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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ARM Holdings, up 4.2%. Major ARM customer Apple is set to report record first weekend sales for the latest in its iPhone series, the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus, which go on sale Friday. Last year the company breached 10 million in sales of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus within three days of its launch on September 19, 2014. Apple confirmed early last week it was on track to beat last year's record.
Unilever, up 3.4% at 2,626.00 pence. Berenberg has raised its rating on Unilever to Buy from Hold with a price target of 3,050p. The broker argued that the company's valuation entry point has opened up, offering 20% upside. Whilst Berenberg's forecasts do not assume a quick rebound in emerging market growth, it believes the company is past the trough of group organic growth, and highlighted Unilever's consistent, positive reported earnings per share growth despite foreign exchange and inflationary pressures.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Synergy Health, up 43%. STERIS Corp's acquisition of Synergy Health cleared a major hurdle after the US District Court for the Northern District of Ohio denied the US Federal Trade Commission's request for a preliminary injunction to block the takeover. The FTC had intended to block STERIS' proposed UDS1.6 billion cash and share takeover of the company due to competition concerns. Both companies said they are now working to close the deal as quickly as possible.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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Quintain Estates and Development, up 6.8%. US private equity house Lone Star on Friday increased its takeover offer for the North London property developer to 141 pence per share, valuing the company at around GBP745.0 million. Quintain had accepted a GBP700.0 million takeover bid from Lone Star at the end of July, and since then the bid deadline has been extended twice as Lone Star worked to secure the required level of acceptances. However, The Times reported Thursday that hedge fund Elliot Capital Advisors had built up a stake in Quintain and was opposing Lone Star's offer.
Densitron Technologies, up 26% at 10.38 pence. Fellow AIM listing Quixant agreed a deal to acquire Densitron Technologies for 11p per share, which values the company at around GBP7.7 million. Quixant, which provides computer systems for the gaming industry, said it expects the acquisition to "significantly" add to earnings in its first full year of ownership. Quixant shares are untraded Friday.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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Ultima Networks, down 51%. The company announced plans to sell all of its operating subsidiaries, raise money via a placing and convert itself into an investing company. It will sell its IT services business and green technology division, and following the disposals, placing and share reorganisation, it will convert into an investing company focused on making investments in the natural resources sector, and will change its name to Ozima Ventures PLC.
Bagir Group, down 27%. The formalwear tailoring company said it will take action to restructure its board and cut costs, as it predicted a "significantly" worse second half performance due to competitive pressures and the deferral of sales. It reported a pretax loss of USD3.2 million for the first half of 2015, widened from USD2.4 million a year before, as revenue fell to USD45.5 million from USD48.0 million.
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By Hana Stewart-Smith; hanassmith@alliancenews.com; @HanaSSAllNews
Copyright 2015 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
22 Jul 2014 11:34
