Volution Group PLS Share News (FAN)

LONDON (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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SABMiller, up 2.7%. The brewer confirmed it has struck a deal to be acquired by bigger rival Anheuser-Busch InBev for around GBP70.0 billion, consolidating the latter's position as the world's biggest brewer by some distance. Anglo-South African SABMiller also said it has struck a deal to sell its stake in the MillerCoors joint venture in the US to Molson Coors, its partner in the company. It is selling the stake to help pave the way for regulatory approval to be given for the takeover, though further remedies are likely to have to be offered as the combined group will control about a third of global beer volumes. The pair entered into talks in October, and SABMiller rejected a couple of bids from AB InBev before agreeing in principle to a 4,400 pence per share bid, which is where formal takeover deal has been agreed. The takeover agreement also appeared to be benefiting Diageo, the other large London-listed drinks company, which was up 1.9%.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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J Sainsbury, down 2.5%. The grocer said the grocery market in the UK remains challenging and posted lower sales for the first half, even as it swung to a pretax profit in the period. Sainsbury's said its pretax profit for the 28 weeks to September 26 was GBP339.0 million, swung from a GBP290.0 million loss made a year earlier due to writedowns it had booked. Underlying pretax profit for the group fell 18% in the recent half to GBP308.0 million from GBP375.0 million a year before. Sainsbury's will pay an interim dividend of 4.0 pence per share, down 20% from 5.0p a year earlier. The stock had initially risen on the news but soon reversed direction.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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TalkTalk Telecom Group, up 11%. The telecommunications company said it will book a one-off cost related to the recent cyber attack on it but said trading outside of this is in line with its expectations. The group said the hacking attack will result in one-off costs being booked in the current financial year to the end of March 2016 of GBP30.0 million to GBP35.0 million. Excluding the impact of the cyber attack, TalkTalk said trading is in line with its expectations for the full year. The group made a pretax loss for the half to the end of September of GBP8.0 million, swung from a pretax profit of GBP20.0 million a year earlier. TalkTalk will pay an interim dividend of 5.29 pence per share, up from 4.60p a year earlier, and said it remains on track to meet its expectations for the year, excluding the hack impact.

Ophir Energy, up 7.1%. The oil and gas company said full year production is expected to beat its guidance, but warned production will fall in 2016 as the company continues to cut its spending in light of lower oil prices. Ophir said production is currently averaging 13,400 barrels of oil equivalent per day and said full year production is expected to beat its guidance of 12,700 barrels per day on a pro-forma basis. However, Ophir said production in 2016 is expected to fall to a range of 10,500 to 11,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Sophos Group, up 6.6%. The security software and hardware company said trading was ahead of its expectations in the first half, leading it to upgrade both its like-for-like growth and margin outlook for the full year. Sophos said it made a USD42.9 million pretax loss in the half to the end of September, widened from a USD17.9 million loss a year earlier due to the group booking higher one-off items related to its London listing. But revenue for the group increased to USD234.2 million in the half, up from USD215.1 million, and was complemented by a stronger gross margin. Billings for the half rose to USD242.0 million from USD214.5 million, up 13% and rising 25% on a like-for-like basis, which prompted the group to upgrade its expectations for like-for-like billings growth for the full year. It also expects its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation margin to be better than its original outlook for 21.3% for the full year.

ICAP, up 6.0%. The interdealer broker reached a deal with rival Tullett Prebon under which Tullett will buy ICAP's voice broking and information business. The agreement will see ICAP and its shareholders own a majority of Tullett. Under the terms of the offer, Tullett will issue shares to ICAP shareholders and to ICAP in consideration for the acquisition. The new shares will represent a 56% stake in Tullett's enlarged share capital and ICAP shareholders will own 36% of the company, while ICAP itself will own 20%. ICAP also said its pretax profit for the half to the end of September rose to GBP83.0 million from GBP36.0 million a year earlier, despite revenue falling to GBP595.0 million from GBP620.0 million. It will pay a flat interim dividend of 6.60 pence per share. Tullett shares were down 6.7%, one of the worst performers in the FTSE 250.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Centamin, down 7.8%. The gold miner said its pretax profit in the third quarter more than halved compared to a year ago as its margin was squeezed, but said its costs for the full year should be lower than expected as production significantly ramps-up in the fourth quarter. Pretax profit in the third quarter of 2015 more than halved to USD6.3 million from the USD15.8 million reported a year earlier despite revenue experiencing a small rise to USD118.5 million from USD116.1 million. Centamin said it remains confident in its strategy of being exposed to spot gold prices by not hedging any of its production.

Tullow Oil, down 3.8%. The oil and gas company said revenue and costs are currently in line with expectations for the full year, but the company said full-year production from its West African operations will be at the lower end of its previous guidance. Tullow said 2015 production from West Africa is expected to be in the range of 66,000 to 67,000 barrels of oil per day compared to its previous range of 66,000 to 70,000 barrels. Trading since the start of 2015 has remained on track, Tullow said, with revenue and cost of sales currently in line with expectations for the full year.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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Energy Technique, up 10%. Ventilation products company Volution Group struck a deal to buy the fan coils and commercial heating products company for around GBP9.3 million, as the target company said its pretax profit and revenue both increased in the first half. Volution will pay 345.00 pence per share for AIM-listed Energy Technique, a 10% premium to its closing price on February 25, the day before the offer period opened. Energy Technique said its pretax profit for the half to the end of September rose to GBP613,000 from GBP459,000 a year earlier, with revenue rising to GBP5.9 million from GBP5.4 million. Volution shares were down 2.8%.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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M Winkworth, down 11%. The estate agency added to the gloom in the sector after it said an anticipated rise in property transactions following the UK General Election had not materialised, meaning its profit for the full year will fall short of market expectations. Revenue for the year is set to be broadly flat year-on-year, the company said, but profit will fall slightly behind market expectations due to the slower-than-expected transaction volumes. The company said that despite the Conservatives winning a majority in the UK's General Election in May, a bounce in the housing market which had been anticipated has not happened. Its warning echoed that of Countrywide, the UK's largest estate agency group, which cautioned last week on its full-year outlook for the same reasons.

Centaur Media, down 9.0%. The content and events company said its underlying revenue was higher in the first nine months but weaker than it anticipated. Centaur said underlying revenue grew 4.0% in the first nine months, adjusting for impact of the restructuring it undertook in its live events portfolio in the first half. Paid-for content revenue is higher, and advertising revenue growth has been stable, though there has been some weakness in recruitment advertising, it said. Digital revenue rose 19%, while revenue trends for smaller live events are stabilising.
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By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance

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