AVN.L Share News (AVN)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Friday.
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FTSE 100 - WINNERS
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Taylor Wimpey, up 6.6%, Barratt Developments, up 5.5%, Persimmon, up 3.7%. Housebuilders were recovering further ground following the Brexit-induced losses suffered earlier in the week. Property developers British Land Co, up 2.6%, Hammerson, up 2.5%, and Land Securities Group, up 2.5%, also were trading higher. This was despite a slew of downgrades on the property developers. Liberum downgraded all three of the firms, while Exane BNP Paribas downgraded both British Land and Land Securities.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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Royal Dutch Shell 'B', down 2.3%, Royal Dutch Shell 'A', down 1.9%, BP, down 1.3%. The oil majors were trading lower as Brent oil traded at USD46.69 per barrel, down from USD47.74 at the London equities close on Thursday. The US Energy Information Administration showed Thursday that US commercial crude stocks declined by less than expected. For the week ending July 1, oil stocks declined by 2.2 million barrels, slightly less than the expected 2.3 million barrels shrinkage. It was significantly less than the 6.7 million barrel decline in the American Petroleum Institute's crude oil stock, which was reported late Wednesday.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Inchcape, up 6.5%. The car distributor and retailer was upgraded to Buy from Hold by Berenberg, which argued the significant emerging markets exposure of the company will make it more resilient in the post-Brexit environment. Berenberg estimated that 80% of Inchcape's earnings before interest and taxes are generated outside the UK. This means the company will not only benefit from currency translation, given the substantial fall in the pound following the UK's vote to leave the European Union, but its end markets will be more resilient than its domestic-focused peers.

AVEVA Group, up 3.1%. The engineering software company said its long-serving chief executive, Richard Longdon, will step down at the end of 2016, and added trading had been in line with its expectations. Longdon will leave at the end of 2016 after 17 years at CEO and 33 years with the company. James Kidd, AVEVA's chief financial officer, will become deputy CEO with immediate effect and will replace Longdon at the helm on January 1, 2017. He has been AVEVA's CFO since 2011. Kidd will be replaced by David Ward, currently AVEVA's head of finance. AVEVA also said trading was in line, and it stands to get a translational benefit to its results from sterling's recent depreciation following the Brexit vote.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Sports Direct International, down 5.3%. Having risen on Thursday following publication of its annual results, the sports clothing and equipment retailer dropped back as it suffered a downgrade and price target cuts. On Thursday, Sports Direct reported growth in annual profit but warned consumer confidence could suffer following the Brexit vote. That prediction was backed Friday by a survey from GfK which showed a slump in consumer confidence in the wake of the referendum outcome. The consumer confidence index fell to -9 in July from -1 in June. The survey was conducted between June 30 and July 5, after Britons voted to leave the EU. For Sports Direct shares, this was compounded by Morgan Stanley downgrading the stock to Equal Weight from Overweight and by price target downgrades from Goldman Sachs and Liberum.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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Savannah Petroleum, up 38%. Shares in the oil and gas firm surged after being restored to trading on Friday morning. Late Thursday, the company said it has raised USD40.0 million in a share placing in which 79.8 million shares were conditionally placed at 38 pence per share. Savannah requested for its shares to be suspended in January this year after entering talks with another party that, if completed, would have led to a reverse takeover. However, Savannah said it now plans to terminate those talks, after having completed a USD40.0 million share placing, providing the funds needed to develop its existing assets in the second half of 2016 and allowing the company's shares to resume trading on AIM.

Byotrol, up 18%. The anti-microbial technology firm said it has entered an extended agreement with Belgian chemicals company Solvay and has agreed several other deals in 2016. Byotrol said the agreement with Solvay, focused on developing and commercialising long-lasting biocidal products for hard surfaces, extends the commercial and technical relationship between the pair. Under the deal, Solvay's Novecare unit will make a "substantial" cash payment to Byotrol in 2016. In addition, Byotrol has signed deals with Japanese pharmaceutical company KYORIN Pharmaceutical Co, pet care company Beaphar and UK-listed pest control and hygiene services firm Rentokil Initial.

1pm, up 9.5%. The commercial finance provider said it expects revenue in the recently-ended financial year to meet targets but said its adjusted pretax profit will be "materially ahead" of market expectations. 1pm said both revenue and profit will be higher in the financial year to the end of May compared to a year earlier after experiencing strong organic growth, complemented by its acquisition of Academy Leasing and Bradgate Business Finance during the year. Whilst adjusted pretax profit will beat expectations, revenue will be in line with what the market is anticipating, 1pm said.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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Avanti Communications Group, down 15%. The satellite data services provider's shares already had fallen by 60% on Thursday after it said it would have to raise funds to meet working capital requirements. Avanti said it will have to raise at least USD50.0 million via and equity issue amid slower-than-anticipated growth. It added that if it is unable to secure the funding or cut costs in the business, it may not have access to sufficient liquidity to meet its funding requirements through to the end of 2016.

Ilika, down 11%. The solid state battery technology company said its loss was wider in the last financial year after the firm channelled more of its resources into developing its battery system, causing revenue to almost halve during the period. Ilika reported a pretax loss in the financial year to the end of April of GBP3.8 million, compared to the GBP3.0 million loss booked in the previous year, as revenue declined by 45% to GBP605,924 from GBP1.1 million. Revenue is derived from the provision of research and development services, as well as government grants. The contribution from grants was higher year-on-year, meaning revenue from services fell dramatically.
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By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance

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