LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Thursday.----------
FTSE 100 - WINNERS----------Royal Dutch
Shell 'B', up 1.4%, Shell 'A', up 1.2%. Credit Suisse said it expects strong second quarter results from Royal Dutch Shell in a hopefully "clean" quarter, following big one-offs in recent periods. The Swiss bank forecasts cash flow from operations post-interest of USD12.2 billion and around USD5 billion in disposal proceeds in the second quarter, which should make for a "strong quarter" in terms of free cash flow generation. For 2017, cash flow from operations came in at USD35.65 billion. The bank said its forecast for the timing of Shell's share buyback is unchanged, believing this will start in the fourth quarter of 2018. ----------
FTSE 100 - LOSERS----------
WPP, down 3.4%. Shares in the advertising and marketing firm were down after French peer Publicis Groupe reported ill-received first half earnings. Publicis posted an 8.2% drop in net revenue for the first half of 2018 of EUR4.28 billion compared to EUR4.66 billion last year. Publicis shares were down 6.8% in Paris. ----------
SSE, down 3.0%. The energy supplier said its first quarter performance was hurt by the recent "warmer than average" UK temperatures, leading to a 10% drop in gas demand. The hot weather reduced first-quarter operating profit by GBP80 million and could "potentially" harm full-year results, the company added. In the three months to June 30, SSE said that the temperature - being 1.5 degrees centigrade warmer than the thirty-year average - affected domestic gas demand. In addition to lower demand, gas prices were "persistently high" resulting in a "higher cost of energy" being consumed at lower volumes, the company said. Due to the higher prices, SSE said that SSE Energy Services "made the difficult decision to increase standard household energy prices".----------
FTSE 250 - WINNERS----------
Moneysupermarket.com, up 8.0%. The price comparison site posted a rise in first half earnings on the back of increased energy switching by consumers and a solid performance by the insurance division. The company also said it will raise its dividend for the six months to June-end by 4% to 2.95 pence per share, from 2.84p paid a year ago, reflecting the company's confidence in its so-called "Reinvent" business strategy designed to re-accelerate growth and unlock new markets. For the first half, the company recorded pretax profit of GBP51.7 million, up from GBP49.5 million in the year ago period, on a revenue of GBP173.7 million and GBP165.3 million, respectively. In addition, the group has formed a joint venture with the founders of HD Decisions that created the industry standard for cards and loans eligibility for developing the new mortgage comparison tool.----------
FTSE 250 - LOSERS----------
Babcock International, down 9.9%. The defence outsourcer said, ahead of its annual general meeting later on Thursday, it expects to achieve its underlying earnings guidance for the year. Revenue expectations for the Aviation sector and the Nuclear sector remain unchanged, though defence revenue is now expected to be "temporarily impacted" by the restructuring of the Defence Equipment & Support organisation, which has created the new Submarine Delivery Agency. As such, Babcock now expects to see low single-digit underlying revenue growth for the full year, compared to a previous forecast of "low mid-single digit" growth at its annual results in May. ----------
Sports Direct International, down 6.7%. The sportswear retailer's shares fell after its "strategic investment" in department store chain Debenhams hurt profit in its recently-ended financial year. The retailer said pretax profit for the year to April 29 fell 73% to GBP77.5 million from GBP281.6 million reported a year earlier, while revenue rose 3.5% to GBP3.36 billion from GBP3.25 billion. On an underlying basis, pretax profit increased by 35% to GBP152.9 million from GBP113.7 million reported a year prior. The steep profit drop was largely driven by a GBP85.4 million hit following a reduction in value of Debenhams. During the year, Sports Direct increased its holding in Debenhams to 29.7%. Debenhams shares were down 4.1%.----------
OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS----------
dotDigital Group, up 35%. The omnichannel marketing platform provider said it expects annual revenue to grow by 35%. For the year ended June 30, revenue is expected to grow to GBP43.1 million from GBP32.0 million year-on-year. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation and operating profit are expected in line with market views. In the US, revenue increased by 42% to USD7.1 million from USD5.0 million year-on-year, driven by strategic partnerships and increased resourcing, the company added.----------
AO World, up 2.5%. The online electrical goods retailer said revenue in the core UK market increased 8% in its financial first quarter, despite weaker consumer demand seen in June. In a trading update ahead of its annual general meeting on Thursday, AO World added that it is on track to deliver its long-term strategic plan. For the year ended March, the online retailer reported a sharply widened pretax loss of GBP13.5 million, compared with a pretax loss of GBP7.0 in the comparative year ago period. Annual revenue grew to GBP796.8 million from GBP701.2 million.----------
OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS----------
Be Heard, down 33%. The digital marketing services group said it anticipates a drop in earnings for 2018 due to a hit to margins. Be Heard expects adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to be in the range of GBP3.0 million and GBP3.3 million for 2018 on revenue of GBP29.0 million. For 2017, Be Heard reported adjusted earnings of GBP3.6 million. Be Heard said its margins have been hit by increased costs associated with winning new business, uncertainty around contract timing, and volatility in client-spending patterns. The company also said it has begun cutting costs and expects some benefit in the second half of 2018, before these measure fully bear fruit in 2019. ----------
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