(Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers among London Main Market small-caps on Monday.
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SMALL-CAP - WINNERS
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Card Factory PLC, up 8.4% at 53.20 pence, 12-month range 30.10p-97.83p. The gifts and greeting card retailer says store sales have recovered almost back to pre-pandemic levels, while online sales remain ahead of where they were two years ago. Like-for-like sales in the three months that ended October 31 were 3.0% below two years ago, before the Covid-19 pandemic. Average basket value over the quarter was up 23% compared to the same quarter in 2019, offsetting a 21% decline in transaction numbers. Card Factory says its online store are trading in line with expectations and ahead of pre-pandemic levels. "We continue to see improved performance of the business as customers steadily return to shopping in stores. This gives us confidence as we engage to realise the refreshed strategy and build our omnichannel offering," Chief Executive Officer Darcy Willson-Rymer says.
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Argo Blockchain PLC, up 5.1% at 129.50p, 12-month range 7.30p-339.81p. The cryptocurrency miner was tracking the price of bitcoin higher. The world's oldest cryptocurrency stood at USD66,425 on Monday morning, edging closer to the USD67,016 record high set in mid-October.
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Petrofac Ltd, up 2.3% at 133.48p, 12-month range 90.66p-203.34p. The oilfield services firm wins USD96 million contract from Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas to build a new onshore gas plant in the Malaysian state of Sarawak.
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SMALL-CAP - LOSERS
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Go-Ahead Group PLC, down 2.9% at 792.00p, 12-month range 581.00p-1,463.00p. The transport operator says passenger volumes have increased over the first four months of its new financial year, which started July 4, has seen slight slowing in the recovery of the Regional Bus unit in recent weeks in line with the rest of the industry. Says there remains some uncertainty as to the speed and extent of recovery in the current year which, assuming the Bus Recovery Grant ceases in March 2022, could hurt the full year performance of the Regional Bus division. Turning to rail, Go-Ahead says its GTR unit was performing well, while its German rail improvement plans in Baden-Wurttemberg progressing "as expected". Norwegian passenger volumes remain suppressed at roughly 60% of expected levels.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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