Afriag Global Share News (AFRI)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices midday Wednesday.
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FTSE 100 WINNERS
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Wm Morrison Supermarkets, up 1.9%. Figures from Kantar Worldpanel showed that the UK's big-four supermarket chains continue to feel the squeeze from heavy discounters and upmarket grocers, and Morrisons' market share fell to 11.0% from, 11.3% last year. However, that was level with the immediately previous 12 week period as Morrisons managed to stem the rate of decline in its sales.
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FTSE 100 LOSERS
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J Sainsbury, down 2%. The supermarket suffered a small drop in market share to 16.4%, from 16.5%, as its 0.3% sales growth lagged behind the market, according to Kantar Worldpanel. Sainsbury's is usually one of the better performers of the big-four supermarkets in their battle for market share against the discount grocers.

Tesco, down 0.9%. The company's market share declined to 28.8%, from 30.2%, a year before while sales also continue to decline, down 4.0% year-on-year, according to Kantar Woldpanel.

St James Place, down 0.9%, and Capita, down 0.7%. The companies are among the fallers in the blue-chip index after going ex-dividend, meaning new buyers no longer qualify for the latest dividend payouts.
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FTSE 250 WINNERS
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Polymetal International, up 3.4%. The gold, silver and copper miner said revenue in the first half inched up, but it swung to a net profit after impairment charges and foreign exchange losses that hit its results last year weren't repeated. The company reported a net profit in the six months to June 30 of USD100 million, compared with a net loss of USD255 million in the first half of 2013. Polymetal also declared an interim dividend of USD0.08 per share, compared with a dividend of USD0.01 per share last year.

James Fisher & Sons, up 3.2%. The company said trading in its half-year was in line with expectations, leading the marine services provider to up its interim dividend by 10%. The company said half-year profit before tonnage and income tax rose 12% to GBP20.8 million, from GBP18.6 million, and revenue was up 8% to GBP216.1 million, from GBP200.7 million, as it won significant new contracts at home and overseas.
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FTSE 250 LOSERS
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Foxtons, down 5.5%. The estate agent leads the mid-chip index fallers after it warned that growth will be slower in the second half, after a strong first half. The company will once again reward shareholders with a special dividend, after a strong first half underpinned by recovery in the London housing market. It said it will pay an interim dividend of 1.77 pence and a special dividend of 2.77 pence. At the full-year the company paid a final dividend of 1.70 pence and a special dividend of 3.74 pence per share - a total of 5.44 pence per share. Pretax profit rose 57% to GBP23.1 million for the six months ended June 30, from GBP14.7 million a year earlier, as revenue rose 16% to GBP72.8 million from GBP62.6 million, driven by strong sales and mortgage broking growth.

Hays, down 1.1%. The company is down after UBS removed it from its 'Most Preferred List' European Support Services.

BlackRock World Mining Trust, down 1.2%, Rotork, down 1.1%, Croda International, down 0.9%, Segro, down, 0.8%, and Hikma Pharmaceuticals, down 0.7%. The companies are among the fallers in the mid-chip index after going ex-dividend.

Balfour Beatty, down 0.7%. The company said a review of its private-public partnership portfolio has resulted in an increase in the total directors' valuation to GBP1.05 billion as at the end of June, from GBP766 million at the end of December. This comes just weeks after the construction giant ended talks with its construction rival Carillion after disputing the structure of the enlarged group, the benefits the deal would bring to either company, and the sale of Balfour Beatty's US project management business Parsons Brinckerhoff.
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AIM ALL-SHARE WINNERS
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Afriag, up 16%. The company said its new agri-marketing division, AfriAg Marketing Pty Ltd, has sold its first refrigerated 40-foot sea container, containing a gross weight of approximately 20 metric tons of South African-sourced frozen fish products, to clients in China. This sale consists of "unique value added hake retail lines" and general hake fillets for distribution to the wholesaler trade in China.

Monitise, up 13%. The company has agreed a global digital commerce and resourcing alliance with International Business Machines Corp. The companies said they will combine their mobile banking, payments and commerce technology to bring IBM sales and specialist resources to clients around the world with the full spectrum of advice, solution design and delivery of Monitise's Mobile Money services.

Rare Earth Minerals, up 8.2%. The company said that it had continued to make progress on each of its principal investments in Mexico, Greenland and Australia in the half year to end-June. The company posted a pretax loss of GBP647,000, widened from GBP323,000 in the previous year, as administrative expenses rose to GBP641,000 from GBP275,000. It is not revenue producing.
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AIM ALL-SHARE LOSERS
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Polemos, off 26%. The company has said that Executive Director David Lenigas has stepped down from his role as director of the company with immediate effect. Current Finance Director, Donald Strang, will assume the role of Executive Chairman.
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By Neil Thakrar; neilthakrar@alliancenews.com

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