BT Share News (BT.A)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices Thursday.
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FTSE 100 - WINNERS
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Royal Dutch Shell A, up 3.7%, Royal Dutch Shell B, up 3.5%, BG Group up 3.5%. The oil and gas major reported a USD1.7 billion drop in earnings in the second quarter of 2015, as its upstream division continued to be hampered by lower oil prices, compounded by a fall in production. The company also reaffirmed its commitment to its dividend alongside a share buyback as its merger with BG Group continues as planned. Shell has also sold a significant stake in an downstream business in Japan. Shell reported current cost of supply earnings of USD3.4 billion in the second quarter of 2015, down from USD5.1 billion a year before, as revenue fell to USD73.95 billion from USD115.27 billion after being hit by lower oil prices.
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AstraZeneca, up 2.2%. The pharmaceutcal giant improved its revenue guidance for its full year at constant currency, as it posted a lower pretax profit for its first half due to higher research and development costs. The FTSE 100-listed company has improved its revenue guidance for its full year at constant currency, now expecting revenue to decline by low single-digit percentage - it had previously guided at the mid single-digit. Its expectations for core earnings per share is unchanged, it continues to expect it to increase by low single-digit percent in the full year. Based on current exchange rates, revenue is expected to decline by high single-digit percent.
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Smith & Nephew, up 1.8%. The medical devices maker reiterated its expectations for its full year and lifted its interim dividend, as it posted a rise in pretax profit for its first half. The company posted a pretax profit of USD411 million for the half year to June 27, up from USD349 million a year before, on revenue of US2.27 billion, up from USD2.22 billion. In its second quarter, revenue rose 2%, hit by around 9% from the strength of sterling, which was offset by a 6% boost from acquisitions. Smith & Nephew proposed a dividend of 11.8 cents per share, up from 11.0 cents a year before.
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Rolls-Royce Holdings, up 1.6%. The power systems developer posted a sharp fall in first half profit on Thursday, hit by weakness in its offshore marine markets due to the slowdown in the oil and gas industry, as revenue increased and the group edged up its dividend payout. FTSE 100-listed Rolls-Royce said its pretax profit in the six months to the end of June fell to GBP310 million, down 57% from the GBP713 million it posted a year earlier. Revenue rose to GBP6.37 billion from GBP6.25 billion, but profitability is taking a heavy hit from the slowdown in the oil and gas industry, which has hit revenue in Rolls-Royce's offshore marine business, and by a margin squeeze related to the transition to new jet engine programmes.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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Babcock International Group, down 3.5%. The business support services company said it is trading in line with its first-half and full-year expectations so far in its 2015 financial year. Babcock said it has seen strong demand for its services in the first half, both in its existing contract book and in new business wins. Since its full-year results were published in May, Babcock's order book has remained stable at GBP20 billion and continues to provide strong visibility, with 84% of its revenue for the 2016 financial year secured and 60% of its 2017 revenue in place. The group's bid pipeline also remains robust at around GBP10.5 billion and it said its tracking pipeline offers good opportunities for growth.
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Centrica, down 3.0%. The British Gas parent company said it has completed its strategic review of the business which will see a shift in investment away from its upstream segment and toward its British Gas business as it reported a rise in pretax profit but a slight fall in earnings in the first half of 2015. The electricity and gas provider reported a GBP1.20 billion pretax profit in the first half of 2015, up from a GBP890 million profit a year earlier despite revenue experiencing a slight 2% drop to GBP15.45 billion from GBP15.74 billion. Earnings before exceptional items was down 3% to GBP1.0 billion from GBP1.03 billion after higher profit from customer-facing businesses more than offset by lower profit from upstream gas and power businesses. Centrica also slashed its interim dividend by 30% to 3.57 pence from 5.10 pence following the decision earlier in the year to rebase the dividend.
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BT Group, down 2.4%. The telecommunications company said it is on track to achieve its outlook for the full year, as it posted a rise in pretax profit for its first quarter. For the quarter to end-June, BT posted a pretax profit of GBP632 million, up from GBP546 million, as revenue was flat at GBP4.36 billion, compared to GBP4.35 billion. However, revenue fell short of consensus expectations. BT posted adjusted revenue figures of GBP4.29 billion which was just shy of GBP4.29 billion consensus estimates.
