Last checked at LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Tuesday.
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FTSE 100 - WINNERS
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Capita, up.5.3%. The outsourcer said it has made a solid start to the year and remains on track to hit market expectations for 2016. The company said it has secured GBP458.0 million in major contracts in 2016 so far. The group has acquired four companies and sold two businesses in the period. Capita said it has seen increased organic growth in its divisions so far in 2016 and said its bid pipeline provides greater visibility and confidence on the outlook for 2016 as a whole. The group said it is on track to hit its target for 4.0% organic revenue growth in 2016 and is trading in line with market expectations for the full year.
Easyjet, up 2.1%. The low-cost carrier said it swung to a loss in the first half of its financial year due to negative movements in foreign exchange rates, and warned about the effect the recent terrorist attacks in Brussels will have on its third-quarter performance, but it increased its dividend payout ratio. The low-cost airline said it suffered a GBP24 million pretax loss in the six months ended March 31, having made a GBP7 million pretax profit in the first half of the prior year. easyJet said it will increase its annual dividend payout ratio to 50% of post-tax income from 40% previously. Despite the loss, Numis said structural growth opportunities were a positive for the airline going forward. "We are encouraged by the confident outlook statement and by the positive medium term cost guidance," the broker said.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Bovis Homes Group, up 2.6%. The housebuilder said it is on track to deliver its planned growth for 2016 as sales prices continue to rise and said the upcoming UK vote on EU membership in June has had "no discernible impact" on the business. The group said the housing market conditions remain positive, with strong demand from home buyers benefiting from good access to mortgage finance and growth in its sales prices, driven by its "improving mix of homes". Bovis said weekly sales rates have improved in recent weeks and in the year to date, it has achieved 0.65 net private reservations per site, in line with a year earlier.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Grafton Group, down 0.5%. The DIY company said it made a "broadly positive" start to the year across its end-markets, noting uncertainty over the outcome of the UK referendum on European Union membership having a bearing on current activity levels. The company reported a broadly favourable economic environment in the UK, continuing growth in Ireland, and improving conditions in the Netherlands. Within its Merchanting division, the UK business grew both organically and through acquisitions. Grafton said, however, the market softened in April following a good first quarter, which it said may reflect current market uncertainties about a possible Brexit.
N Brown Group, down 0.4%. Numis downgraded the online shopping and catalogue retailer to Hold from Add, saying concerns over lower forecasts for 2017 outweigh any potential buying opportunity. "The continued downgrades remind us once again that this is a business which should trade at a discount to the sector (bad debt, weak free cash generation, lower quality brands), particularly in the absence of any margin recovery story," the broker said.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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Herencia Resources, up 125%. The miner said it agreed to sell the Paguanta project in northern Chile, but said the proceeds will only keep the company going for a short while as it still has the potential to run out of cash by the end of this month. Herencia has signed a conditional term sheet to sell the subsidiary through which it holds its 70% stake in the project to Australian-listed Golden Rim Resources. Herencia will receive between USD1.5 million and USD2.3 million in total for the asset in a potential mix of cash and equity. The sale of Paguanta will provide some much-needed funds and will not leave too big a hole in the company's portfolio. The project is not producing, and therefore not generating any revenue and profit, and is only one of the company's four projects.
Tavistock Investments, up 28%. The financial services firm said it anticipates it will outpace market expectations for the financial year to the end of March. Tavistock said its posted a small earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation loss in the first half to the end of September, but a strong performance in the second half will deliver a profit which will reverse the first half loss. As a result, the group expects it will deliver an Ebitda profit for the recent full year, ahead of market forecasts.
Cyprotex, up 12%. The contract research organisation said it performed ahead of expectations in the first quarter of 2016. In a short trading update, Cyprotex said its financial performance in the quarter to the end of March was "significantly" ahead of its expectations. The company also said its strategic review, kicked off in April, is progressing.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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Aureus Mining, off 40%. The miner said it has suspended its plant operations at the New Liberty gold mine in Liberia after problems with a circuit and heavy rainfall caused a "small overflow" from its tailings facility, but said mining operations are continuing as normal. Aureus now needs to work with authorities to get the operation back up and running, and the company stressed no human settlements have been affected so far. Aureus is now working with the Environmental Protection Agency of Liberia and other authorities to mitigate against any environmental related risks. Importantly, operations will not restart until authorities have approved the remediation work and rectified the issue.
Driver Group, down 33%. The project management consultancy said profit for the financial year to the end of September will miss market expectations following a review of the business. Driver said revenue for the financial year is set to meet market expectations following stronger trading in March and April, which helped to offset softer markets in December, January and February. But after a detailed review of the business was conducted, the group now anticipates profit for the full year will be "significantly short" of market expectations.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com; @ArvindBhunjun
Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
IN BRIEF: Driver expects half-year revenue and profit drop
Driver Group PLC - Lancashire, England-based provider of consultancy services to the construction and engineering industries - Expects to report revenue for the six months ended March 31 of GBP22.5 million, down 7.0% from GBP24.2 million the year before. Says it will also report an underlying pretax profit of around GBP600,000, down 14% from GBP700,000 a year prior. Looking ahead, says it continues to perform well across the UK and Europe. Key focus remains the delivery of its transformation strategy. Chief Executive Officer Mark Wheeler says: "I am pleased to see our strategy delivering improved performance in both [Asia Pacific] and the Middle East, which have both returned to profit. Management have acted promptly in resolving the challenges in North America, and our UK and European regions continue to perform well. I believe the group is therefore well-placed to move forward positively into [the second half of financial 2024]." Driver is set to publish results for the first half of its financial year on June 12.
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