(Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Monday.
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FTSE 100 - WINNERS
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Fresnillo, up 3.5%, Polymetal International, up 1.5%. The gold miners were tracking spot gold prices higher quoted at USD1,808.12 an ounce Monday morning from USD1,801.62 late Friday. "The gold price is consolidating above USD1,800 with bullion holding onto this significant threshold despite stocks in green. This confirms investors' huge appetite for the yellow metal in this uncertain phase on markets. Technically, apart from the psychological level of USD1,800, we can see a first support at USD1,790. As long as the price remains above this level, the bullish movement will continue, pulling up the price to new highs," said analysts at ActivTrades.
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Legal & General, up 1.1%. Bank of America Merrill Lynch raised the insurer to Buy from Neutral.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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G4S, up 9.5%. The outsourcer said earnings for the first six months of 2020 will be "significantly" above market consensus following a "resilient" trading performance in June. According to the company, analysts' average forecast for first-half adjusted profit before interest, tax and amortisation is GBP159 million and adjusted earnings per share of 4.3 pence. In the first half of 2019, G4S recorded adjusted Pbita of GBP234 million and adjusted EPS of 3.8p. As a consequence of the strong first-half performance, the FTSE 250-listed company has decided to bring forward its first-half results announcement to the week commencing July 20.
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Carnival, up 3.5%. The cruise line operator late Friday said it swung to an interim loss as its operations halted due to the coronavirus pandemic, but painted an optimistic picture for investors which including restarting operations in August. The Miami-based cruise ship operator expects to resume guest operations in August with its AIDA cruise business first from three German ports as previously announced.
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OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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Ryanair Holdings, up 4.0%. JPMorgan raised the Irish carrier to Overweight from Neutral.
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Novacyt, up 3.5%. The Anglo-French clinical diagnostics group said revenue for the first half of 2020 rose tenfold, due to strong demand for its molecular test for Covid-19 since its launch back in January and a distribution agreement signed in the US. The company said revenue for the six months to the end of June was EUR72.4 million, multiplying from just EUR7.2 million a year before. For the month of June alone, sales of its Covid-19 test totalled EUR25.4 million, reflecting consecutive months of growth. As a result of this, Novacyt estimates its interim earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to be more than EUR45 million. This is compared to just EUR153,000 in the first half of 2019. During the period, the group signed a distribution agreement for the Covid-19 test in the US, a region which is already delivering significant sales growth for Novacyt.
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OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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Boohoo Group, down 15%. Aberdeen Standard Investments has sold most of its shareholding in online clothing retailer over allegations of poor working conditions in its supply chain, the Times newspaper reported Friday. According to the newspaper, asset manager Aberdeen Standard Investments has sold 27 million shares, equivalent to two-thirds of its stake. The Sunday Times newspaper reported allegations that workers in Leicester's Jaswal Fashions factory making clothes for Boohoo brand Nasty Gal were being paid as little as GBP3.50 an hour and operating without social distancing measures in place. Boohoo, in response, on Wednesday last week again had distanced itself from Jaswal Fashions and had said that while it has seen "non-compliance" with its code of conduct, it has not seen evidence of its suppliers paying workers GBP3.50 per hour. It also had launched an independent review of its UK supply chain. Boohoo shares have dropped 42% from their 2020 peak in June.
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Quiz, down 5.5%. The fashion retailer said it is investigating a Leicester-based supplier which is alleged to have paid staff as little as GBP3 an hour. The Times on Saturday reported that an undercover journalist was told by bosses at the factory that she must perform two days of unpaid work before even advancing to the GBP3 per hour rate. The fashion brand said it believes that one of its Leicester-based suppliers has used a subcontractor at the centre of allegations over breaches to the UK National Living Wage. The living wage is GBP8.72 for someone over the age of 25. Quiz said it would terminate its relationships with suppliers that do not live up to its code of practice.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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