Ascential Share News (ASCL)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Thursday.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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Hikma Pharmaceuticals, down 2.1%, BHP Billiton, down 0.5%. The stocks went ex-dividend, meaning new buyers no longer qualify for the latest dividend payout.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Paysafe Group, up 3.5%. The payments processing company said it has acquired Income Access Group for a cash consideration of CAD40 million. The company said the acquisition of Canada-based Income Access will help it expand the breadth of its offering. Income Access specialises in digital marketing services for the gambling and gaming market. Paysafe said the acquisition will consist of an initial CAD28 million on completion, with the balance of CAD12 million being paid in three equal installments over the following 18 months. "This transaction delivers on Paysafe's strategic objectives to provide relevant payment solutions that serve the evolving needs of our merchants" said Paysafe Chief Executive Officer and President Joel Leonoff in a statement.

Safestore Holdings, up 2.1%. The self-storage company said it expects its full-year adjusted earnings to be slightly ahead of current market expectations on the back of positive current trading. Safestore posted revenue of GBP28.6 million for the three months ended July 31, up 7.1% from GBP26.7 million a year earlier, driving nine-month revenue of GBP82.7 million, compared to GBP77.1 million a year earlier. Safestore said the rise in the third quarter was thanks to a particularly strong performance in the UK, where like-for-like revenue grew 7.5%, whereas like-for-like revenue growth was 2.3% in Paris. Safestore said its closing occupancy rose to 74.8%, with 3.69 million square feet let, up from the 72.2% occupancy reported a year earlier, when 3.61 million square feet was let.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Ascential, down 4.5% at 253.00 pence. Guardian Media Group and a group of entities indirectly owned by Apax Europe VII sold a total of 80 million shares in the business-to-business media company. The shares were sold at a price of 250p each, in a placing conducted by Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Following the completion of the placing, the Apax entities will hold around 99.4 million shares, or an around 25% stake in Ascential, down from their previous stake of around 37%. The Apax entities' representative on the company's board, Non-Executive Director Tom Hall, will be stepping down from the board. Guardian Media's stake will be reduce to around 59.6 million shares, or a 14.9% stake, from its previous stake of around 22%, and its representative, Non-Executive Director David Pemsel, also will step down from the Ascential board. Ascential will not receive any proceeds from the placing. Guardian Media is the owner of the Guardian and Observer newspapers in the UK.

Hays, down 4.5%. The recruiter reported growth in profit and net fees in its recently completed financial year, despite a Brexit-related slowdown in the UK jobs market, and promised to consider paying a special dividend as it returned to a cash-positive position. Hays reported a pretax profit of GBP173.0 million for the full year ended June 30, up 11% year-on-year from GBP156.1 million. Hays declared a 2.90p full-year dividend, a 5% increase on the previous year's 2.76p. The company said, once it achieved a net cash position of around GBP50 million it would return excess cash to shareholders. However, Hays noted UK hiring weakened in wake of the Brexit. "We saw more uncertainty across the UK market as increased risks regarding the macro economic outlook impacted negatively on private sector sentiment. This uncertainty increased in the period leading up to, and immediately after, the EU Referendum and we saw activity levels weaken significantly at the end of the financial year."

Acacia Mining, down 2.5%, Polymetal International, down 2,1%. The mining stocks went ex-dividend.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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ECR Minerals, up 34%. The miner said it has appointed Craig Brown as its chief executive officer, following Brown's appointment to its board as part-time finance director in early May. ECR said Brown has over 21 years experience in senior management and finance roles in the exploration and mining industry. "The past couple of months have been a challenging period for the company and its shareholders. We believe there is significant potential in the Avoca and Bailieston projects in Australia, both with regard to the possibility of recovering gold and construction materials from the Avoca tailings dumps, and the wider exploration potential within the highly prospective Central Victorian Goldfields," Brown said in a statement.

Kibo Mining, up 11%. The miner said it has re-negotiated terms for the payback of its loan facility from Sanderson Capital Partners. Under the previous terms, Kibo was required to pay back the GBP1.5 million loan by the end of August. However, it will now be settled under new terms. Sanderson will convert the full loan amount into a 2.5% stake in Kibo subsidiary Mbeya Development Co, which holds Kibo's Mbeya coal-to-power project (MCPP) in Tanzania. Kibo will issue Sanderson with GBP150,000 worth of Kibo shares as a loan conversion fee. Sanderson will grant Kibo access to a new GBP600,000 standby loan facility until the end of February 2017, on similar terms as the existing facility, to be used at Kibo's discretion and on which no fees or costs will be payable until Kibo elects to make use of it.

Thor Mining, up 8.3%. The tungsten miner overhauled its management to create a "new invigorated board" that will remain under the eye of Chief Executive Mick Billing as Thor also proposed raising GBP350,000 in equity at a slightly discounted price. As part of the fundraising, fellow AIM-listed Metal Tiger will take an 11.5% stake and Paul Johnson, its chief executive, will join the Thor Mining board. Metal Tiger shares were down 2.7%.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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ZincOx Resources, down 37%. The zinc recycling company said it has decided not to go ahead with a listing on London's ISDX market, as it believes that its strategic objectives are "currently best served by its shares being unquoted". The company, which is currently acting as an AIM-listed cash shell, has until October 28 to undertake a reverse takeover or be suspended from trading under AIM rules. Following this suspension, after six months the company would no longer be admitted to trading from AIM if it fails to undertake a takeover. ZincOx said it continues to look for a project around which it can be re-built, so its shares can be publicly traded, and a number of opportunities are being examined. Whilst securing this project remains the company's "absolute priority", it said it is also looking to realise the maximum value for its existing assets.

African Potash, down 23% at 0.250p. The potash exploration company said it plans to raise GBP500,000 through a share subscription and has amended the term of its existing unsecured bridge loan. African Potash will raise the GBP500,000 through the issue of 235.3 million new shares at a price of 0.2125p.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com; @ArvindBhunjun

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