ECM.L Share News (ECM)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Thursday.----------FTSE 100 - WINNERS----------Associated British Foods, up 0.7%. Berenberg upgraded the Primark clothing chain owner to Buy from Hold. ----------FTSE 100 - LOSERS----------British American Tobacco, down 3.9%, DS Smith, down 3.6%, British Land, down 3.5%, Intertek, down 2.3%. The stocks went ex-dividend meaning new buyers no longer qualify for the latest dividend payout. ----------FTSE 250 - WINNERS----------Ferrexpo, up 9.5%. The iron pellet producer was double upgraded to Overweight from Underweight by Barclays. BTG, up 5.5%. The healthcare company upped its guidance for its current financial year. For the six months to the end of September, the company said it delivered "good" product sales growth, driven by the performance of Interventional Medicine division. BTG also confirmed its commitment to Varithena, a local anaesthetic, which is expected to become profitable in financial 2020 and to have peak sales potential in the high tens of millions of dollars. Meanwhile, in the Pharmaceuticals unit, the company said it saw a "good" performance from CroFab, which is used as an anti-venom to bites from certain snakes. Looking forward, the company said it now expects to achieve growth for the combined Oncology and Vascular products portfolio, including Varithena, sales between 15% and 17% in its full financial year. Electrocomponents, up 3.6%. The electrical parts maker said it had a "good" start into the second quarter of its current financial year as its profitability improved. For the six months to the end of September, like-for-like revenue grew by 10% year-on-year, helped by 12% growth in the company's RS Pro division and 10% revenue growth seen in Digital unit. In addition, at the end of May, Electrocomponents acquired IESA, which delivered "strong" double-digit revenue growth since integration. The industrial & electronics products distributor sad it remains on track to deliver GBP4 million of cost savings in the current financial year following implementation of its performance improvement plan. As a result, adjusted pretax profit is expected to increase to GBP100 million in the first-half compared to GBP79.0 million reported a year earlier. Virgin Money, up 2.3%, CYBG, up 0.9%. CYBG said that UK regulators had approved its offer for fellow challenger bank Virgin Money Holdings. Both the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority approved the acquisition, which is being implemented via a scheme of arrangement and already has shareholder approval. A court hearing for the deal will take place next Friday and, if approval is granted, the scheme of arrangement will become effective October 15.----------FTSE 250 - LOSERS----------Ted Baker, down 10%. The fashion retailer said it continues to make progress amid challenging trading conditions, despite reporting a drop in first half profit partly due to the collapse of department store chain House of Fraser. For the six months to August 11, pretax profit fell 3.2% to GBP24.5 million from GBP25.3 million a year ago as it took a blow from the failure of House of Fraser. The company said it does not expect to recover any debts from House of Fraser. Ted Baker lost GBP557,000 in debts due to the chain's collapse. Ted Baker's first revenue rose 3.6% to GBP306.0 million from GBP295.7 million last year as UK & Europe, and North America sales increased by 1% and 1.8% respectively to GBP147.1 million and GBP61.8 million. Sales in Rest of the World dipped by 1.8% to GBP11.2 million. Spire Healthcare, down 5.5%. Jefferies downgraded the private healthcare provider to Underperform from Hold. ----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS----------AB Dynamics, up 12%. The testing and measurement systems company said it performed well through the year and expects both revenue and profit to significantly exceed market expectations. "I am very pleased to report that the group has continued to perform well throughout the year with significant growth in turnover primarily resulting from increased sales of our track testing products which are used in the development and testing of semi-autonomous and fully autonomous vehicle technology," said Chairman Tony Best.----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS----------Audioboom, down 29%. The audio on-demand platform said it expects an annual earnings loss and revenue to miss market expectations for the full financial year. Audioboom said it expects revenue for 2018 to come in between USD11.5 million and USD13 million, a significant increase on the prior year, when revenue was USD6.06 million, but below market expectations. The company added that it expects to post an adjusted Ebitda loss of between USD4.5 million and USD5.5 million for the year, with the top end representing a slightly narrowed loss from USD5.7 million a year ago. During the third quarter Audioboom said it generated "record revenue" in excess of USD2.4 million up 26% year-on-year. ----------