BT Share News (BT.A)

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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BT Group, up 3.1%. The telecommunications giant said the UK Competition and Markets Authority has provisionally cleared its proposed GBP12.5 billion acquisition of mobile operator EE. The clearance from the UK antitrust regulator has been given without any remedies required to gain approval. The CMA said it has provisionally decided the deal "is not expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition in any market in the UK". BT said this includes the supply of retail mobile, wholesale mobile, mobile backhaul, wholesale broadband and retail fixed broadband services.

British American Tobacco, up 1.9%. The tobacco company reported a fall in sales in the first nine months of 2015 as it was hit by movements in foreign exchange rates, which it warned may harm operating profit in the full year. BAT said revenue in the nine months ended September 30 declined 6.5%, although it would have risen 4.2% if foreign exchange rates had remained constant. Cigarette volume from subsidiaries decreased 1.8% to 487 billion in the period.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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Meggitt, down 21%. The aerospace and defence components manufacturer issued a profit warning after the group said trading in the third quarter of 2015 had been below its expectations, with little optimism for any relief in the fourth quarter. Meggitt said there was a "marked deterioration" in trading in September, with organic growth in its civil original equipment sales more than offset by weaker-than-anticipated trading in civil aftermarket, military and particularly energy markets, the latter hit hard by the downturn in spending from oil and gas customers.

Lloyds Banking Group, down 4.4%. The bank reported higher third-quarter pretax profit, even as it booked a further GBP500 million in relation to compensating customers who were mis-sold insurance products in the past. Pretax profit rose to GBP958 million in the quarter to September 30, compared with GBP751 million in the corresponding three months the prior year. Underlying profit, which excludes charges taken on asset sales and provisions for payment protection insurance claims, slipped to GBP1.97 billion from GBP2.04 billion. The new GBP500 million charge for payment protection insurance means Lloyds has now set aside GBP13.9 billion over the scandal.

Antofagasta, down 2.9%. The Chilean copper miner lowered its full-year production guidance, reported falls in copper, gold and molybdenum production and said its cash costs have risen throughout 2015 whilst commodity prices have plummeted. It produced 157,000 tonnes of copper in the third quarter, broadly flat from the previous quarter despite lower grades and lower recoveries at the Centinela mine. That has pushed year-to-date production to 460,400 tonnes, which is down 11% from a year earlier as production has fallen from both Centinela and Antofagasta's other main mine Los Pelambres. The company cut its full-year guidance to 635,000 tonnes of copper from its original guidance of 665,000 tonnes.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment, up 2.0%. The online gaming company reported a fall in revenue in the first nine months of 2015 as it said it faced a tough comparative period while being hit by VAT charges from the European Union. Bwin.Party said total revenue in the nine months ended September 30 decreased 8% to EUR429.9 million from EUR465.8 million the year before, which it said reflected the absence of a major football tournament, the sale of non-core businesses and the impact of EU VAT.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Petra Diamonds, down 8.6%. The diamond miner said production reached record levels in the first quarter of the financial year and said the weakening of the South African rand is mitigating the steep fall in diamond prices. Petra produced a "record" 842,796 carats in the first quarter ended September 30, compared to 833,744 carats a year earlier. That figure means the company is running ahead of its guidance for the first half of the year to produce 1.5 million carats.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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Pantheon Resources, up 37%. The US-focused oil and gas company said testing has been completed on the VOBM 1 well at the Polk County project in Texas and that oil has been found. Pantheon, which owns a 50% working interest in the Polk project, said the well encountered 62 feet of net pay, at a depth of 14,200 feet, in the primary target. The well flowed natural gas at a stabilised flow rate of 6,145 million cubic feet per day, with gross production equating to over 1,500 barrels of oil equivalent a day. The initial flow rates and other testing data indicate the well has the potential to exceed the pre-drill prospective resource estimate, though a period of sustained production data will need to be secured before a definitive assessment is made.

Prime People, up 22%. The recruitment company said its pretax profit in the six months ended September 30 rose to GBP1.1 million from GBP640,000 in the same period the year before, as revenue increased to GBP10.2 million from GBP8.0 million. It said growth was generated from its permanent business, which represents 92% of net fee income. Net fee income grew 24% to GBP6.2 million from GBP5.0 million, with strong performances in the UK and Asia. "We have expectations that the UK businesses will perform at least at similar levels to the first half of the year. We are looking for continued improved performance from our businesses in Asia which we believe will provide us with increased opportunities for growth in the mid to long term," said Chairman Robert Macdonald.

Trinity Mirror, up 8.4%. The newspaper publisher said it agreed to acquire the 80% stake in Local World is does not already own for GBP187.4 million, valuing the regional newspaper publisher at GBP220.0 million, and conducted a share placing to back the deal. Trinity Mirror will acquire the 80% stake from Daily Mail & General Trust, the publisher of the Daily Mail, and from all other shareholders in the company, including the Iliffe Family. The deal will make Trinity Mirror the UK's largest regional news publisher.
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By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance

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