Earthport Share News (EPO)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices midday Wednesday.

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FTSE 100 - WINNERS

Barclays, up 2.9%. The bank plans to solicit offers for its index business, which could fetch USD400 million in a sale, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

Persimmon, up 1.6%. The housebuilder's shares have jumped after UBS upgraded the company to Buy from Neutral, lifting its price target to 1,540.00 pence from 1,400.00p, saying that the company offers the "best of both worlds,". It has strong top line growth, as well as best in class return on capital employed and cash returns, UBS said.

Rolls-Royce Holdings, up 1.4%. UBS has upgraded the company to Buy from Sell, increasing its target price by almost 30% to 1,160.00p. UBS believes that company's cash conversion will improve, particularly towards the end of the decade, driven by lower capital expenditure, less capitalisation and more amortisation, "all driving cash flow more in line with profits."

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FTSE 100 - LOSERS

Smiths Group, down 5.9%. The technology and engineering company's shares have dropped after it revealed that pretax profit for the six months to the end of January fell to GBP215 million, down from GBP223 million in the equivalent period of 2013, as revenues slipped to GBP1.44 billion from GBP1.48 billion. Excluding exceptional items, pretax profit declined to GBP132 million from GBP166 million.

Antofagasta, down 3%. The mining company has been hit by a raft of negative broker rating revisions, having declined 2.2% on Tuesday after it reported a sharp drop in net profit for 2013. Credit Suisse has cut the company to Underperform from Neutral, while Deutsche Bank has downgraded it to Sell from Hold. JPMorgan has lowered its price target to 830.00 pence, down from 850.00p.

Glencore Xstrata, down 1.4%. A unit of China Minmetals Corp has for the first time admitted that it is in talks Glencore Xstrata PLC to acquire interest in the Las Bambas project in Peru, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. However, while the newspaper reported on Monday that the two parties were meeting on Tuesday with an aim towards an agreement on the acquisition, a representative of Minmetals, the chief executive of its Hong Kong-listed unit MMG Ltd, said that an agreement had yet to be made.

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FTSE 250 - WINNERS

Imagination Technologies Group, up 11%. The firm said it has developed a new suite of graphics processors for mobile phones and other consumer devices. It said the new Wizard family of PowerVR Ray Tracing GPUs "dramatically" improves graphics, increasing realism and performance.

Unite Group, up 1.8%. The student accommodation developer and manager has received planning approval for the development of a new student property in Islington, central London. It said the new site will comprise of 900 beds, with the 260,000 square foot scheme forecast to require total development costs of GBP93 million and yield on cost of 8.8%. Project completion is targeted for the summer of 2016.

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FTSE 250 - LOSERS

Ophir Energy, down 18%. The oil and gas exploration and production company said it has failed to find significant hydrocarbons in targeted reservoirs through drilling at the Padouck Deep-1 well in the Ntsina Block, offshore Gabon. It added that drilling at the site has now concluded. The well was drilled to 3,297 metres, targeting the Cretaceous Gamba and Coniquet/Dentale sands in the pre-salt section of the earth. The company said thicker than expected, good quality reservoir sands were encountered in both zones but there were no significant hydrocarbon shows in the targeted areas.

Partnership Assurance Group, down 6.4%. The specialist life insurer reported a decline in new business sales in the fourth-quarter and said it expects a further fall in the first-quarter. New business sales fell to GBP297.1 million in the period, down from the GBP300.3 million posted in the third-quarter. In its first annual results since its June 2013 initial public offering, the firm said total income fell to GBP563.5 million from GBP708.5 million as total expenses rose to GBP168.9 million from GBP150.4 million. Nevertheless, it made an GBP82.7 million pretax profit in 2013, compared with GBP67.5 million in 2012.

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AIM - WINNERS

Metminco, up 11%. The exploration and development copper-mining company's shares have jumped after it announced a positive outcome for metallurgical test work and the financial modelling at its Mollacas Project in the IV Region of Chile. As a result, Metminco now will proceed with a feasibility study and an environmental impact study, which it expects to be completed by late 2014.

EG Solutions, up 10%. The group is a big gainer despite posting a widened pretax loss as revenue declined and gross margin dropped in the year ended January 31. Nevertheless, the company expressed confidence in its prospects for 2014, citing a large proportion of its expected revenues that are already under contract and its pipeline of further opportunities. It also announced that it had appointed Duncan McIntyre as non-executive chairman.

Sigma Capital Group, up 8%. The company said 2013 was a "turning point" for the firm, reporting a 150% increase in revenues from services to GBP5.81 million, up from GBP2.33 million in 2012. Meanwhile, revenue from property activities reached GBP5.34 million, up 261% from the GBP1.48 million recorded in the prior year. The revenue boosts helped the firm to narrow its pretax loss, which came in at GBP860,000 loss, a 26% improvement from the previous year. The company also announced an oversubscribed share placing, raising GBP8.0 million, which it said will allow it to "capitalise on its early mover advantage in the rented residential sector and to successfully execute large scale development opportunities."

Earthport, up 6.2%. The cross-border payments services provider has announced that Japan's Kyodai Remittance has signed a three-year contract and has gone live with its service. Although revenues from the contract are not expected to be immediately significant, they will come through in the second half of the calendar year and beyond. Earthport said the contract wins marks the early stages of its expansion into the Asia Pacific region.

Altona Energy, up 5.6%. The coal-focused energy company said it has taken full control of the Arckaringa Project in Australia after CNOOC New Energy Investment Co Ltd's 51% holding reverted to Altona. In January, Altona ended the CNOOC joint venture, saying that working with the Chinese firm was becoming increasingly frustrating. Days after ending the joint venture, Altona signed a memorandum of understanding with Sino-Aus Energy Group Ltd and Wintask Group Ltd for the development of the Arckaringa Project, which it expected to be completed by May 15.

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AIM - LOSERS

Paragon Resources, off 21% at 0.17 pence. The agriculture investing company said it has raised GBP45,000 via a draw down on its Equity Financing Facility with Darwin Strategic Ltd, but added that if it doesn't make an acquisition soon its shares could be cancelled. It said that under the terms of the agreement, it raised the cash by the issue of 25 million shares in the company at a 0.18 pence per share to Darwin. However, if the company has not made an acquisition by March 25 to implement its investing policy, its shares will be suspended from trading under AIM rules on March 26.

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By James Kemp; jameskemp@alliancenews.com; @jamespkemp

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