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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Ashtead Group, up 4.8%. The industrial equipment rental company said its pretax profit and revenue both surged higher in the first quarter of its financial year and said its full-year results look set to meet its expectations. Ashtead said pretax profit rose 23% in the quarter to the end of July to GBP155.4 million from GBP117.5 million a year earlier, as its revenue rose to GBP618.6 million from GBP457.9 million, driven by a rise in its rental revenue to GBP539.6 million from GBP417.7 million. The revenue growth was driven by strong trading in both its US-based Sunbelt rentals arm and in its UK-based A-Plant business, with broad-based growth in both businesses.

Hikma Pharmaceuticals, up 2.8%. Barclays hiked its target price on the pharmaceuticals company to 2,760 pence from 2,050 pence and kept its Overweight rating intact. The bank said Hikma has "transformed" its US exposure and long-term visibility with the USD2.65 billion deal to acquire Roxane Laboratories and Boehringer Ingelheim Roxane from Boehringer Ingelheim, the German pharmaceutical company it announced in July.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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BP, down 1.2%, Royal Dutch Shell 'B', down 1.1%, Royal Dutch Shell 'A', down 1.0%. Oil prices declined sharply on Tuesday following weak economic data from China, giving up some of its strong weekend gains and sending oil majors lowers in London lower. At the London open Wednesday, Brent oil traded at USD48.80 a barrel, and West Texas Intermediate was at USD44.47 a barrel.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Aggreko, up 2.1%. The temporary power company said it has struck a deal to acquire the majority of the assets owned by Canada's ICS Group Inc for CAD37.0 million. Aggreko said the acquisition of the company, which provides mobile temperature control services in the Canadian market, will give it a presence in the North American heater market and will expand its operations into new North American locations. It intends to integrated ICS with its business in Western Canada and will then look to expand the unit further in North America.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Halfords Group, down 9.3%. The car and bicycle parts retailer said its cycling sales have declined so far in the second quarter and will be below expectations for the period, though trading elsewhere in the business remains robust. Halfords said its cycling sales in the eight weeks from July 4 to August 28 were down 11% on a like-for-like basis against tough comparatives and will now be below its expectations for the second quarter. The "disappointing" performance was driven by mainstream bikes and associated parts and accessories, which Halfords said it considers to be a market-driven issue resulting from higher levels of discounting and poor weather conditions which have deterred cyclists.

Diploma, down 7.8%. The technical products and services company said its revenue growth has been held back by the slowdown in the oil and gas industry and sluggish European industrial markets and said its underlying operating margin will take a hit. The company said its underlying revenue growth, stripping out the effect of acquisitions and currency translation, will be around 1.0% for the year to the end of September. Underlying operating margins for the group were generally solid, the company said, but a facility closure and relocation in the US seals business, along with lower margins from its newly-acquired businesses, means its group operating margin for the year will deteriorate by around 50 basis points compared to the first half.

Ophir Energy, down 3.7%, Premier Oil, down 3.6%, Tullow Oil, down 2.8%. In line with the declines seen in blue-chip oil majors, mid-cap oil stocks are falling due to the lower oil price.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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SpaceandPeople, up 14%. The marketing company said it has secured an exclusive deal to promote brands across all Network Rail stations in the UK for five years. The agency said it now holds the exclusive rights to promote brands in Network Rail stations under the deal. No financial details were disclosed.

Bango, up 9.3%. The mobile payments company said its has partnered with Telkom South Africa to launch carrier billing in Google Play, a first for the African market. Under the deal, Telkom SA will use Bango's payments platform to provide the service to Android customers. The Google Android platform currently represents 89% of Africa's smartphone market.
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By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance

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