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
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Smith & Nephew, up 2.2%. The medical technology company, which closed as the blue-chip index's biggest gainer on both Wednesday and Thursday, continues to benefit from merger and acquisition speculation. On Wednesday, the Financial Times published an article that suggested that Stryker, a US maker of hip implants and knee replacements, was about to make an unquantified takeover bid for the company. Stryker was quick to deny the rumours, but Smith & Nephew's shares have continued to benefit from the speculation. Additionally, UBS has raised Smith & Nephew's price target to 1,100.00 pence from 1,000.00p Friday, adding it to its M&A watch list, saying that it assumes a one-in-three chance that the group will be acquired in the next two years.
Whitbread, up 1.2%. Societe Generale upgraded the hotel, restaurant and coffee chain operator to Buy, from Sell, on Thursday, raising its price target to 4,800.00 pence from 2,900.00p, to take into account better economic conditions.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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Anglo American, down 2.8%, Rio Tinto, down 2.5%, and BHP Billiton, down 1.9%. The mining giants are big fallers on the back of "some worrying news from China," said Chris Beauchamp, a market analyst at IG. "Government figures indicated manufacturing growth was weakening, contradicting recent signs of improvement in the economy and providing an excuse for some selling in raw materials," he said.
Fresnillo, down 2.3%, and Randgold Resources, down 0.8%. The gold mining companies have been hit by recent weakness in the price of gold. The precious metal has fallen by approximately 3% in the last four days, and currently trades near a multi-month low at USD1,253.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Fenner, down 12%. Shares in the polymer products maker have plummeted after it warned that its underlying pretax profit for the current financial year will come in 10% to 15% below the consensus estimate of GBP77.6 million. It said trading conditions in the US coal market have deteriorated and are showing no signs of imminent improvement, and its Australian Engineered Conveyor Solutions arm failed to secure a contract, which it had previously expected to deliver during the final quarter.
Vedanta Resources, down 1.6%. The group has seen hundreds of marchers protest outside its offices in Zambia after Chairman Anil Agarwal made comments online about how the company has made up to USD1 billion every year for nearly a decade from its Konkola Copper Mines subsidiary, This is Money reported Thursday. According to This is Money, which is part of the Daily Mail group, the comments have reignited a row about whether London miners are paying their fair share in tax.
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AIM ALL-SHARE - WINNERS
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Cellcast, up 19%. The broadcasting company said its Cellcast UK Ltd subsidiary has entered a new joint venture by investing GBP1 million for a 49% stake in Euro TV. The remaining 51% of Euro TV is held by new joint venture partner and staffing firm the Atlas Group of Companies Ltd, which Cellcast said is also investing a further GBP1 million. Atlas Group of Companies also holds an 11.15% stake in Cellcast.
Tangiers Petroleum, up 13%. The oil exploration company has drawn attention to a piece of research from Edison Investment Research, which has initiated coverage on the stock. Edison set out in detail the potential for Tangiers' 25% interest in the Tarfaya well offshore Morocco. Its analysts say that Tangiers is a single asset company, but there is very large potential upside to the shares if that asset is successful. Edison calculates a risked valuation of 39 pence per share, suggesting a potential 175% potential upside.
Alba Mineral Resources, up 9.1%. The minerals exploration company is seeing its shares rise for the second day in a row, having closed up 10% on Thursday after carrying out a share subscription that raised GBP60,000. The company also agreed to grant the subscribers warrants to subscribe for further shares on the basis of one ordinary share for every two new ordinary shares subscribed.
Rurelec, up 8.1%. The power generation company said that it has signed a final agreement with the government of Bolivia which releases an immediate payment of USD31.5 million to the company, ending a four-year compensation battle over its former asset in the country. The two sides agreed earlier in May that Bolivia would pay Rurelec USD31.5 million as settlement after Rurelec spent four years fighting to get compensation after the country's government nationalised its 50.001% stake in subsidiary Empresa Guaracachi, the largest power producer in the country, by force in 2010.
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AIM ALL-SHARE - LOSERS
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Independent Resources, down 37% at 3.8005 pence. The company is looking to raise up to GBP2.8 million before expenses through a placing and open offer, money it will use to develop the Ksar Hadada onshore oil permit in Tunisia that is key to its survival. It will issue up to 91.9 million new shares at 3 pence each, a 50% discount to Thursday's closing price of 6 pence. Independent Resources is set to become the operator of the Ksar Hadada permit, a move that will turn it into an oil and gas producer. However, in the meantime it is running out of cash, and it reiterated that it needs to raise funds or risk going out of business.
Ferrum Crescent, down 19%. The iron ore developer said it has still not received the second GBP500,000 payment it is due from Anvwar Asian Investment as part of a deal to sell a 35% interest in a subsidiary that holds its Moonlight iron ore assets in South Africa for USD10 million. It was paid USD500,000 as part of the deal during March, and expected a second USD500,000 payment by the end of April. However, earlier in May, the company said Anvwar has failed to make this payment and had requested a delay until May 26. On Friday, the company said that, although it did not agree to a revised timetable, the payment had still not been received, and it is in discussions with Anvwar over its breach of contract.
Formation Group, down 8.3%. The property development and project management business said its losses widened in the first half, as its cost of sales ballooned and gross profit margin narrowed. The company posted pretax losses of GBP173,000 for the six months to end-February, compared with a GBP103,000 loss a year earlier. This came after an operating loss from continuing operations more than doubled to GBP145,000, compared with a GBP72,000 loss a year earlier. Revenue rose to GBP3.2 million from GBP2.4 million, after it completed two property projects in London and started four new developments. It later said it had appointed former Irish Minister for Defence William O'Dea as its non-executive chairman with immediate effect.
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By James Kemp; jameskemp@alliancenews.com; @jamespkemp and
Jon Darby; jondarby@alliancenews.com; @jondarby100.
Copyright 2014 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
24 Feb 2015 16:07
