Esure Group Share News (ESUR)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Monday.
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FTSE 100 - WINNERS
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Meggitt, up 0.1%. The aerospace and engineering group said it has struck a USD200 million deal to acquire the advanced composites unit of FTSE 250-listed aerospace and defence manufacturer Cobham. Meggitt will pay USD200 million in cash to acquire the Cobham division, which makes a range of engineering aerospace components and secondary structures and which make USD81.1 million in revenue in 2014. It will be integrated into Meggitt's Polymers & Composites division. Cobham shares are up 0.5%.

Taylor Wimpey, up 1.4%, Barratt Developments, up 1.0%, Persimmon, up 0.1%. Housebuilders were performing well throughout the morning, with market commentators suggesting they were getting a boost from renewed optimism in the sector that the Bank of England will keep interest rates at record lows for longer.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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Antofagasta, down 2.6%, Anglo American, down 2.5%, BHP Billiton, down 2.3%, and Randgold Resources down 1.9%. Miners were once more suffering from weak Chinese economic data and from a bearish note on the sector issued by Investec. The investment bank downgraded Glencore to Sell from Buy. Glencore shares fell 1.1%. Chinese exports tumbled 8.3% in July from a year earlier in dollar terms, their biggest drop in four months and reversing an increase of 2.8% in June, according to official data. Chinese producer prices extended their decline for 41 straight months in July and were the lowest since 2009. Producer prices decreased 5.4% from last year, which was bigger than the prior month's 4.8% drop.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Bellway, up 2.3%. UBS hiked its target price on the housebuilder, saying it expects its robust volume growth to continue in coming years and anticipates the benign land market will mean the company can deliver 60% earnings per share growth through to 2019. In line with the rises for FTSE 100-listed housebuilders, Berkeley Group Holdings also was trading higher, up 1.3%.

Fidelity China Special Situations, up 2.3%. The investment fund was boosted as shares in China gained the most they have in a month. The weak export data for the country increased hopes that the Chinese government will launch more stimulus measures. Sentiment in the Chinese stock market also was buoyed by speculation that the government is ready to embark on a fresh round of consolidation among state-owned enterprises.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Esure Group, down 9.3%. The insurer, which owns the Sheila's Wheels insurance brand and the GoCompare.com price comparison site, said its underlying pretax profit fell 21% in the first half, despite a rise in gross written premiums. The group's trading profit on its motor book fell by 81% in the half and dragged on its combined ratio, offsetting the gains made in premiums written. It cut its interim dividend to 4.2 pence per share from 5.1p a year earlier.
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AIM ALL-SHARE - WINNERS
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Industrial Multi Property Trust, up 122%. The investment trust said it is planning a refinancing late in 2016 in order to improve its prospects and to allow it to meet its goal of paying a sustainable dividend. The trust, which also had refinanced back in December 2013, said it thinks its current share price, at a 76% discount to its net asset value on March 31, reflects its high gearing and lack of a dividend under its current capital structure, rather than the quality of its portfolio.
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AIM ALL-SHARE - LOSERS
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Newmark Security, down 21%. The security company said its pretax profit increased in the financial year to the end of April, but said profit in its current financial year will be lower. Newmark warned that profit in the current financial year will be lower than in the last year as it builds up new markets and products, although it said that benefits of this will be seen in the following year and said it is optimistic about the future with various opportunities in the pipeline.

Independent Oil & Gas, down 51%. After the close on Friday, the company said the "internationally listed group" that was set to inject USD10 million of equity funding into the company and provide a large debt facility has pulled out "due to the renewed fall in commodity prices". The collapse of the deal leaves the company less than a month to find an alternative funding deal before it has to repay its loan and could place its acquisition of a stake in the Skipper license offshore the Shetland Islands at risk.

Tern, down 22%. The investment company said it has raised GBP720,000 through a discounted placing of 6 million new shares at a price of 12 pence each. Tern, which invests in the cloud and mobile arenas, said it plans to use the proceeds to facilitate further investments and provide additional finance for its existing portfolio, particularly investee company Cryptosoft.
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By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance

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