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
Burberry Group, up 5.2%. The luxury fashion retailer has reported that its retail revenue rose 14% in the third quarter, while comparable sales rose by 12%, as it continues to be driven by Asian sales, online business, and sales of its outerwear and large leather goods. Retail revenue increased to GBP528 million in the three months to December 31, 2013.
Anglo American, up 3.9%. UBS has upgraded the mining company to Buy, from Neutral, increasing its price target to 1,580.00 pence from 1,500.00p. It said that Anglo's valuation was looking more attractive after a sustained underperformance in its share price.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
Hargreaves Lansdown, down 4.1%. The stockbroker has warned that it will have to seek billions of pounds in new assets over the next three years to offset lower prices and commission it will charge clients for investing with it. The company said its lower pricing is expected to reduce client charges by GBP8 million over a year, while it is also predicting a revenue hit of about GBP9 million from enforced changes to the amount of commission it will be able to charge on its products from April 2016. It said it will have to gather about GBP3.5 billion of new assets over the next three years to offset the overall impact of the pricing changes.
Centrica, down 3.1%, and SSE, down 2.9%. Barclays has cut Centrica to Underweight from Equalweight, and SSE to Underweight from Overweight. The bank believes that cost pressures will continue and the companies have little potential to increase energy prices before the next general election. It thinks that there's little to suggest that retail margins will fully recover, even if Labour's proposed tariff freeze does not happen.
Tullow Oil, down 1.7%. The company announced higher profits and sales in 2013, but lowered its production guidance for 2014. It said average net working interest production will be 82,200 barrels of oil equivalent per day after the sale of assets in Bangladesh, and it expects to write-off about USD405 million of 2013 exploration assets and USD325 million of previous exploration assets.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
Bwin.party Digital Entertainment, up 3.6%. The US state of New Jersey has released initial revenue figures for December and the November period following the launch of regulated online gambling on November 21. Bwin.party and its partner Borgata have taken a 45% market share since the launch, while 888 and Caesars have taken 28%. It's very encouraging for Bwin.party that it has taken a clear leadership position, says Numis Securities analyst Ivor Jones.
Jupiter Fund Management, up 2.9%. The company has reported that its assets under management increased to GBP31.7 billion at the end of 2013, up 20% from a year earlier, as it booked net mutual fund inflows of GBP458 million in the final quarter of the year. The company said cumulative net mutual fund inflows were GBP1.2 billion for the whole of 2013.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
Fenner, down 3.2%. The polymer products manufacturer kept its full-year guidance unchanged in constant currency terms, but warned that it has been hurt by sterling strengthening against all major currencies in which its revenues are generated. Liberum Capital has downgraded the company to Hold, from Buy, as it believes the foreign exchange revaluation on profits earned overseas are expected to make a 10% dent in earnings.
Diploma, down 2.5%. The company said revenue for the first quarter was ahead of the previous year, but revenues from its overseas businesses have been hurt by the appreciation of the UK sterling.
Taylor Wimpey is down 1.8% despite becoming the latest UK housebuilder to report an increase in the number of new homes built and the average selling price of its properties during 2013. Although Jefferies analyst Anthony Codling is unsure as to why the company is falling on the back of the robust trading statement, he suggests that it may be due to sector's recent strong run, or that investor's may have been hoping for more colour on the firm's future capital allocation. However, Codling notes that the company has been very clear that this would not be revealed until February.
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AIM - WINNERS
Altona Energy, up 48%. The company has revealed that Wintask Group has completed its due diligence requirements and is transferring the second tranche of funds regarding an equity issuance in October. The company said it has so far received GBP1.8 million of the GBP2.4 million outstanding under the terms of the placing agreement.
Firestone Diamonds, up 22%. The diamond miner said it had secured USD140.0 million in new financing, completing the funding it needs for the construction of the main treatment plant at its Liqhobong Diamond Mine in Lesotho. The company said it had agreed a deal in principle, subject to conditions including shareholder approval, for a package comprising bridge and mezzanine facilities and equity subscriptions from two new strategic investors: Pacific Road Resource Funds and Resource Capital Fund VI LP.
Egdon Resources, up 19%. London-listed UK Oil & Gas Investments plans to buy Angus Energy Eakring Development Ltd and Angus Energy Kirklington Development Ltd for GBP290,000 as it seeks to expand its interest in UK oil fields. Earking and Kirlington own 10% interests in onshore UK Petroleum Exploration and Development Licence (PEDL) 118 and PEDL 203 located in Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands Petroleum Province. Egdon Resources is the operator of these PEDL's.
Stellar Diamonds, up 13%. The company said that significant progress has been made towards production at its 1.1 million carat Tongo dyke kimberlite diamond project in Sierra Leone. The company said a 650 tonne bulk sample has been collected for testing as part of the Dyke-1 feasibility study at the site, and sample processing, using the company's on-site plant, has started.
MediaZest, up 9.5%. The creative audio visual company has announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Argus Global to develop and promote face recognition software.
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AIM - LOSERS
Anglo Asian Mining, off 15%. The gold producer said it missed its production target for 2013 and expects to report lower overall profit in its upcoming full-year results. Despite increasing its production to 52,068 ounces for the twelve months ended December 31, compared with 50,025 ounces the previous year, the company failed to achieve its original production target for the year of 60,000 ounces. The lower production, coupled with a lower gold prices during 2013 means that it expects to see the cash cost per ounce increase and profitability for 2013 significantly reduced from 2012.
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By James Kemp; jameskemp@alliancenews.com; @jamespkemp
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