company said an application for a mining right for three farms within the vanadium and titanium project in South Africa had been accepted by the country's Department of Mineral Resources. The mining right application covers the Nonnewerth, LaPucella and Altona farms at the project, which is in the Bushveld district of Limpopo Province.
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AIM ALL-SHARE LOSERS
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Arcontech Group, off 26%. The company, which provides financial market data processing and trading services, swung to a first-half pretax profit but warned that its full-year results could be hit as a big customer has asked to end its contract almost two years early. Arcontech said it is uncertain about the level of profitability it can achieve in the current year ending June 30, as a "significant customer" has requested that its contracted be terminated 18 months early. The company said the reasons are "outside of our control".

Scisys, down 11%. The software systems and services provider posted a rise in pretax profit in 2014, but warned that the strength of sterling, uncertainty in public funding ahead of the UK general election and contract deferrals means it expects its performance in 2015 to be flat. However, Scisys reiterated its longer-term target of double-digit margins by the end of 2018, underpinned by top line growth.

By Daniel Ruiz; danielruiz@alliancenews.com

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