LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Friday.
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FTSE 100 - WINNERS
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Experian, up 0.9%. The credit check provider reiterated its guidance for the full year, although the strength of the dollar continues to exert a considerable drag on the contribution of its operations in Latin America, as the group posted total and organic revenue growth of 6% in the third quarter of its financial year at constant exchange rates. Experian said organic revenue growth was balanced across the regions in which it does business. However, total revenue was down 3% at actual exchange rates in the quarter ended December 31. "Looking ahead, our guidance for the full year is unchanged. While foreign exchange will be a headwind, at constant currency we expect organic revenue growth in the mid-single digit range, to deliver stable margins and to see further progress in benchmark earnings per share," Chief Executive Brian Cassin said.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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Anglo American, down 8.4%, Glencore, down 6.6%, BHP Billiton, down 5.6%, Antofagasta, down 4.9%, Rio Tinto, down 4.2%. Miners were trading lower amid a further sell-off in Chinese shares, sparking fears about the health of the Chinese economy. Miners have been hit hard by the ongoing worries about deteriorating conditions in China, as the country is a key metals customer. In addition, BHP said it will book a USD4.9 billion impairment charge in the first half to the end of December due to a fall in the value of its US shale assets.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Bovis Homes Group, up 2.2%. The housebuilder said it expects to deliver a big rise in pretax profit and revenue for 2015 following a strong year for the UK housebuilding industry. Bovis said it sold 3,934 homes in the year to the end of December, up 8.0% year-on-year, at an average selling price of GBP231,000, up from GBP216,600. Bovis said its operating margin improved to over 17%, which should result in its return on capital employed for the year rising to over 18%, up from 16.2% in 2014. Bovis said the UK land market remains strong, and it expects to increase its estate of sales outlets in 2016 as it remains optimistic the robust conditions in the housing market will continue.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Moneysupermarket.com Group, down 7.9%. The price comparison service said full-year operating profit adjusted for costs relating to amortisation and acquisitions, should grow by around 13% and end up slightly ahead of market expectations. However, there was a decline in revenue in its insurance activities in the final quarter of the year, as rivals stepped up the competition. Moneysupermarket said it expects to report adjusted operating profit of about GBP99.0 million for 2015, versus company-provided market expectations of GBP98.3 million.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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Sierra Rutile, up 14%. The miner achieved the top end of its production guidance in 2015, driven by record levels of production in Sierra Leone, and said the Ganagama mine is set to boost volumes further in 2016. The company said production in the fourth quarter of 2015 reached 38,787 tonnes of rutile and 10,484 tonnes of ilmenite, representing a 25% and 14% year-on-year increase, respectively, its highest level of production in one quarter. The company provided further good news by stating it has continued to improve its cost performance after increasing production and initiating cost-savings measures.
Forbidden Technologies, up 7.3%. The technology company said two affiliates of US television network ABC are to adopt the company's Forscene cloud video platform. The company said the two news affiliates have bought the platform through Field59, the video management system provider, with which Forbidden has partnered. "News is a key vertical for Forbidden and, through executing on our newly invigorated commercial strategy, it's one where we believe we can gain real sales traction going forwards," Forbidden Chief Executive Ahmed Musa said.
Henry Boot, up 4.2%. The land investor and construction company said its pretax profit for 2015 will be slightly ahead of market expectations following a busy end to the year on the deal front. The group said it sold four strategic land site and four completed development properties towards the end of the year, pushing up its underlying profit to be ahead of market expectations. In addition, the group said it has received draft year-end property valuation data and has made provisions on certain sites which have not been developed as quickly as anticipated. Still, with the solid trading and deal completions offsetting the valuation trims, the group's pretax profit for the year to the end of December will slightly outpace the market view.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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Alexander Mining, down 14%. The mining technology company said its MetaLeach subsidiary has been granted a patent in Peru for extracting zinc from aqueous ammoniacal solutions. The patent, which had been granted already in the US, Canada, Australia and Mexico, describes a method for extracting zinc from an aqueous ammoniacal zinc solution containing impurities. "We are pleased with the grant of the patent in Peru as the country has high potential for the use of our AmmLeach processing technology for zinc extraction," Chief Executive Martin Rosser said.
EG Solutions, down 12%. The software company said its revenue has taken a hit because a number of sales which "will not now close" before the end of January. Despite the delays and the lower than expected revenue, the back office optimisation software company said it expects full-year results will be around breakeven in terms of pretax profit adjusted to exclude costs relating to share based payments. Sales are expected to edge up to about GBP7.6 million in the year ended January 31, versus about GBP7.5 million the prior financial year,
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By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
16 Feb 2017 09:19
