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(Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Wednesday.
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FTSE 100 - WINNERS
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International Consolidated Airlines Group, up 2.8%. The British Airways parent was higher amid plans by Heathrow Airport for the development of a new coronavirus testing facility. Heathrow hopes this could lead to the end of the mandatory 14-day quarantine for those returning from certain countries and "protect the economy". Arriving passengers will be able to book swab tests and have results sent to them in seven hours under the proposal, which is being used in Germany and Iceland. Heathrow executives hope those who test negative could leave quarantine five to eight days after landing, though the airport's programme needs UK government approval before it can begin. Budget airline easyJet was up 1.0% and Irish carrier Ryanair Holdings was up 0.9%.
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Associated British Foods, up 1.8%. RBC Capital raised the Primark clothing chain owner to Outperform from Sector Perform. The Canadian bank thinks Primark can drive profitability for AB Foods as its low-value products are ideal for fashion-conscious consumers during an economic downturn.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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Persimmon, down 3.1%. The housebuilder was hit by profit-taking after reporting well-received interim results on Tuesday. The stock closed up 8.0% on Tuesday. Separately on Wednesday, Persimmon said incoming chief executive Dean Finch is expected to take up the role earlier than originally planned. Finch will leave his role as CEO of FTSE 250 transport operator National Express Group on August 31. National Express was off 3.8%.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Capita, up 12%. Shares in the outsourcer were rebounding from steep losses incurred on Tuesday. The stock closed down 20% on Tuesday. Capita swung to a loss and reported a fall in revenue following contract losses in 2019 and damage caused by Covid-19, when it had expected to post revenue growth.
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Softcat, up 3.0%. The IT infrastructure products provider said it saw a good final three months of the financial year and has performed slightly ahead of its expectations. Softcat said it delivered an operating profit for its financial year ended July 31, ahead of expectations. It also reported that it had "continued to trade satisfactorily" in the final three months of its year and cash generation was strong. Following these results, the company has decided to resume its dividend policy after cancelling its previous interim dividend in March, which has now been reinstated. This, however, depends on there being no big changes until October 20, when Softcat publishes its full-year results.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Hochschild Mining, down 6.5%. The gold miner's profit sharply declined in the first half of 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in stoppages at all mines between mid-March and late May. Hochschild posted a USD6.5 million pretax profit for the six months ended June 30, a fraction of the previous year's USD29.5 million profit. Revenue dropped 35% year-on-year to USD232.0 million from USD354.5 million as production shrank 47% to 126,835 gold equivalent ounces from 239,090 gold equivalent ounces. In addition, Hochschild has decided not to reinstate its dividend.
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OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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Wishbone Gold, up 85%. The miner said it is now planning to start an active exploration and drilling programme at its Wishbone II gold project in Queensland, Australia. The decision to begin the programme follows Wishbone's "major corporate restructuring exercise" that left the company debt-free and with cash at bank. This exercise took place in late May with 63.5 million new shares issued at 1.35 pence each. This included 22.2 million shares to raise GBP300,000 through a placing, 13.0 million shares issued to settle GBP175,689 of directors and management fees, and 28.1 million shares issued for the conversion of outstanding loans with Sanderson Capital Partners and Black Swan, as well as to discharge other creditors. The restructuring left Wishbone with no significant liabilities and enough cash for the foreseeable future at that time.
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OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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Europa Metals, down 18% at 13.51 pence. The miner said it has raised GBP2.0 million before expenses to continue development of the Toral project. The miner has issued 15.7 million new shares at a price of 12.75 pence each to existing and new investors. The issue price represents a discount of 23% to the closing price of 16.50p on Tuesday. The net proceeds from the fundraising will primarily be used towards completion of certain key components of a pre-feasibility study in respect of the company's wholly-owned Toral lead-zinc-silver project located in the Castilla y Leon region, northern Spain, it said. In addition, Europa Metals said it will use the proceeds for general working capital requirements.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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