Last checked at LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are amongst the biggest risers and fallers within the main London indices midday Wednesday.
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FTSE 100 WINNERS
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TUI Group, up 4.2%. The travel operator said its winter season is closing out as expected, with average selling prices up by about 1%, while bookings and average selling prices for the key summer season are currently up by about the same amount, meaning it's on track to deliver first-half results that are up on the year on a like-for-like basis. It said it is also confident of delivering underlying operating profit growth of 10% to 15% for the year as a whole.
BT Group, up 0.7%. The company announced the launch of new 4G mobile data bundles for its existing broadband customers on a SIM only basis, its first foray back into the consumer mobile space in over a decade. It announced three plans on a 'bring-your-own-phone' basis, meaning it will not provide mobile devices, including deals which provide its BT Sport service for free. The deals are exclusive to broadband customers, although it said BT Mobile customers can also access BT Sport via a mobile application, even if they don't have BT broadband.
Schroders, up 0.5%. Citigroup lifted its price target for the asset manager to 3,850.00 pence from 3,000.00p, reiterating its Buy rating. The stock currently trades at 3,357.00p.
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FTSE 100 LOSERS
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Barclays, down 1.8%. The bank has been cut to Hold from Buy by Investec.
Travis Perkins, down 1.3%. Merrill Lynch has downgraded the building merchant to Neutral from Buy.
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FTSE 250 WINNERS
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Balfour Beatty, up 6.4%. The construction and infrastructure investments company is the best performing mid-cap stock despite reporting a wider loss for 2014 as it booked another writedown against its struggling construction business, and it moved further to shore up its balance sheet by scrapping its dividend as Chief Executive Leo Quinn admitted it will take another two years to turn the business around. Analysts welcomed the extra details about Quinn's turnaround plans as the CEO targeted initial cost cuts of GBP100 million and cash flow improvements of GBP200 million over the next two years.
Hunting, up 6.1%. The oil services company has been upgraded by Goldman Sachs to Buy from Neutral, with a price target increase to 622.00 pence from 432.00p. The stock trades at 530.10p.
Bellway, up 6.0%. The housebuilder reported surging pretax profit and revenue for the first half, boosted by a rise in completions on the back of resilient London property market, and it said reservations were up 10.1% on the year in the first few weeks of the current financial year.
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FTSE 250 LOSERS
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Moneysupermarket.com Group, down 4.8%. Citigroup Global Markets said Moneysupermarket.com Group founder Simon Nixon has decided against proceeding with a planned share sale which would have raised him around GBP100 million. Citigroup did not provide any reason for the move.
Card Factory, down 2.6%. The card and gifts retailer reported higher pretax profit for its last financial year, as revenue growth was driven mainly by new store openings and its online business Getting Persaonal, but sales growth from existing stores slowed as it was hit by stiff competition and a decline in boxed Christmas card sales.
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AIM ALL-SHARE WINNERS
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Advanced Oncotherapy, up 42%. The company said it has signed a deal with Sinophi Healthcare for the purchase of a LIGHT proton therapy systems to be installed at a hospital in China. It expects to install the LIGHT system as part of an oncology hospital project being carried out in Huai'an City in the Jiangsu province in east China.
EG Solutions, up 11%. The back-office software company said it's confident it can continue momentum into the current year, as it swung to a profit in its recently ended financial year thanks to 69% revenue growth driven by ten significant contract wins, international expansion and increasing traction for its managed cloud services product.
Wolf Minerals, up 9.1%. The company said the ore reserve at the Hemerdon tungsten and tin project in the UK has increased by 34% after it completed a six hole geo-technical drilling programme in the fourth quarter of 2014.
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AIM ALL-SHARE LOSERS
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Eclectic Bar Group, off 46%. The company reported a wider pretax loss despite an uptick in revenue as it was hit by less student drinking, increased competition, and underperforming new sites. Eclectic said its pretax loss for the 26 weeks to December 28 was GBP525,000, compared with a GBP254,000 loss a year earlier. Revenue rose to GBP12.3 million from GBP11 million, but this was offset by higher operating costs. The company said trading in the half was in line with the update it provided in November, when it issued a profit warning due to a lacklustre freshers' week period.
Monitise, down 15%. The mobile banking and payment services company said it is no longer for sale, deciding that its "best prospects" are from remaining independent, and it reiterated its target for profitability in 2016 as its Co-Chief Executive Elizabeth Buse was named sole CEO.
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By Neil Thakrar; neilthakrar@alliancenews.com; @NeilThakrar1
Copyright 2015 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
5 Dec 2023 09:05
LONDON MARKET OPEN: FTSE 100 struggles after Moody's warning on China
(Alliance News) - London's FTSE 100 got off to a slow start on Tuesday, with miners falling amid fears for the Chinese economy, while Barclays shares fell after Bloomberg reported Qatar is trimming its stake in the lender.
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