GFS.L Share News (GFS)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Tuesday.----------FTSE 100 - WINNERS----------Lloyds Banking Group, up 3.0%. Goldman Sachs raised the lender to Neutral from Sell.----------FTSE 100 - LOSERS----------Intertek, down 1.5%. Merrill Lynch resumed coverage on the safety, testing and inspection company with an Underperform rating. ----------FTSE 250 - WINNERS----------Sirius Minerals, up 8.0%. The feriliser firm said it is exploring an alternative financing agreement for its massive Yorkshire mine. Sirius is developing the Woodsmith polyhalite fertiliser mine near Whitby. It is currently looking at securing stage two financing for the development project, having pursued senior debt financing with a group of possible lenders since 2016. However, it has now received a "conditional" approach from a "major global financial institution" over an alternative proposal, though it is still a senior debt facility. Sirius is working towards getting a firm commitment from the prospective lender, and hopes to have that done by the end of April. ----------Clarkson, up 5.5%. JPMorgan upgraded the shipping services firm to Overweight from Neutral. On Monday, Clarkson reported a decline in annual profit amid Brexit uncertainty.----------Computacenter, up 5.2%. The IT services provider reported a rise in annual revenue and raised its dividend. For 2018, Computacenter's revenue rose 15% to GBP4.35 billion, with Services revenue up 1.5% and Supply Chain, its main business, rising 21%. The firm's statutory pretax profit for 2018 fell 3.2% to GBP108.1 million, as it booked GBP5.7 million of one-off purchase costs and GBP4.4 million of intangibles amortisation. Excluding this, pretax profit on an adjusted basis rose 11% to GBP118.2 million. Computacenter will pay a final dividend of 21.6 pence, taking the total for 2018 to 30.3p, 16% higher than what it paid a year before. ----------888 Holdings, up 4.6%. The online gambling company said its profit grew significantly in 2018 following the implementation of a cost reduction plan. 888 said pretax profit multiplied to USD108.7 million in 2018 from USD18.8 million a year earlier, despite revenue slipping to USD529.9 million from USD541.8 million. Profit growth was helped by a 7.3% reduction in research & development expenses to USD32.8 million, lower marketing expenses, which fell 4.6% to USD155.0 million, and a 6.5% decrease in administrative expenses to USD27.3 million. The company declared a final dividend of 6.0 US cents per share, up 1.7% from 5.9 cents a year prior, plus an additional one-off 2.0 cents per share, lower than a 5.6 cent one-off in 2017. As a result, the dividend for 2018 totalled 12.2 cents per share, down 21% from 15.5 cents in 2017.----------FTSE 250 - LOSERS----------Equiniti, down 8.9%. Shares in the financial services administration outsourcer were lower despite reporting strong profit growth in a year in which it made a "successful" entry into the US. The company's revenue climbed 31% to GBP530.9 million, with organic revenue growth at a record 7.3%. This revenue growth, Equiniti said, reflects its acquisition of Wells Fargo Shareowner Services, which contributed GBP81.4 million of revenue and GBP19.2 million of underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation. However, the operational separation of Wells Fargo Shareowner Services - also known as EQ US - is now expected by June, three months later than previously guided, for a total programme cost of no more than GBP45 million against GBP42 million previously. ----------G4S, down 6.5%. The outsourcer reported a significant drop in its annual profit due to legal charges in California as well as pension costs. For 2018, the security services provider posted pretax profit down 63% to GBP143 million from GBP387 million a year prior, mainly due to charges amounting to GBP100 million relating to a class-action lawsuit in California. The legal case involved claims made against one of its subsidiaries over meal and rest breaks under California employment law. Further charges of GBP35 million for UK guaranteed minimum pension equalisation also contributed to the dent in profit. Revenue meanwhile, dipped 4% to GBP7.51 billion from GBP7.82 billion a year ago. ----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS----------Staffline Group, up 25%. Shares in the recruiter returned to trading on Tuesday as the firm said it will be taking a provision due to not complying with UK minimum wage law. Staffline, at the end of that month, said it had been alerted to some potential invoicing and payroll malpractice in the Recruitment arm, and Staffline suspended its shares from trading as it carried out a review. Staffline has found some potential underpayments "over a number of years" prior to 2018, and has now made a provision of GBP7.9 million, higher than the GBP4.4 million originally envisaged. An audit of 2018 results is still ongoing, and the recruiter will publish them once this is done. Underlying trading is expected to come in line with expectations, as are 2019 results. It had originally planned to release 2018 figures at the end of January.----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS----------John Menzies, down 8.5%. The aviation services firm warned of a slow start to 2019, while Chief Executive Forsyth Black also departed. Black has been with John Menzies for 19 years. Replacing him on an interim basis while the company looks at both internal and external candidates is Chief Financial Officer Giles Wilson. Turning to 2018 results, John Menzies said trading in the first two months of 2019 has been "tempered" by soft cargo volumes and continued labour market difficulties in North America. For 2018, revenue from continuing operations was GBP1.29 billion, and GBP1.32 billion at constant currency, from GBP1.27 billion a year prior. Pretax profit rose to GBP21.6 million from GBP9.9 million, and underlying pretax profit to GBP44.1 million, and GBP46.4 million at constant currency, from GBP42.3 million. ----------