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 - WINNERS
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BG Group, up 1.1%. The oil and gas company reported full-year results that met market expectations as a 16% fall in revenue caused a steep drop in underlying earnings. The company, which is set to merge with Royal Dutch Shell, reported business performance earnings, which excludes special items and measures the underlying performance of the business, of USD1.69 billion in 2015 compared to USD4.03 billion a year earlier after revenue dropped 16%. BG Group didn't manage an overall profit, reporting a pretax loss of USD1.16 billion. However, that is still significantly narrower than the USD8.33 billion pretax loss in 2014. Before special items, BG managed a USD367.0 million profit compared to USD1.15 billion profit in 2014.
Shell 'A' and 'B' share classes both up 1.7%. The oil and gas major was adding to its gains from Thursday, supported by stable oil prices. Brent crude quoted at USD34.70 a barrel, having closed at USD34.62 on Thursday.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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AstraZeneca, down 0.3%. The pharmaceutical company saw further losses from Thursday, when it guided for a decline in earnings and revenue in 2016.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Just Eat, up 7.6%. The online takeaway platform said it has acquired four takeaway businesses for a total of EUR125.0 million, in a move to beef up its position in four different countries. Just Eat said it bought takeaway food businesses from Rocket Internet in Spain and Italy, and from foodpanda in Brazil and Mexico, with the acquisitions to be paid for with existing cash on its balance sheet.
Shaftesbury, up 2.1%. The real estate investment trust said it has continued to see strong tenant demand, underpinned by robust footfall and spending, while making "good progress" with its major schemes. The company which owns retail, restaurant and leisure assets across London's West End, reported EPRA vacancy of 2.0% at the end of December 2015, versus 1.6% at the end of September. Available to let vacancy comprised 13,200 square feet at the same stage, made up of retail space, two restaurants, office space and five apartments.
Victrex, up 2.2%. N+1 Singer upgraded its rating on the stock to Buy from Hold.
Micro Focus International, up 1.5% at 1.360.51p. Wizard Parent LLC, which is owned by Francisco Partners, Golden Gate Capital, Thoma Bravo LLC and Elliott Management Corp, Friday said it upsized the number of shares it was selling in the FTSE 250 software company after its placing was met with strong demand from investors. Wizard raised GBP357.0 million from the placing, which took place overnight and saw the sale of 28 million shares, versus the original expectation of 22 million shares, at 1,275 pence per share.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Enterprise Inns, down 2.0%. Barclays downgraded the pub operator's stock to Underweight from Equalweight.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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Premier Farnell up 6.8%. The electrical components maker said it has agreed to sell life-safety products business Akron Brass Holding Corp to IDEX Corp for USD224.2 million in cash. The company said it decided to sell Akron Brass, which provides products to fight fire, in order to allow it to invest more in its core electronics distribution arm. The move comes after the completion of an operational review of its global electronics distribution business late last year, with the sale of Akron Brass marking an "important miletone" towards refocusing Premier Farnell and improving its financial performance.
Bahamas Petroleum, up 30%. The oil and gas company said the Bahamian senate approved a Petroleum Bill aimed at improving exploration in the country. The new legislation provides an upgraded and modernised framework for petroleum exploration operations in the Bahamas and are set to guide and govern the next phase of safe and responsible hydrocarbon exploration. The Sovereign Wealth Fund will ensure that wealth generated from exploration success in the country will be invested and conserved to benefit the country's population.
Wishbone Gold, up 10%. The gold miner said it has acquired Precious Metals International, which holds a gold, precious metals and gem trading licence to operate in the United Arab Emirates. Black Sand, which was established by its chief executive Barret Kosh in 2014 as a successor company to Multinational Commodities FZE, has agreements in place for importing gold from Colombia and Honduras with a pipeline of other supply deals from other parts of South America.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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ImmuPharma, down 14%. The drug development company said it is seeking to raise at least GBP7.5 million through a placing and subscription to finance a trial for its Lupuzor product. ImmuPharma said it will issue no fewer than 11.8 million shares at 26 pence per share, to raise at least GBP3.1 million, in an accelerated bookbuild. In a separate agreement, ImmuPharma set out a subscription deal with Lanstead Capital to raise GBP4.4 million through the subscription of 17.0 million new shares at 10p per share. Of this, the company said it will retain GBP660,000. The remaining GBP3.76 million is to be pledged to Lanstead via a sharing agreement, with ImmuPharma entitled to receive the money over a period of 18 months, with the amount depending on the movement of ImmuPharma's shares.
Central Rand Gold, down 13%. The gold miner said it is raising GBP1.2 million through an equity subscription deal. The company said it plans on issuing just shy of 35.0 million new shares at 3.5 pence per share. It has already allotted 14.3 million new shares, and requires shareholder permission to issue the remainder. The shares have been conditionally subscribed for by a number of high-net-worth individuals including the principal of Zhejiang Golden Machinery Plant. The move comes just weeks after the company terminated talks with four Asian investor groups for the sale of Central Rand Gold (Netherlands Antilles) NV, amid uncertainty over falling commodity prices and a tough time for the junior mining sector.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com; @ArvindBhunjun
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