LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices mid-morning Wednesday.
-------
FTSE 100 WINNERS
-------
AstraZeneca, up 0.7%. Shares rose after fellow pharmaceutical firm Clinigen Group said it has acquired the global rights to oncology support therapy, Ethyol, from it. Ethyol is a drug used to reduce the incidence of the side effect of xerostomia, or dry mouth, in patients undergoing post-operative radiation treatment for head and neck cancer. In 2013, Ethyol revenue was approximately USD4.9 million. This is the second product Clinigen has acquired from AstraZeneca, having acquired the anti-viral Foscavir drug from it in 2010.
Standard Chartered, up 0.5%. The bank's shares have moved higher after announcing late Tuesday it has agreed a USD300 million settlement with banking regulator the New York State Department of Financial Services over deficiencies in the anti-money laundering transaction surveillance system at its New York branch. In addition to the penalty, the settlement also calls upon Standard Chartered to make enhancements to the transaction surveillance system at the New York office and a two-year extension to the term of the Department of Financial Services-appointed independent monitor. The fine was in line with media leaks earlier in the week and analysts have said that the impact should be contained. "Although the scale of the fine is distinctly unwelcome and, in our view, appears disproportionate, we believe that the scale of impact is contained," said Investec analyst Ian Gordon.
British Land Co, up 0.3%. The real estate investment company said it has sold its office block on Poland Street, London to Amazon Property in a deal worth GBP26 million, reflecting a capital value of nearly GBP1,300 per square foot. The site on 52 Poland Street, near Oxford Circus underground station, is a 20,500 square foot multi-let building. The total passing rent of GBP693,373 equates to GBP33.84 per square foot.
-------
FTSE 250 WINNERS
-------
Keller Group, up 2.9%. Numis Securities raised its rating on the engineering group to Buy from Add. Numis has a price target on the stock of 1,070p, suggesting an upside of more than 23% from Tuesday's close. Keller is quoted at 892.47p Wednesday morning.
Dixons Carphone, up 0.8%. The recently merged group received a vote of confidence from Deutsche Bank, which initiated coverage on the stock with a Buy rating and a 400p price target Wednesday. The new price target suggests an 18% upside to Tuesday's closing price. The stock is quoted at 342.60p Wednesday morning.
-------
FTSE 250 LOSERS
-------
Balfour Beatty, down 7.0%. The construction group once again rejected a takeover proposal from suitor Carillion, saying that Carillion's revised proposal late Tuesday failed to address two key concerns that it raised last week. On Tuesday, Carillion said it was prepared to offer Balfour Beatty shareholders an even bigger majority stake in the merged business, but it continued to insist that Balfour Beatty's sale of its US project management business Parsons Brinckerhoff not be completed if the merger were to go ahead. Analysts now say that Carillion has limited options as Balfour Beatty's board have not sought an extension to the "Put Up or Shut Up" deadline of 1700 BST on Thursday.
Carillion, down 3.0%. The disappointment of the most recent rejection from Balfour Beatty also has hit Carillion's share price.
Serco Group, down 2.7%. The outsourcing company failed to make the shortlist for the TransPennine Express and Northern rail franchises Tuesday, marking the latest in a series of setbacks, The Times reported Wednesday. The company, which currently operates the Northern rail franchise with Abellio, failed in its bid for the TransPennine Express franchise and did not submit a pre-qualification questionnaire for the Northern franchise, the newspaper said. It marks the latest in a slew of setbacks for the company, which earlier this summer lost the contract to run the driverless trains on the Docklands Light Railway and, prior to that, lost its electronic-tagging and prisoner escort contracts following allegations it misled the Ministry Of Justice.
-------
AIM ALL-SHARE WINNERS
-------
EG Solutions, up 36%. The software company jumped to the top of the junior market after it said it expects to beat current market expectations for the full year to January 31, 2015, and it announced a new contract win. The software company said it had won a "material" new contract with an existing client, which is expected to generate initial revenues of over GBP1.2 million. Some GBP630,000 of these revenues will be recognised in the current year. It expects to receive a further amount per year from the contract in additional annually renewable licence revenues. EG Solutions said it expects to report a pretax profit of over GBP600,000 for its first half ended July 31, on revenue of around GBP4 million.
Clinigen Group, up 8.0%. The pharmaceutical group saw its shares rise after it said it has acquired the global rights to oncology support therapy, Ethyol, from AstraZeneca.
-------
By Jon Darby; jondarby@alliancenews.com; @jondarby100
Copyright 2014 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
16 Feb 2017 09:19
