BT Share News (BT.A)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are amongst the biggest risers and fallers within the main London indices midday Thursday.
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FTSE 100 WINNERS
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BT Group, up 4.7%. The company said it has now agreed a deal to acquire mobile network EE for GBP12.5 billion in cash and shares, a deal that will give EE's joint owners Deutsche Telekom AG and Orange SA stakes in BT. BT will pay the cash amount through a combination of new debt financing and around GBP1 billion from the placing of new BT shares. It said this placing will be launched in due course.

GlaxoSmithKline, up 1.8%. The pharmaceutical company late Wednesday said it has agreed to sell nearly 4.5 million shares in Genmab through an accelerated bookbuild. The shares are its entire 7.9% stake in the Danish business. The final offer price was set at DKK430.00 a share, meaning gross proceeds were about GBP194 million. This came after company reported a drop in pretax profit for 2014 Wednesday, hit by lower revenue for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease treatment Advair, and said that it was continuing to evaluate the possibility of an initial public offering for a minority stake in its HIV joint venture ViiV Healthcare.

Compass Group, up 1.6%. The catering and outsourcing company said it made a strong start to its new financial year, citing like-for-like revenue growth, with modest pricing and sales volume improvements in its first quarter. It said organic revenue grew by 5.7% in the three months to end-December, whilst it also improved its operating margin.

Smith & Nephew, up 1.2%. The medical devices company reported higher revenue and trading profit for 2014, although earnings per share were hit by restructuring and acquisition costs. Its trading profit rose to USD1.06 billion for the year as a whole, from USD987 million in 2013, as revenue rose to USD4.62 billion, from USD4.35 billion. Trading profit rose to USD325 million in the fourth quarter, from USD292 million a year earlier, as revenue rose to USD1.25 billion, from USD1.18 billion.
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FTSE 100 LOSERS
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AstraZeneca, down 2.0%. The pharmaceutical giant moved to further bolster its respiratory drug pipeline by acquiring the rights to Actavis' branded respiratory business in the US and Canada, as it reported lower earnings for 2014 due to increased investments it is making in accelerating its existing portfolio. AstraZeneca reported core earnings per share of USD4.28 for 2014, down 15% on the year after its fourth quarter core EPS dropped 38% to USD0.76, missing analysts' expectations of USD0.82. Revenue rose 1% on the year to USD26.10 billion for 2014 as a whole, but was down 2% in the fourth quarter to USD6.68 billion. The company suffered an exchange rate hit: revenue was up 3% for the full year and 2% in the fourth quarter at constant rates, while core EPS dropped 8% during the year and 28% in the fourth quarter at constant rates.

EasyJet, down 1.5%. The budget carrier reported flat passenger numbers in January and a slight year-on-year decline in its load factor. It said it carried 4 million passengers in January 2015, flat year-on-year, while its load factor fell by 0.3 percentage point to 85.1% from 85.4%.

Smiths Group, down 1.0%. The engineering company has been cut to Sell from Hold by Investec.

Unilever, down 0.9%. The company is trading lower after going ex-dividend, meaning new buyers no longer qualify for the latest dividend payouts.
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FTSE 250 LOSERS
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Premier Farnell, down 9.8%. The technology company said it expects to report an increase in sales for its full financial year on the back of higher sales in the fourth quarter, but said its operating margin has come under pressure due to strategic initiatives and discounting on the first Raspberry Pi model, and it expects its second-half gross margin to decline around 1 percentage point. It expects its full-year operating profit to be around GBP86-88 million.

Ocado Group, down 4.0%. The online-only grocer was cut to Sell from Hold, by Deutsche Bank.

Grainger, down 1.7%. The residential property company said its average sales prices rose in the first four months of its financial year, but said the start date for its new chairman has been delayed and said it is considering its options regarding the money it is owed from the sale of its Equity Release (Increments) Ltd business last year.

Daejan Holdings, down 1.2%. The company has gone ex-dividend.
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AIM ALL-SHARE WINNERS
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Environmental Recycling Technologies, up 24%. The company said it had granted a non-exclusive licence for its patented powder impression moulding process to Earth Enterprises Inc in the US. The licence allows for the manufacture and sale of flat sheet products within the US. Colorado-based Earth Enterprises will pay Environmental Recycling a licence and knowledge transfer fee of USD150,000 as well as an annual royalty based on the volume of products sold.

Ceramic Fuel Cells, up 18%. The company said it has received a loan-note conversion notice from Bergen Global Opportunity Fund for USD200,000 of the secured convertible loan notes issued under a March 2014 agreement, meaning it will issue 65.6 million new shares at AUD0.004 each to the fund.

AfriAg, up 18%. The company said it has won a contract to transport fresh produce farmed by Vanduzi, part of the Mozfoods (SA) business owned by the Gatsby Foundation in Mozambique. Under the contract, AfriAg will transport the produce to countries including South Africa, the UK, the Netherlands and Germany.

Avanti Communications Group, up 8.6%. The satellite data communications services provider said it has raised GBP60.6 million by issuing new shares as part of a financing that fully funds the construction and launch of the HYLAS 4 satellite and takes it through to the point when it expects to be cash flow positive.
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AIM ALL-SHARE LOSERS
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Pressure Technologies, off 25%. The high pressure engineering company told markets to revise down expectations for its current financial year in light of the recent sharp decline in the oil price. The company said it was carrying out a full review of prospects across the business after clients in the oil market started cutting capital spending in response to the oil price decline.

RapidCloud International, down 21%. The company has appointed Cindy Choo as its new finance director, effective immediately. She takes over from interim finance director Darren Hopkins and joins from Malaysia-based consultancy Perfect Advisory Sdn Bhd.

InfraStrata, down 14%. The company launched a share placing and subscription to raise GBP2.1 million, money it will use to fund working capital needs in 2015 and to fund work at the Islandmagee gas storage project in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The company said it is proposing to place 46.0 million shares at 4 pence each with investors, while some of its directors and associated partied will subscribe for nearly 6.5 million shares at the same price.

Corero Network Security, down 13%. The security services company said it expects its loss for the year to be in line with market expectations, but said revenue for the year will be slightly lower on the back of weaker fourth quarter sales. Corero said it expects its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation loss for the year to December 31 to be in line with market expectations at around USD7 million, slightly wider than the USD6.2 million loss posted a year earlier.
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By Neil Thakrar; neilthakrar@alliancenews.com; @NeilThakrar1

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