Auto Trader Share News (AUTO)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Thursday.----------FTSE 100 - WINNERS----------Rolls Royce, up 1.9%. The jet engine maker was up after it transferred around GBP4.1 billion of pension risk liabilities to Legal & General. The company said its UK pension trustee has completed a deal to transfer pension risk liabilities to Legal & General Assurance Society Ltd, a unit of Legal & General Group. The deal covers the transfer of assets and liabilities relating to around 33,000 pensioners who are members of the Rolls-Royce UK Pension Fund, out of a total of 76,000 members. Alongside the transfer of around GBP4.1 billion of liabilities to Legal & General, the Rolls-Royce pension trustee will also transfer around GBP4.6 billion in assets. The transaction will result in a reduction in Rolls-Royce's net assets by around GBP500 million. Rolls-Royce will continue to maintain funding level for its remaining pension plan. Legal & General has transacted over GBP6.2 billion of global pension risk transfer in the year to date versus GBP700 million in the same period a year ago. Legal & General was up 1.2%.----------Aviva, up 1.6%. The insurer was up after it said it will separate its UK businesses and cut 1,800 jobs over next three years as part of a plan to simplify the business, reduce costs and remove duplication. Aviva, which is hosting a investor presentation later on Thursday, intends to separate its life and general insurance businesses in the UK, with the online direct business being integrated into UK general insurance unit. Angela Darlington has been appointed interim chief executive officer of UK Life and Colm Holmes is appointed chief executive officer of general insurance. The company also intends to reduce costs by GBP300 million per annum by 2022 through lower central costs, savings in contractor and consultant spending, reduction in project expenditure and other efficiencies. The cost savings is expected to lead to 1,800 job cuts over the next three years, out of a total workforce of around 30,000. ----------AstraZeneca, up 1.4%. The pharma giant was up after it reported positive results from its trial of Calquence in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, a type of blood cancer. Astra said that the phase III ELEVATE-TN trial met its primary endpoint early. The primary endpoint was the demonstration of "statistically-significant and clinically-meaningful" improvement in progression-free survival from the combination of Calquence and obinutuzumab against chemotherapy-based treatment of chlorambucil and obinutuzumab. The trial also met a "key" secondary endpoint showing that Calquence monotherapy achieved a statistically-significant and clinically-meaningful improvement in progression-free survival compared to the chemotherapy and obinutuzumab regimen. "These findings confirm the superiority of Calquence as a monotherapy and also in combination over standard-of-care treatments for chronic lymphocytic leukaemia," Jose Baselga, executive vice-president of Oncology research & development, said. ----------FTSE 100 - LOSERS----------J Sainsbury, down 3.9%. The stock went ex-dividend Thursday.----------Kingfisher, down 3.8%. The stock went ex-dividend Thursday.----------Vodafone, down 3.2%. The stock went ex-dividend Thursday.----------Auto Trader, down 1.5%. The automotive marketplace was off despite saying it is confident of meeting its growth expectations in its recently started financial year after reporting double-digit growth in annual profit. Auto Trader revealed a 15% increase in pretax profit for the year to the end of March to GBP242.2 million from GBP210.7 million the year before, including GBP8.7 million profit recognised on disposal of its Smart Buying platform. Revenue climbed 7.6% to GBP355.1 million from GBP330.1 million, with average revenue per retailer improving to GBP1,844 per month in financial 2019 from GBP1,695 the year before. Looking ahead, Chief Executive Trevor Mather said: "The new financial year has started well, and despite the continued wider market uncertainty, the board is confident of meeting its growth expectations for the year."----------FTSE 250 - WINNERS----------Entertainment One, up 15%. The entertainment content developer surged after announcing that President & Chief Content Officer Mark Gordon will be staying at the company, contrary to reports in media industry magazine Variety. Entertainment One said veteran film and TV producer Gordon remains a part of the company both "now and into the future". Variety reported on Wednesday that Gordon was in talks to abandon the firm after conflict with Entertainment One's senior managers. ----------Go-Ahead, up 9.9%. The transport operator said it saw saw an improved trading performance since the start of 2019 as its revenue grew in regional bus and rail divisions. In the company's regional bus unit revenue for the year-to-date rose 4% on a like-for-like basis, with a 3.5% rise in passenger journeys. In the London & International bus division, revenue, on a like-for-like basis, was down 0.5%, excluding the impact of the Dublin bus contract started in September. In Rail, South-eastern passenger revenue rose 6% on the back of a 4% increase in journeys. Go-Ahead's full-year expectations for its London & International bus division have been increased due to a "strong operating performance". Go-Ahead said it seen "high levels of punctuality" across all of its divisions in the year to date. Go-Ahead said it remains in discussions with the UK Department for Transport regarding an extension to the current contract and awaits the outcome of the new South-eastern franchise competition. Meanwhile, GTR, a joint venture between Go-Ahead and French company Keolis, is not expected to contribute to the London-listed firm's profitability after having been fined GBP5 million for failure to provide information to passengers during and after a timetable disruption in May 2018. ----------Stobart Group, up 6.3%. The infrastructure and support services firm was up following Jefferies initiating its coverage of the stock with a Buy rating. ----------Mitchells & Butlers, up 5.7%. The pub and restaurant manager gained following German investment bank Berenberg upgrading the stock to Buy from Hold.