Berkeley Mineral Resources Share News (BMR)

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 - LOSERS
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BHP Billiton, down 1.2%. The Anglo-Australian miner said Brazil's Federal Court of Appeal has ratified the settlement agreement it reached in March over the Samarco dam disaster. On November 5, a tailings dam at the Samarco project in Brazil burst and flooded the local community, leading to at least 17 fatalities. Samarco is a joint venture between BHP and Vale, the Brazilian miner. The pair reached an agreement in March which will cover a total settlement of BRL9.20 billion, or around USD2.30 billion, over 15 years for the restoration of the environment and communities affected.

InterContinental Hotels Group, down 1.0%. The Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza owner said revenue per available room fell in the first quarter of 2016, although it would have grown on a constant currency basis. The hotel company said group RevPAR slipped by 0.7% in the first quarter year-on-year due to the strengthening of the dollar. On a constant currency basis, however, this grew by 1.5%, driven by a 1.0% increase in room rates and 0.3 percentage point rise in room occupancy.

Centrica, down 0.8%. The energy company was cut to Neutral from Buy by Citi.

Rio Tinto, down 0.7%. The miner said it and its partners have approved the development plans for the Oyu Tolgoi underground copper and gold mine in Mongolia. Rio said the development of the mine will start in mid-2016 following the approval by the London-listed group and its partners, the Mongolian government and Turquoise Hill Resources. The approval covers the USD5.3 billion investment the partners will make in the project and comes after all necessary permits to start work were received. First production from the underground mine is expected to start in 2020, Rio said.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Morgan Advanced Materials, up 3.2%. The ceramic materials maker said trading in the first quarter met its expectations and it affirmed its full-year outlook. Morgan Advanced said trading conditions in the quarter to the end of March were in line with its forecasts and unchanged from its outlook when it published annual results in February. Sales in 2016 to date, on a constant currency basis, are broadly flat year-on-year, the company said. Sales grew in its Thermal Products unit in the first quarter, driven by Asian and European growth and against a relatively soft comparative for the year before.

Hastings Group Holdings, up 2.4%. The motor insurer said its grew its market share in the first quarter as it saw a 17% year-on-year rise in live customer policies. Hastings, which floated in London in October 2015, said live customer policies grew to 2.1 million at the end of March, up 17% year-on-year and from 2.0 million at the end of December. The group's gross written premiums grew 29% year-on-year in the quarter to GBP171.0 million, while net revenue in the quarter rose to GBP132.7 million, a 22% year-on-year rise.

Capital & Counties Properties, up 2.2%. The property developer said it has continued with its strategy to drive rental growth in its portfolio in the first months of 2016, with a particularly strong performance at its Covent Garden estate. The group said it has seen positive momentum at its Covent Garden estate in central London and has introduced premium retail brands to the site, noting that the estate remains on track to achieve estimated rental value of GBP100.0 million by December 2017. Capital & Counties said the development of its Kings Court in the Covent Garden estate is on track for completion in 2017 and it has seen "positive interest from brands for the development".

Lancashire Holdings, up 2.2%. The specialty insurance company was upgraded to Hold from Sell by Cannaccord, according to traders.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Interserve, down 21%. The support service and construction company said its expectations for its UK construction division have been hit "significantly" by a further deterioration in its contract in Glasgow, and said it now expects net debt to come in GBP35.0 million higher than previously guided. The company said it expects further cost overruns and delays in relation to its energy from waste contract in Glasgow, following issues relating to the design, procurement and installation of the gasification plant, together with continuing challenges with the supply chain.

Man Group, down 7.3%. The investment manager was double downgraded to Sell from Buy by Citi.

BBA Aviation, down 3.1%. The aviation services company said trading in the first quarter of 2016 met its expectations, though organic revenue fell on tough market conditions. BBA said revenue for the three months to the end of March grew 12% year-on-year, though revenue in constant currencies and on a like-for-like basis, stripping out acquisitions, fell 6.0%. Organic revenue for BBA's Signature Flight Support business grew 1.8% in the quarter, despite an unusually mild winter season which hit de-icing revenue and traffic in some locations.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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BMR Group, up 4.6%. The Zambia-focused minerals processing company said it has received confirmation of the environmental approval of its planned Kabwe plant. BMR said the Zambia Environmental Management Agency have confirmed the environmental social impact assessment for the tailings retreatment process and construction of the plant at Kabwe has been approved. BMR has continued to refine plans for the plant and said the process and engineering design work for the construction phase it at an advanced stage.

Oxford Biomedica, up 2.9%. The gene and cell therapy company said two sets of test data have been released demonstrating long-term gene expression with its LentiVector platform. The company said Professor Stéphane Palfi presented a poster on the company OXB-101 gene therapy treatment for Parkinson's disease at the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy meeting in Washington, DC this week. OXB-101 demonstrated a good safety profile and a statistically significant improvement in motor function in those treated relative to baseline after 6 and 12 months, the company said.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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Turbo Power Systems, off 25%. The power systems developer said it swung to a loss in the first quarter of 2016 as revenue fell on the delayed signing of contracts, but the company expressed confidence for the rest of the year after securing a strong order book post period-end. The company said it made a GBP136,000 pretax loss in the three months ended March 31, having made a GBP29,000 pretax profit in the first quarter of 2015, as revenue fell to GBP3.4 million from GBP4.1 million. Turbo Power said order intake in the quarter rose to GBP2 million from GBP0.8 million, but that engineering design revenue decreased due to a delay in signing new contracts, while development revenue also took a sharp hit as it waits for new contracts to start up.

Shanta Gold, down 7.3% at 6.95 pence. The gold mining company said it swung to a loss in 2015, due to reduced gold sales and a lower gold price, as the miner proposed a placing to raise USD10.0 million and said it has agreed a silver streaming agreement, providing it with financial headroom. The miner said its revenue for the year ended December 31 was GBP95.7 million, compared with USD114.9 million, after gold sales fell to 80,622 ounces, down from 87,758 ounces, and the average price for gold fell to USD1,163 per ounce compared to USD1,289 per ounce a year earlier. Shanta Gold said it intends to conduct a conditional placing of shares to raise around USD10.0 million. Shanta Gold said it plans to place the shares at 6.5 pence per share.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com; @ArvindBhunjun

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