Character Share News (CCT)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Friday.----------FTSE 100 - WINNERS----------Shire, up 1.8%. Takeda Pharmaceutical said it had received regulatory clearance in China for its GBP46 billion acquisition of the Irish drugmaker. The Japanese firm received unconditional approval for the deal announced in May from the State Administration for Market Regulation in China in what it termed "another key step" in the transaction process. Chinese approval follows progress with other global regulators. In July, the deal received the green light from the US Federal Trade Commission. It has also received unconditional approval from the Brazilian Administrative Council for Economic Defense. Under the deal, Takeda will pay USD30.33 in cash and 0.839 in new Takeda shares for each Shire share. This values the deal at around 4,990 pence per Shire share based on current prices and exchange rates.----------Whitbread, up 0.9%. The Costa Coffee shop and Premier Inn hotel chain owner was raised to Overweight from Neutral. ----------FTSE 100 - LOSERS----------Barratt Developments, down 1.2%, Taylor Wimpey, down 1.0%, Berkeley Group, down 0.2%, Persimmon, down 0.2%. London's large cap housebuilders were under selling pressure after Bank of England Governor Mark Carney warned UK ministers that house prices could crash by more than a third in the event of a chaotic, no-deal Brexit. Carney briefed Theresa May and senior ministers on the Bank's planning for a "cliff-edge" break with the EU at a special Cabinet meeting on Thursday to review the government's no-deal preparations. It is understood he warned house prices could fall by up to 35% over three years in a worst-case scenario, as sterling plummeted and the Bank was forced to push up interest rates. According to reports, he compared the fall-out from such a disorderly departure to the 2008 global financial crash. Ministers were said to have listened in silence as he and Chancellor Philip Hammond spelled out the grim consequences for the economy. His bleak prognosis came as France said it could halt flights and Eurostar trains from the UK if there was no agreement when the UK leaves the EU in March 2019.----------FTSE 250 - WINNERS----------Investec, up 11%. The Anglo-South African financial services firm said its interim profit is expected to be ahead of last year, as it also announced plans to demerge and publicly list its Asset Management unit. Following the conclusion of a strategic review, the company said that there are "compelling" linkages between its Specialist Banking and Wealth & Investment business. However, there are "limited synergies" between both of these divisions and Investec Asset Management. Therefore, the board has decided to demerge and publicly list the asset management unit. Separately, Investec said although its first half saw "macro challenges" in both South Africa and the UK, operating profit for the period is expected to be above last year.----------Close Brothers, up 2.1%. The merchant bank said it sold its retail finance business to Swedish firm Klarna Bank. The company said the disposal was prompted by its desire to exit the unsecured retail finance market. After assessing the market for a number of years, Close Brothers concluded that the unsecured nature of business activity was not a "long-term fit" for its otherwise secured business model. The retail finance unit, which provides unsecured loans to customers, had a loan book of GBP66.0 million as of July 31 this year. Close Brothers said the business will be treated as a discontinued operation in the full-year results to be released September 25. ----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS----------Anglo African Agriculture, up 18% at 0.59 pence. The agriculture-focused investment company said it has received enough funding to finance a loan for a strategic logistics port in Kenya. Around GBP1.1 million was raised through a subscription raising GBP805,000 by issuing 161.0 million shares at 0.5 pence per share, and the issue of GBP250,000 of convertible loan notes, with a conversion price of 0.75p. The holder of the loan notes will be paid an annual interest rate of 12% in cash within a term of 24 months. If all loan notes are converted, 33.3 million shares would be issued, reflecting 7.9% of the company issued share capital.----------Character Group, up 9.3%. The toy designer and distributor said it expects its full-year results to "comfortably reach" market expectations after a good second half of the year. For the year ended August, a "very solid" performance was delivered by the firm as it continued to make "good progress in meeting the demands of our customers and the consumer". Character explained it had returned to its "previous growth pattern" in the second half of the year, as expected. Its UK domestic business, in particular, saw sales hit record highs. The company added that it "remains confident" in its "ability to grow the business profitably and expand its presence both domestically and internationally in the years to come".----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS----------Image Scan Holdings, down 15%. The x-ray screening systems maker said it expects to make a full-year loss and that it will now focus on organic growth instead of acquisitions following the failure of an earlier attempt. For the year ending September, the firm expects to see the number of industrial X-ray inspection system units sold to hit a record high. This was after the second half of the year saw the "strong sales" seen in the first half continue. During the year, its two largest industrial customers both bought new units for deployment into their global catalytic converter manufacturing operations. Image Scan added that "valuable" support contracts had also been put in place for these new units. Portable X-ray systems sales, however, had been "slower than hoped" in the second half. ----------Pan African Resources, down 9.7%. The miner said its annual earnings are set to drop amid an "incredibly challenging" operational environment. For the year ended June 30, headline earnings per share from continuing operations in ZAR terms is expected to be 47% to 57% lower than last year, between a range of 16.77 cents to 20.65 cents. For combined operations in rand terms, headline earnings per share is expected to be between 32% to 42% lower than last year in a range of 11.65 cents to 13.67 cents. In sterling terms, headline earnings per share from continuing operations is expected between 46% and 56% lower than last year in a range between 0.97 pence to 1.20p.----------