HSBC Holdings Share News (HSBA)

LONDON (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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Hikma Pharmaceuticals, up 3.0%. The pharmaceuticals group said it has appointed John Castellani as an independent non-executive director. Castellani will join on March 1 and is the former president and chief executive of Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America, a US pharmaceutical industry trade body.

Associated British Foods, up 1.4%. The sugar producer said the underlying trading outlook for the business remains unchanged for the first half of its financial year, with some progress in adjusted operating profit to be made. The group, which owns discount fashion retailer Primark, said the weakening of sterling in recent weeks, particularly against the euro, means that foreign exchange will hit its results by just GBP10 million for the half year ending February 27, having previously estimated a GBP25 million hit.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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HSBC Holdings, down 3.9%. The bank reported a 1.0% increase in annual pretax profit, missing analyst expectations after a loss-making fourth quarter, as the bank grappled with slowing Chinese economic growth, declining commodity and oil prices, and historically low interest rates. HSBC lifted its dividend for the year as a whole to USD0.51 per share from USD0.50, as pretax profit rose to USD18.87 billion in 2015, from USD18.68 billion in 2014. Coming one week after HSBC decided to remain in the UK, rather than move to its historic home of Hong Kong, the results missed analyst expectations of a USD21.78 billion pretax profit, according to consensus estimates compiled by the bank. Chairman Douglas Flint said the group had a "broadly satisfactory" financial performance in 2015, which he said was marked by "seismic shifts" in global economic conditions, and cautioned that China's slower economic growth will "undoubtedly" play its part in a "bumpier" financial environment.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Home Retail Group, up 12%. The retailer's potential takeover by J Sainsbury was disrupted late on Friday after an established international retailer operating within the UK made its own offer for the owner of Argos and Homebase. Frankfurt-listed Steinhoff International Holdings is the owner of bed retailer Benson for Beds and furniture store Harveys in the UK, and has other brands operating in Australasia, Europe and Africa. Steinhoff said it has put forward a proposal to Home Retail seeking its recommendation for a possible all-cash offer, which would be for 175.0 pence per Home Retail share - considerably higher than the deal currently on the table from Sainsburys. J Sainsbury shares were down 1.9%.

Dechra Pharmaceuticals, up 7.5%. The veterinary drugs company said pretax profit rose in the first half of its financial year on stronger revenue, with good growth in its existing portfolio and encouraging signs from its pipeline. The company said its pretax profit for the six months to the end of December was GBP14.2 million, up from GBP12.6 million a year earlier, as revenue increased to GBP110.7 million from GBP100.9 million. It declared an interim dividend for the half of 5.55 pence per share, up 8.4% year-on-year.

Essentra, up 2.3%. The tobacco filter products maker was upgraded to Overweight From Neutral by JPMorgan.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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Regency Mines, up 89%. The miner said it is buying a 5% stake in Horse Hill Development from Angus Energy for GBP400,000 in a cash and shares deal. Horse Hill owns a 65% participating interest in the PEDL 137 and PEDL 246 licences in the UK Weald Basin. A discovery was announced in October at the Horse Hill-1 oil discovery well at PEDL 137, and successful flow tests were announced earlier this month at the first of three zones to be tested at the well, Regency said.

Salt Lake Potash, up 29%. The resource projects group said the mineral resource estimate for the Lake Wells project in Western Australia has been more than doubled. Salt Lake said the mineral resource estimate for the project has risen to 80 million to 85 million tonnes of sulphate of potash, adding another 51 million to 56 million tonnes to the original estimate for the project. The brine chemistry on the site is very strong, the company said, and further drilling on the project is being undertaken to try to further improve the model for the project.

Eden Research, up 16%. The agrochemicals technology company said it has received authorisation in Spain for its 3AEY product. 3AEY is for use in the prevention and treatment of botrytis in table and wine grapes. Botrytis is a fungal disease which causes grey mould on fruits and vegetables. The product will be sold in Spain by Eden's partner Sipcam Iberia SL under the tradename ARAW, through which Eden will receive royalties. Full product launch is anticipated to be in time for this year's growing season, Eden said. 3AEY has already been authorised for sale in Kenya, Malta, Greece, Bulgaria and Italy.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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LiteBulb Group, down 25%. The branded products developer said it has received an extension on repayment for the first tranche of its convertible loan notes until March 23. The first tranche of loan notes are worth GBP800,000 and were originally due for repayment on February 20. LiteBulb said it is in active discussions to secure additional financing of around GBP2.0 million through an equity fundraising. "While the board has made significant progress towards achieving this, it notes that the company's current cash position remains tight," Litebulb said.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com; @ArvindBhunjun

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