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InterContinental Hotels Group, down 1.8%. The hotel operator reported growth in profit in the first half of 2015 as it achieved growth in revenue per available room in all of the regions in which it operates and said it remains confident in the outlook for the rest of the year. However, concerns arose as revenue per available room growth slowed in its South East Asia and China regions.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Hellermantyton Group up 42%. The company said it has agreed to be taken over by Delphi Automotive, the UK-based automotive parts manufacturer. HellermannTyton, which makes wires and cables, said it has agreed to be acquired by Delphi for 480 pence per share, valuing the company at around GBP1.07 billion. The price is at at 45% premium to HellermannTyton's closing price on Wednesday and at a 43% premium to its one-month volume weighted average price prior to the offer.
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Laird, up 12%. The technology company reiterated its expectations for the full year and posted a rise in pretax profit for its first half, as revenue was boosted by more favourable exchange rates and a full contribution from its acquisition of Model Solution last year. Laird posted a pretax profit of GBP21.6 million for the half year to end-June, up from GBP16.0 million a year before, as revenue rose to GBP305.9 million from GBP252.6 million. The company also proposed an interim dividend of 4.40 pence, up from 4.27 pence a year before.
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Inchcape, up 7.8%. The car distributor and retailer said its pretax profit fell in the first half of 2015, thanks to adverse currency movements and higher costs, but shares in the group were trading higher as it said its underlying like-for-like revenue growth was robust in the period The company said its pretax profit in the first half fell to GBP153 million from GBP162.1 million a year earlier, despite revenue rising to GBP3.4 billion from GBP3.3 billion on a reported basis. Like-for-like revenue at constant currencies, however, rose by 7.8% in the half and the group's underlying operating profit was up by 5.6%, compared to a 5.2% decline on a reported basis.
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Henderson Group, up 3.0%. The fund manager reported higher first-half pretax profit from continuing operations and an increase in assets under management. Henderson, which is dual-listed in Australia and London, said it made a GBP98.1 million pretax profit in the six months to the end of June, compared with GBP61.5 million in the corresponding half last year. The assets it manages increased to GBP82.10 billion from GBP81.16 billion over the first six months of 2015, a result of GBP5.6 billion in net inflows and GBP1.5 billion from market and foreign exchange movements, more than offsetting a net GBP6.2 billion reduction from acquisitions and disposals.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Countrywide, down 5.4%. The estate agency and property services company said its pretax profit fell heavily in the first half of 2015 thanks to a fall in transaction volumes in the first half due to a slowdown in the housing market. Countrywide's group revenue in the first half was up to GBP338.6 million from GBP334.5 million in the half, but a 12% decline in transation volumes in the half meant that its pretax profit fell to GBP289 million from GBP37.1 million, a fall of 22%.
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Rentokil Initial, down 1.7%. The pest control company said its pretax profit ticked higher in the first half, most thanks to lower financing charges, as revenue pushed slightly higher. The company said its pretax profit for the first half to the end of June was GBP70.2 million, up from GBP66.8 million a year earlier. The profit was driven by lower financing costs, as the group saw a rise in revenue to GBP855.3 million from GBP854.4 million wiped out by higher operating expenses in the half.
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Rexam, down 1.7%. The drinks can maker posted a sharp fall in first half pretax profit thanks to higher metal prices in the period, which offset a rise in revenue as beverage can volumes increased. The company, which is currently in the process of being acquired by US rival Ball Corp for GBP4.3 billion, said its pretax profit in the first half was down to GBP82 million from GBP164 million last year, as its operating margins were squeezed by higher metal prices and the commoditisation of certain specialty cans in North America.
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AIM ALL-SHARE - WINNERS
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Accesso Technology Group, up 20%. The company said it has won an exclusive, long-term deal with Merlin Entertainments Group Ltd to provide its online ticketing and eCommerce products across Merlin's attractions. Additionally, whilst the company has maintained its guidance for 2015, it now expects 2016 to be ahead of current expectations and 2017 to be "materially" ahead of current expectations due to "excellent momentum across all of its business divisions".
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Impellam Group, up 8.3%. The services and staffing company reported a rise in pretax profit on the back of much higher revenue for the first half of 2015, with good performances from both its divisions and better-than-expected trading from its acquisitions. Impellam said its pretax profit in the first half was GBP20.1 million, up from GBP14.3 million a year earlier, as revenue increased by 36% to GBP831.6 million from GBP612.3 million.
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AIM ALL-SHARE - LOSERS
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Kromek Group, off 15%. The radiation detection technology company said it is planning to raise GBP11 million via a discounted placing, which overshadowed its report of a narrower pretax loss and higher revenue for its financial year to the end of April. Kromek said it will raise GBP11 million in a firm placing via the issue of 36 million shares at 25 pence per share, plus a further 8 million shares in an open offer at the same price. The discounted placing sent Kromek shares tumbling.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com; @ArvindBhunjun

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