ECM.L Share News (ECM)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Tuesday.----------FTSE 100 - WINNERS----------DS Smith, up 2.8%. JPMorgan reinstated the packaging firm with an Overweight rating.----------FTSE 100 - LOSERS----------Hargreaves Lansdown, down 5.5%. The fund supermarket reported a fall in assets amid market volatility and weak investor confidence. As at the end of December, the company's assets under administration fell 6% to GBP85.9 billion from June 30. On a year-on-year basis, assets under administration declined 0.2%. However, Hargreaves Lansdown did achieve growth in client numbers, by 45,000 to 1.1 million. Net new business inflows were GBP2.5 billion, though this was down 24% year-on-year. Looking ahead, Brexit will continue to weigh on markets and consumer confidence until the uncertainty is resolved. The second half is traditionally stronger than the first, Hargreaves Lansdown continued, but it said Brexit uncertainty "is clearly not helpful". ----------Halma, down 0.9%. Berenberg downgraded the hazard detection products maker to Hold from Sell. ----------FTSE 250 - WINNERS----------UDG Healthcare, up 7.5%. The healthcare services provider said its performance in its first quarter saw profit "well ahead" of the year prior, with the firm expecting growth for the full-year. For the three months ended December, constant currency pretax profit is expected to be "well ahead" of the same period the year prior, without providing specific figures. This was in line with its previous estimates and follows a "good" start to the year with underlying growth being supplemented by acquisitions in the previous financial year. The stronger performance was driven by a operating profit at its Sharp clinical services business which was "significantly" ahead of the year prior. This followed continued "strong momentum" in the US as well as a "weak" comparative period the year before.----------Crest Nicholson, up 5.8%. The housebuilder highlighted "some challenges" in London, as annual profit declined 15% despite sales growth. Pretax profit for the 12 months to October 31 fell to GBP176.4 million from GBP207.0 million the year before, but sales including joint ventures did increase 7% to GBP1.13 billion. Crest Nicholson's volumes for the year rose to 3,020 homes, up 3%, while forward sales were 11% ahead year-on-year in mid-January at GBP639.4 million. The company, whose operating profit margin fell to 16.7% from 20.3%, is paying a final dividend of 21.8 pence. This takes the year's total to 33.0p, flat year-on-year, and Crest Nicholson hopes to maintain this in its current financial year.----------Electrocomponents, up 3.5%. Berenberg raised the electrical parts manufacturer to Buy from Hold. ----------FTSE 250 - LOSERS----------PZ Cussons, down 11%. The personal care products maker said it will look to limit its exposure to Nigeria, with "extremely challenging" trading continuing to hinder the Imperial Leather soap maker's overall growth. PZ Cussons registered a 23% fall in revenue to GBP111.3 million in Africa for the six months to November. At constant currency, revenue slipped 13% and the like-for-like decline was also 13%. Adjusted operating profit in Africa slumped 71%, or 68% at constant currency, to just GBP1.2 million. Group revenue fell by 10%, or 4.6% constant currency, to GBP335.1 million. Like-for-like revenue also slid 4.6%. To help streamline its activities and focus on Personal Care and Beauty operations in Europe and Asia, the company has begun some strategic initiatives, it said, which include "limiting exposure to Nigerian volatility".----------Royal Mail, down 10%. The postal operator reported a drop in nine-month revenue amid a weaker-than-expected performance in its letters business, despite strong growth from its parcels operations. For the nine months ended December 23, revenue for the UK Parcels, International & Letters business fell 1% on an underlying basis. This was after revenue from letter delivery fell 6%, offsetting a 6% rise in parcel revenue. Letter volumes fell 8% with parcel volumes up 6%. The General Logistics Systems subsidiary saw revenue rise 8% and volumes expand by 5%. Royal Mail confirmed it expects full-year operating profit before transformation costs of between GBP500 million and GBP530 million. "The continuing collapse in letter volumes is the big news in these numbers. Royal Mail's gone out of its way to say that's down to wider uncertainty, and the introduction of new privacy laws under GDPR, rather an uptick in companies using email rather than paper. Whatever the cause, we suspect those mailings are gone for good," Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Nick Hyett said. ----------Domino's Pizza, down 7.8%. The pizza delivery chain reduced its annual profit expectations following a weak performance from its International unit in the final quarter of 2018. Domino's said it now expects underlying pretax profit to be at the lower end of the consensus range of GBP93.9 million and GBP98.2 million. In 2017, Domino's reported underlying pretax profit of GBP96.2 million, so the lower end of the range would represent a 2.4% decline in annual profit. In mid-October, the company expected to deliver underlying pretax profit for 2018 in the middle of the then range of market expectations of between GBP93.0 million and GBP99.6 million. Turning to Domino's International business, the company said it continues to be "weather-affected" and will have suffered a loss of between GBP3 million and GBP4 million in 2018. ----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS----------Nostrum Oil & Gas, up 8.8%. The oil and gas company said said it expects to report a slight decline in its revenue for 2018, as average production picked up in January. The firm's average production in 2018 totalled 31,254 barrels of oil equivalent per day, with sales volumes at 29,516 barrels of oil equivalent daily. In 2017, Nostrum reported average production of 39,199 barrels of oil equivalent a day, with sales at 37,844 barrels of oil equivalent daily. As at December 31, the company had 45 wells in production, comprised of 20 oil wells and 25 gas-condensate wells, up from 40 producing wells the year before. Nostrum expects annual revenue in excess of USD389 million, from USD405 million reported a year prior. Looking ahead, the company said average production in January improved to 32,963 barrels of oil equivalent daily. For the entire 2019, the company aims to produce 30,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day, with sales volumes totalling 28,000 barrels of oil equivalent daily. ----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS----------CVS Group, down 28%. The veterinary firm warned annual earnings will likely miss market expectations. Over the past two years, CVS said, it has moved into the Farm and Equine markets, but early performance of these new divisions has been "disappointing", with results falling short of board expectations. Pharmaceutical companies have offered "poor support", and CVS said it is continuing to push for "transparent and appropriate" pricing. Further, CVS had to pay much higher employment costs in its half-year ended January due to shortages of vets, meaning the company is still "heavily reliant" on locum cover. This will lead to flat earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation for the first half ended January. In its prior year, interim adjusted Ebitda was GBP20.7 million. Following the update, Berenberg cut its rating on the stock to Hold from Buy. ----------