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LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices midday Friday.
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FTSE 100 - WINNERS
EasyJet, up 2.4%. The low-cost airline said it flew more passengers and filled more of the seats in its planes in March. It said it flew 5.1 million passengers, up from nearly 4.9 million in March 2013, while load factor, a measure of how many seats on its planes are filled, rose to 91.5%, from 90.5%. For the 12 months to the end of March, easyJet flew 61.8 million passengers, up from 59.7 million, and its load factor rose to 89.5%, from 89.4%.
Pearson, up 2.3%. Jefferies has upgraded the publisher to Buy from Hold, increasing its price target to 1,184.00 pence from 1,128.00p. The investment bank thinks the group's share price is undemanding, especially given the improving sentiment in the US, which should lead to increased spending on educational content.
International Consolidated Airlines, up 1.4%. IAG said late on Thursday that its traffic in March, measured in revenue passenger kilometres, increased 10.2% on the year, although its load factor fell as capacity increased 13.2%. The airline carried 5.68 million passengers in the latest month, up from last year's 4.37 million passengers.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
Barratt Developments, down 0.8%, and Persimmon, down 0.4%. The housebuilders are down after a report published by Lloyds Banking Group' Halifax revealed that UK house prices declined for the first time in three months in March. The Halifax house price index fell unexpectedly by 1.1% month-on-month, reversing the 2.5% rise seen in February, and missing expectations of an increase of 0.6%.
Tesco, down 0.8%. Shares in the supermarket have fallen after the Financial Times reported that the company's Finance Director Laurie McIlwee is set to resign as early as next week. The move will mean that Chief Executive Philip Clarke is left as the only executive director on the company's board and under increasing pressure to improve performance.
Marks & Spencer Group, down 0.7%. The retailer is amongst the few fallers in the blue-chip index after Goldman Sachs added the company to its Conviction Sell list, lowering its price target to 340.00 pence from 420.00p.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
Man Group, up 3.6%. The hedge fund is the leading riser in the mid-cap index after HSBC upgraded it to Overweight from Underweight, lifting its price target to 125.00 pence, an increase of more than 50% from its previous 82.00p target.
Evraz, up 2.1%. The steel maker has signed and closed the sale of its subsidiary Evraz Vitkovice Steel to a group of private investors for USD89 million, adjustable for the actual level of the unit's working capital. The buyers also have assumed USD198 million of its debt liabilities, including the repayment of USD128 million of Evraz's inter-company debt.
Workspace Group, up 1.8%. The company has sold the residential portion of the second phase of its Bow Enterprise Park in east London to Peabody Enterprises for GBP11 million in cash. It said the second phase of the project consists of 160 apartments and 3,000 square feet of commercial space. It is adjacent to the first phase of the development, which also was sold to Peabody in 2012, and is under construction, it said.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
FirstGroup, down, 2.3%. Both Deutsche Bank and Goldman have altered their stances on the bus and rail company. Goldman has downgraded the group to Neutral, from Buy, while Deutsche Bank has lowered its price target to 125.00 pence from 128.00p. The fall extends the company's recent losses. The stock fell 2% on Thursday in the wake of negative price target revisions by Liberum Capital and JPMorgan, and by 1.2% on Wednesday on the back of a disappointing trading update.
Crest Nicholson, down 0.7%, Taylor Wimpey, down 0.5%, and Bellway, down 0.4%. The housebuilders are suffering following a weaker-than-expected Halifax house price index reading.
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AIM - WINNERS
Tandem Group, up 41%. The company reported significantly lower annual pretax profit due to restructuring costs and a change in the fair value of its foreign currency derivatives contracts, but its Chairman Mervyn Keene said the bicycle maker's second-half recovery has carried on into the new financial year. Keene said that Tandem expects its restructuring to improve operational efficiency, reduce overheads and further develop the business. Tandem also increased its full-year dividend to 3.45 pence from 3.30 pence.
Emmit, up 24%. The investment company said Ximax Environmental Solutions, a company in which it took a 20% interest in March, had received an order for its Xziox product from a Dubai governmental body worth about GBP100,000. The order came after the Dubai Municipality cleared the product for use in Dubai for the cleansing and sterilisation of potable water factories. Moreover, Ximax has been assured that more and regular orders will be forthcoming in the region under a new contract, Emmit said.
Kromek Group, up 20%. The radiation detection technology company said it has signed a long-term contract with an established manufacturer of x-ray diagnostics and analysis equipment in China, giving the Chinese firm preferential rights for the supply of Kromek's CZT-based detection modules in the country. The overall value of the deal is up to USD159 million over the next seven years as long as the Chinese company meets its contractual revenue targets, including USD14 million in the next financial year and USD10.2 million in fiscal 2015-2016.
Frontera Resources Corporation, up 11%. The oil and gas exploration and production company said it has begun gas production at its Mtsare Khevi Gas complex in Georgia. It said it has completed the commissioning of the gas gathering and transportation infrastructure at the Mtsare Khevi Field and has now begun production.
IPSA Group, up 8.9%. The company has commissioned additional capacity at its Newcastle plant, leaving it well placed to bid in the upcoming independent power producer programme in South Africa and return to growth. The power generator said a Deutz engine is now operating at the Newcastle cogeneration site in Kwa-Zulu Natal and that the installation programme for the two Jenbacher engines it acquired late last year is progressing and is fully funded, and it expects the engines to be online by mid-August. It said the new capacity will position it to bid in the next independent power producer programme in South Africa. Under the programme, the South African government contracts independent power producers to supply energy, reducing the reliance on the state-owned power utility Eskom.
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AIM - LOSERS
Forte Energy, off 21%. The uranium explorer said it will buy the uranium assets of European Uranium Resources Ltd for roughly CAD8.5 million in shares and cash. The company will grant European Uranium a 1% production royalty over the licences in perpetuity, and it will subscribe for CAD100,000 of European Uranium's shares. Forte's shares are currently quoted at 0.55 pence, having closed the day at 0.68 pence on Thursday.
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By James Kemp; jameskemp@alliancenews.com; @jamespkemp
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