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LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices midday Monday.
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FTSE 100 - WINNERS
Barclays, up 1.9%. The bank is amongst the leading blue-chip gainers despite saying that it will report a GBP5.2 billion adjusted pretax profit for 2013, meaning it will fall short of consensus estimates of GBP5.4 billion. Shore Capital analyst Gary Greenwood says that this is because consensus estimates had not been adjusted to take into account the additional GBP330 million charges recently added to cover the costs of litigation and financial penalties. The bank's shares are also unaffected by news the bank is looking into the alleged theft of up to 27,000 customer files.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
Centrica, down 2.9%, and SSE, down 1.3%. UK Energy Secretary Ed Davey has written a letter to UK energy regulators claiming that the profit margins made by the big six energy firms in the UK when supplying gas are much higher than previously thought, according to the BBC. Davey has now asked the UK competition authorities, which are currently reviewing the cost of energy and transparency of the big six, to also investigate the profit margins at these companies.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
Pace, up 5.7%. Barclays has upgraded Pace to Overweight from Equal Weight, lifting its price target to 450.00 pence from 320.00p, saying that it expects further upside to estimates over the coming year.
Catlin Group, up 2.7%. The company said strong underwriting discipline and diversification were behind its 27% increase in pretax profits for its recent financial year. The speciality property-and-casualty insurer and reinsurer said it made a USD432 million pretax profit in 2013, compared with USD339 million for the previous year. The company responded by raising its annual dividend by 5.1% to 31.0 pence a share.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
Essar Energy, down 2.1%. The company's share price has dropped after it reported that Essar Oil, in which it has a 90.11% stake, achieved lower earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for the third quarter. EBITDA came in at INR1,202 crore in the three months ended December 31, 2013, from INR1,241 crore the previous year. Despite this, the company's 9-month EBITDA rose by 27%, with revenues for both the third quarter and the nine-month period also increasing.
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LONDON MARKET - WINNERS
Antrim Energy, up 27%. The oil and gas exploration company said after the market close on Friday that it has entered into an agreement for First Oil Expro to buy its UK subsidiary, Antrim Resources for USD53 million in cash. The deal comes after the company had to secure additional viable financing in order to meet higher than expected capital costs to complete some major developments and meet its ongoing payment and oil swap obligations.
Rare Earth Minerals, up 18%. The group said its stage-two drilling at the Fleur-El Sauz Lithium Project in Mexico is now complete and plans are moving forward with the development of the site. The company said the successful drilling has meant that its rig will remain on site for an infill drilling programme in the southern portion of the Sauz claim. The additional drilling will include five to six holes in order to upgrade the resources from the inferred to indicated category in preparation of the pre-feasibility study for the site.
Mountfield Group, up 12%. The construction support and property services company said that it expects its 2013 performance to be better than market expectations. The company also said it has entered 2014 with levels of activity above those at the start of 2013, with an extensive list of contracts in hand, and others under negotiation. Furthermore, its cash balance at the end of 2013 were substantially better than those at the end of 2012.
Skyepharma, up 11%. The oral and inhalation drug specialist said its had launched its flutiform asthma treatment in France after it got regulatory approval and a deal on pricing reimbursements. The treatment will be marketed by Mundipharma in France, and Skyepharma will get a EUR3.0 million milestone payment plus royalties on net sales.
Sigma Capital Group, up 8.3%. The company has agreed to acquire its first London site for its private rented sector residential portfolio through a deal with Barking Riverside. While the financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed, Sigma said it will acquire a site in east London earmarked for 318 new homes. The firm said it will cost around GBP50 million to build the homes on the site.
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LONDON MARKET - LOSERS
AEC Education, off 42%. The group's share price has plummeted after it failed in its bid to get its Singapore license reinstated. The educations company had its license suspended last August, meaning it isn't able to recruit any foreign students for the college.
Hyder Consulting, down 26%. The company said its full year results are expected to be materially below market expectations as the recent election in Australia delayed new contract awards there and it also suffered project delays in the Middle East.
H C Slingsby, down 19%. The industrial and commercial equipment company said it expects to incur a wider pretax loss than it had previously anticipated for the full-year 2013.
Latchways, down 13%. The company said profit and revenue for the full-year to March 31 2013, are expected to be materially short of current expectations as the company was hit by the strengthening pound and the effects of continued investment in sales and new product development. It said it expects to post pretax profit in the region of GBP6.5 million and GBP7.5 million.
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By James Kemp; jameskemp@alliancenews.com; @jamespkemp
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