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FTSE 100 - Winners
EasyJet is up 2.7%. The airline company reported that passenger numbers were up 5.4% on the year at 5.5 million in October, while it also filled more seats on its planes, even though cancellations were up due to air traffic control strikes in France and Italy. The airline said its load factor, a measure of how full its planes are, rose to 89.1%, from 88.4% a year earlier.
International Consolidated Airlines Group, up 1.9%, and TUI Travel, up 1.6%, were also boosted by easyJet's positive passenger figures.
Old Mutual climbs 1.1% after it said its funds under management have risen 9.6% in the year to date. The company said its funds under management from core operations were GBP287.5 billion on September 30, compared to GBP262.2 billion as reported on December 31, 2012. The rise over the first nine months of the year was supported by a positive net client cash flow of GBP2.6 billion over the third quarter, which had last year seen a negative net flow of GBP800 million. The positive net client cash flow was largely down to Old Mutual's US asset management business, which attracted GBP1.5 billion of the flows over the third quarter, taking the division's funds under management to GBP150.3 billion on September 30.
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FTSE 100 - Losers
Experian, down 7.3%, is the biggest faller on the blue-chip index. Despite reporting a strong set of first-half results, the cost of a new acquisition is weighing on the share price. The information services company announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire US-based Passport Health Communications, a specialist in the fast growing US healthcare payments market. Shore Capital expects the company's share buy-back programme, which has been supporting the share price, to now be curtailed as a result of the cost of the acquisition.
Mondi falls 3.5% after it said that the current low-growth environment, coupled with increased competition in certain areas of its business, presents some challenges going into the new financial year. The group said sales volumes in the third quarter was broadly flat year-on-year, as its trading performance was hit by scheduled annual maintenance shuts at a number of its larger operating sites and seasonally weaker demand for uncoated fine paper. It also said that its fibre packaging business unit is being challenged by rising paper input costs affecting its corrugated packaging, while consumer packaging its benefiting from further planned synergies related to its recent Nordenia acquisition and other coast reduction initiatives.
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FTSE 250 - Winners
Moneysupermarket.com Group jumps 19% after it said a significant number of people switching UK energy suppliers, because of price hikes, boosted its revenues. The company said it has had a very strong start to the fourth quarter, with revenues 25% ahead of the same period last year, mainly driven by energy switching since mid-October. The price-comparison website now expecting its full-year earnings to come in ahead of forecasts. The company said it expects its EBITDA to be a "mid-single digit percentage" ahead of the market consensus, which it cited as GBP78.4 million for the year ended December 31. In a separate statement, Moneysupermarket said it has recruited Matthew Price, currently Costa Coffee Finance Director, as the successor to the outgoing finance director Paul Doughty.
FirstGroup climbs 2.8% after it reported higher revenues and narrowed losses for the first half of the year, as growth in its UK rail unit offset further weakness in its UK bus operations and Greyhound buses in the US. The company reported a pretax loss of GBP8 million for the six months to end-September, compared with a loss of GBP20.6 million a year earlier. Revenues rose 1.6% to GBP3.30 billion, from GBP3.25 billion.
JD Wetherspoon is up 2.2%. The pub chain said that total sales were up 7.6% in the first quarter of its new financial year, and said it remains confident of a reasonable trading outcome for the year. Like-for-like sales rose 3.7% in the 13 weeks to October 27, despite what it said was an increasingly unfair UK tax burden on pubs and restaurants compared to supermarkets. JD Wetherspoon said it opened eight new pubs in the quarter, and has 12 more under development. It said it expects to open 40 to 50 pubs in total this year, slightly more than previously expected, due to an increased banking facility and a number of recent acquisitions.
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels is up 2.1% after it said its profits rose in the third quarter, buoyed by growth in occupancy and a higher profit share from its associate company, First Sponsor Capital, which opened a new hotel in Chengdu, China, in September. The hotel chain said trading held steady in the three months to September 30, and it is currently trading broadly in line with management expectations, despite more competitive conditions in Singapore and South Korea, and the impact of hotel refurbishments in Taipei. Millennium & Copthorne Hotels reported a 6% increase in its pretax profit to GBP40.4 million for the quarter, compared with GBP38.1 million a year earlier.
Howden Joinery Group, up 1.5%, has reported that it expects full-year pretax profit to be at the top end of market expectations. In the trading update, the kitchen-cabinet maker said revenues rose 9.3% in the first 44 weeks of the year, and were up 7.1% on a like-for-like basis. Sales from the second half of the year so far are up 11%, increasing on the back of "better market conditions emerging in addition to Howden's traditional drivers of market share gain and branch expansion," says Howard Seymour, an analyst at Numis. Subsequently, Numis upgrades Howden Joinery Group's target price to 370.00 pence from 325.00p, maintaining an Add recommendation.
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FTSE 250 - Losers
Centamin is down 3.7% after it said its pretax profit fell in its third quarter. The gold mining company said pretax profit halved to USD29.7 million for the three months ended September 30 from USD59.7 million in the same quarter the previous year. The company said its sales were up 16% to USD120.1 million in its third quarter from USD103.1 million in the third quarter of the previous year, but in comparison to the second quarter its sales were down 11% due to a reduction in realised gold prices.
Lancashire Holdings, slipping 2.4%, has reported a 67% decline in its third quarter profits, mainly because of European hail storms and floods. Lancashire said it made a USD58.3 million pretax profit for the three months ended June 30, down from USD78.0 million for the corresponding period last year.
CSR, down 1.2%, continues to fall after reporting weaker-than-expected fourth quarter guidance Tuesday. The company was also hit by multiple price target alterations and broker ratings alterations Wednesday. Barclays has cut its price target to 500.00 pence from 570.00p, while Canaccord cuts its recommendation to Sell from Hold, lowering its price target to 460.00p from 540.00p.
Alent is down 0.8% after it said trading in its third quarter was slightly lower than expected due to lower demand in consumer electronics end-markets. Its net sales value in the three months ended September 30 was GBP105.6 million, an increase on GBP101.7 million in the same quarter the previous year and largely flat on the previous quarter 2013.
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AIM - Winners
Craven House Capital, up 89%, is the biggest winner on the AIM All-Share. The company said it has bought a 49% stake in three South African agricultural businesses for CAD1.96 million in shares from EmVest Asset Management. The companies are involved in the production, processing and distribution of food in South Africa.
Ideagen, climbing 19%, has announced its first ever dividend after reporting "significant" growth in profits and revenues in the first half of its financial year. The firm said it will pay an interim dividend of 0.05 pence a share and will propose a progressive policy going forward with interim and final dividends being paid. It said the decision followed significant growth in revenue and adjusted EBITDA, excluding acquisition costs, in the six months to end-October. It said it had been lifted by strong organic revenue growth and due to the acquisitions of Plumtree and MSS.
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AIM - Losers
Strategic Natural Resources is down 27%. The company has revealed that its Elitheni Coal (Pty) subsidiary has managed to get short-term funding from an existing shareholder. However, it has ceased mining until it gets long-term funding. Strategic Natural owns 74% of Elitheni, which had previously warned that cash was running out and it would have to consider its options if it didn't get funding.
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By James Kemp; jameskemp@alliancenews.com; @jamespkemp
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