CRA.L Share News (CRA)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are amongst the biggest risers and fallers within the main London indices midday Tuesday.
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FTSE 100 WINNERS
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Land Securities Group, up 2.7%. The real estate development trust reported strong growth in returns and profits in its last financial year as property valuations continued to surge and it achieved strong leasing levels across its new developments in London. Land Securities also said the outlook remains positive as London remains supply constrained despite the increase in new developments. It reported a total business return of 30.7% for the year to March 31, with net asset value per share rising to 1,343 pence from 1,069 pence a year earlier.

RELX, up 2.3%. The information and publishing company, formerly known as Reed Elsevier, is higher after being upgraded to Buy from Neutral by Goldman Sachs.

Unilever, up 1.5%. The consumer goods giant said Chief Financial Officer Jean-Marc Huët has decided to step down and will leave on October 1 after more then five years in the role, with Graeme Pitkethly, Unilever's head of UK and Ireland, moving into the role at that time. Pitkethly, aged 48, joined Unilever in 2002.
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FTSE 100 LOSERS
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Vodafone Group, down 2.7%. The mobile communications company shares are down even though it reported revenue and earnings ahead of expectations in its recently ended financial year, boosted by one-off gains and acquisitions, and delivered a return to organic growth in its fourth quarter as it saw "increasing signs of stabilisation" in many of its European markets and increasing demand for data. For the year to end-March, Vodafone reported earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of GBP11.92 billion, up from GBP11.08 billion a year before, and beating analyst expectations of GBP11.87 billion. However, Michael van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets, says investors are focusing on a 19% fall in adjusted operating profits excluding exceptional costs and a more cautious outlook than expected as Vodafone presses ahead with network investment.

BHP Billiton, down 3.0%. The miner is down after being downgraded to Reduce from Hold by HSBC. Meanwhile, BHP Chief Executive Andrew Mackenzie said a competition inquiry into the Australian iron ore industry was "unnecessary", and warned it would send the wrong message to international customers about the country's commitment to free trade.
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FTSE 250 WINNERS
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DCC, up 11%. The distribution company said it has struck a EUR464 million deal to acquire French liquefied petroleum gas company Butagaz from Royal Dutch Shell, as the group also posted a rise in pretax profit for the year to the end of March. DCC said it will partly fund the acquisition via the issue of at least 4.2 million shares, raising GBP184.3 million based on its closing price of 4,390p on Monday. The remainder of the funding required for the acquisition will come from existing cash resources. Royal Dutch Shell 'A' shares are flat, while 'B' shares are down 0.2%.

Greencore Group, up 2.1%. The food producer reported huge growth in profit in the first half of its financial year, boosted by sales growth particularly in its food-to-go business in the UK and US. It reported pretax profit of GBP26.3 million in the half year ended March 27, more than treble the GBP8 million profit made in the same period the prior year, which it said was driven by growth in revenue of 3.2% to GBP639.8 million from GBP619.8 million, as well as continued operational improvements and focus on cost control.

Big Yellow, up 4.7%. The self storage company reported higher pretax profit for its last financial year, as higher occupancy and prices bolstered revenue and it booked gains on property assets. Big Yellow said it made a GBP105.2 million pretax profit in the year ended March 31, compared with GBP59.8 million in the prior year, as revenue grew by 17% to GBP84.3 million. Without including gains on property assets, operating profit increased to GBP48.4 million from GBP39.5 million, but was up to GBP114.2 million from GBP67.9 million after taking the gains into account.

Al Noor Hospitals Group, up 1.6%. HSBC upgraded the company to Buy from Hold.
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FTSE 100 WINNERS
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BTG down 7.1%. The healthcare company posted a fall in pretax profit for its recently ended financial year as it increased investment in its business, particularly its Interventional Medicine segment, which offset a strong rise in revenue, and it guided for a further increase in revenue for its current year. For the year to end-March, it posted a pretax profit of GBP26.7 million, down from GBP33.3 million in the previous year, as a rise in revenue to GBP367.8 million from GBP290.5 million was offset by an increase in selling, general and administrative expenses of GBP124.8 million from GBP84.0 million, and adjusting and reorganisation costs of GBP33.0 million.

Moneysupermarket.com Group, down 2.9%. Founder Simon Nixon sold a 3.7% stake in the price-comparison website company. The sale of 20.0 million shares at 280 pence per share raised GBP56 million before expenses for Nixon. The amount of shares sold is at the top end of the range announced late Monday, when Credit Suisse, the sole bookrunner on the placing, said it would sell a stake of between 2.8% and 3.7% on behalf of Nixon, who retains a 12.8% holding.

Aveva Group, down 2.7%. The engineering software company said its pretax profit fell by 20% in the year to the end of March, as revenue was hit by falling demand in the oil and gas industry, though the group tried to sweeten the pill for shareholders by hiking its final dividend by 14%. The company said its pretax profit for the year to the end of March was GBP54.9 million, down from GBP69 million a year earlier. The fall in profit was driven by a 12% decline in revenue in the year to GBP208.7 million from GBP237.3 million.
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AIM ALL-SHARE WINNERS
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San Leon Energy, up 25%. The company's shares are higher after it published strong results from well tests conducted at the Rawicz prospect in Poland. The well tests conducted at the site indicate the field contains more than 50 billion cubic feet of recoverable gas, which would make it the largest gas development in Poland for around two decades, San Leon said.

Proxama, up 18%. The company, which provides banks and card issuers with contactless payment technology said it won an exclusive contract with Exterion Media UK for up to three years, saying the first phase will look to build on a successful trial conducted on buses in Norwich late in 2014 with a roll-out to UK major cities. Proxama also said it was awarded a GBP1 million grant from a UK government fund.

Corac Group, up 8.2%. The company said it has signed a GBP3.4 million defence export order with an unnamed shipbuilding contractor in South East Asia. The deal is an extension of a programme of work first announced in January last year involving two atmosphere control systems made by Corac. The systems are to be made at Corac's Portsmouth facility for delivery in 2016 and 2018, with the majority of the revenue to be recognised in 2016 onwards.

Caledonia Mining, up 8.1%. The gold explorer shares hit a six-month high Tuesday morning after it reported an increase and upgrade to the resource base at the Blanket Mine in Zimbabwe, its main asset. The company, which has a 49% stake in the Blanket Mine, said that it has been able to upgrade 491,000 tonnes to the indicated resource category from inferred resources and to add 47,000 tonnes of new inventory to the indicated resource, based on drilling completed at depth below the AR Main and at Blanket Sections over the past year.
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By Daniel Ruiz; danielruiz@alliancenews.com

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