----------FTSE 250 - LOSERS----------Woodford Patient Capital Trust, down 2.7%. The trust was seeing its third straight day of sharp falls. The UK financial regulator late Wednesday said it may open an investigation into LF Woodford Equity Income Fund if there are circumstances suggesting serious misconduct or non-compliance with the rules. On Monday, high profile fund manager Neil Woodford suspended withdrawals from the equity income fund as the fund's underperformance resulted in a significant outflow of investors. As at April 30, LF Woodford Equity Income Fund had GBP4.3 billion in assets. The equity fund is managed by Woodford Investment Management Ltd, which also manages listed Woodford Patient Capital Trust. Trading in Woodford Patient Capital Trust remains unaffected by the suspension. Earlier Wednesday, FTSE 100-liste wealth manager St James's Place terminated its mandate with Woodford Investment Management and has appointed Columbia Threadneedle Asset Management and RWC Partners as managers of its UK High Income Unit Trust, UK Equity (Life and Pension), Income Distribution (Life) and SJPI UK High Income funds. St James's Place was down 0.6%. ----------SIG, down 3.1%. The stock went ex-dividend Thursday. ----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS----------Gunsynd, up 16%. The oil and gas company said it is about to receive a stake in Oyster Oil & Gas Ltd's operating unit, in settlement of a loan issued to the company. Gunsynd, noting the increase in its share price, said that Oyster will hold a shareholder meeting on Friday, where investors will vote to approve the deal. Under the previous agreement between the companies, Gunsynd and Northbay Capital Partners Corp, both creditors of Oyster, will receive settlement of an outstanding loan by gaining the entire share capital of Oyster's operating unit. ----------Amino Technologies, up 10%. The digital video technology provider held its full-year guidance unchanged after the first half of the year saw strong margins and good progress in its transformation programme. For the six months ended May, Amino saw revenue fall to USD35 million from USD41.2 million the year prior. Net cash, however, jumped to USD19.3 million from USD15.0 million the year before. Healthy growth in cash was due to "continued strong" margins and cash conversion at the firm. Amino added it had made "good" progress with its transformation programme announced in February. The programme will see the firm accelerate its focus on "value-added software, services and hardware". The programme was completed in April as expected, with annualised cost savings expected at around USD5 million. ----------Joules Group, up 5.9%. The homeware and fashion retailer said it expects annual profit to beat analysts' expectations after recording a double-digit increase in revenue. Market consensus compiled by the company puts Joules's pretax profit for the financial year that ended on May 26 at between GBP14.8 million and GBP15.3 million. In financial 2018, the retailer generated pretax profit of GBP11.2 million. Joules said revenue jumped 17% to GBP218.0 million from GBP185.9 million a year ago. This was due to "strong momentum" continuing beyond the Christmas period and into the second half. Retail revenue was up 23% to GBP159.1 million, while Wholesale revenue rose 2.9% to GBP57.1 million. Finally, Licensing revenue multiplied to GBP1.8 million. E-commerce performed "particularly well" in the financial year, as it now represents half of the company's retail revenue. Joules will publish its annual results on July 23. ----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS----------Motif Bio, down 41%. The clinical stage biopharmaceutical firm confirmed it would have to seek further funding after US regulators requested an additional clinical trial before marketing would be allowed for its key skin infection treatment. In February, the US Food & Drug Administration informed Motif Bio that its new drug application for its iclaprim bacterial skin and skin structure infections treatment could not be approved as it was currently submitted. On Thursday, Motif explained it had received the official minutes of its meeting with the FDA in early May to discuss the requirements to secure approval. The firm explained the minutes indicated than an "additional clinical trial" will be needed before granting marketing approval to address continued concerns of the regulator about "potential liver toxicity." Motif Bio emphasised it had cash balances of USD2.3 million and USD7.1 million in outstanding debt to be drawn as of the end of May. The firm believes its current cash position can "support continued operations into September 2019 with diligent cash management." The AIM and Nasdaq-listed firm added, however, that it will need to raise additional capital either through an equity fundraise or other sources. It is currently evaluating options on how best to do this. ----------Autins Group, down 29%. The company - which makes acoustic and thermal insulation for the automotive sector - saw its shares plunge after it said it continued to experience challenging trading in the first half of its financial year due to weakness in the automotive industry. In the six months to March 31, Autins revenue fell 14% to GBP13.7 million from GBP15.9 million in the comparative period a year ago. Sales however rose 5.2% from the second half of financial 2018, when they came in at GBP12.8 million. "The group, and the automotive industry generally, is continuing to experience challenging trading conditions from a combination of factors, including factory shutdowns due to Brexit, uncertainty over the future of diesel engine vehicles and a sharp decline in global demand, especially in China," the company explained. The company said after challenging trading in the second half of financial 2018, it focused on cost control and sales conversion. However, disruption from Brexit preparations and equipment breakdown in Germany, meant that Autins has "not yet seen the full benefit from its cost control measures". ----------Cluff Natural Resources, down 13%. The natural resources focused investment company placed 857.1 million shares at 1.75 pence each as part of a previously announced placing and subscription to raise GBP15 million. The 1.75p share issue price represents a 17% discount to the stock's closing price on Wednesday. Shares in Cluff were trading at 1.825 pence each in mid-morning trade. ----------