BP Share News (BP.)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Wednesday.
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FTSE 100 - WINNERS
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Coca-Cola HBC, up 2.1% at 1,441.00 pence. Societe Generale reiterated its Buy rating and raised its price target on the stock to 1,890p from 1,740p after the soft drinks bottler held a Capital Markets presentation on Tuesday. The French bank said Coca-Cola HBC gave an upbeat assessment of revenue and margin growth prospects. "We expect consensus margins to rise by around 50 basis points a year for the next two years, and by 85 basis points in the three following years. That 50 basis points a year is double the current expectation and implies a consensus upgrade of 6% for 2017," SocGen said.

Royal Dutch Shell, 'A', up 1.7%, Shell, 'B', up 1.6%. Oil prices hit fresh highs for 2016 on Wednesday. Brent crude was trading at USD51.72 a barrel compared to USD51.10 at the London equities close on Tuesday. BP shares were up 0.1%.

Imperial Brands, up 0.4%. The tobacco company reiterated its commitment to 10% growth in its dividend over the medium term. Ahead of its investor day in Bristol, the group said its focus remains on simplifying its brand portfolio and optimising its investment decisions both in terms of brands and markets. In addition, Imperial Brands said it will maintain a disciplined approach to costs, which will underpin plans to increase its dividend 10% by a year in the medium term.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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3i Infrastructure, up 5.1% at 175.43p. The infrastructure investment group said it has raised a total of GBP385.0 million from its capital raising to fund the completion of previous investments and to fund new deals. 3i said it issued 233.3 million shares at 165 pence per share to raise the funds. Around GBP230.0 million of the proceeds will be used to fund the completion of investments made in Wireless Infrastructure Group and TCR, 3i Infrastructure said, with the rest to back new investment opportunities.

Workspace Group, up 4.0%. The flexible office-space provider hiked its dividend by 25% as it reported rises in both its property valuation and rental income over its financial year that ended March 31. Workspace posted a final dividend of 10.19 pence per share, taking its full-year dividend to 15.05p per share, up 25% from the 12.04p per share paid for the year prior. Net rental income rose 28% to GBP74.1 million from GBP57.7 million, driving up revenue to GBP101.2 million from GBP83.6 million, whilst Workspace's underlying property valuation increased by 21% to GBP1.78 billion from the GBP1.42 billion reported a year earlier.

Vedanta Resources, up 1.9%. Citi resumed coverage on the miner with a Neutral rating.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Intermediate Capital Group, down 3.3%. The specialist money manager was cut to Hold from Buy by Liberum, with the broker saying the shares are now close to fair value. "We suggest the valuation is close to fully reflecting the special dividend and the near-term potential," Liberum said. In May, ICG proposed a GBP200 million special dividend to be paid in July 2016, equivalent to 63.4 pence per share, and expects no further special dividends after that payment.

WH Smith, down 3.1%. The books and stationery retailer said sales have increased in the third quarter of its financial year so far, with a familiar pattern of strong trading in its travel business but a decline for its high-street branches. WH Smith said group sales grew 2.0% year-on-year in the 14 weeks to June 4, with like-for-like sales flat. The group's financial year runs to the end of August. In the high street arm, total sales were down 4.0% and like-for-like sales down 3.0%, in line with expectations as the group focuses on profitability.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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Oilex, up 67%. The oil and gas company said it has reached an agreement to end legal proceedings with shareholder Zeta Resources, meaning neither company will pursue claims made against one another. In a statement, Oilex said it agreed to make a payment to Zeta on account of costs of the litigation of AUD490,000. In reaching the settlement, Oilex, listed on London's AIM and in Australia, said it took into account the "significant costs and inherent uncertainty" of litigation. "Reaching this settlement means Oilex can focus fully on advancing its operations, which is in the best interests of all shareholders," Joe Salomon, who became managing director of Oilex in March, said in a statement.

DX Group, up 8.1%. The rail and logistics operator said it is on track to meet its expectations for the year to the end of June. DX said trading in the second half of its financial year has been in line with its expectations, with customer renewals for its DX Exchange operation as anticipated. As a result, the group is on track to meet expectations for the year and said it continues to be confident on its medium-term outlook.

Henry Boot, up 6.6%. The construction company said it expects to post pretax profit for 2016 "comfortably ahead of current market expectations" in light of the high level of land sales completed since the start of the year, together with the commercial development planned for the second half. The company said that since its trading update on May 26, it has concluded two further land sales for 275 house units, one of which was ahead of schedule.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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Croma Security Solutions Group, off 16%. The security and surveillance company said an administrative error resulted in its profit for the 2015 financial year being overstated. Croma said its pretax profit for the year to the end of June 2015 was overstated to the tune of GBP142,250 due to an administrative error which meant an intercompany charge was not eliminated from the figures. The same error means profit for the half to the end of December 2015 was overstated by GBP47,216. Croma will make a one-off adjustment to correct the error in its results to the end of June this year, which will mean profit will fall materially below expectations.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com; @ArvindBhunjun

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