HSTG.L Share News (HSTG)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Thursday.----------FTSE 100 - LOSERS----------Legal & General, down 4.0%, Antofagasta, down 2.9%, Fresnillo, down 1.9%, Glencore, down 1.8%. The stocks went ex-dividend meaning new buyers no longer qualify for the latest dividend payout. Taylor Wimpey, down 3.3%. The housebuilder said the underlying housing market in the UK remained "stable" in the first quarter of the year, though it saw its average private sales rate slip. Taylor Wimpey said average private sales for the year to date was 0.85 per outlet per week, in line with expectations, though this was down from the "very strong comparator" of 0.93 for the equivalent period a year before. As at last week, Taylor Wimpey said its total order book value stood at approximately GBP2.16 billion, down from GBP2.21 billion at week 16 in 2017. The short-term land market remains stable, the company said, with opportunities to acquire land at investment operating profit margins "similar" to those achieved in recent years. Peers Persimmon, Berkeley Group and Barratt Developments were down 1.7%, 1.0% and 0.2% respectively. Royal Dutch Shell 'A', down 2.7%, Shell 'B', down 2.6%. The oil major reported strong earnings growth for its first quarter on the back of higher prices as well as a "very good" performance in its Integrated Gas business. Current cost of supply, or CCS, earnings excluding items increased 41% year-on-year for the three months to March to USD5.44 billion. CCS earnings attributable to shareholders excluding items rose 42% to USD5.32 billion, while including items it rose 69% to USD5.70 billion. The company said the "strong" performance was driven by higher oil and gas prices, as well as the continued good performance of its Integrated Gas Business and higher profit from Upstream operations, though the Downstream business did post lower earnings. Shell's Downstream business earnings excluding items fell 32%, however, to USD1.69 billion. Oil products sales volumes were up 4% year-on-year to 6.79 million barrels a day but chemical sales volumes fell 1% to 4.51 million tonnes. ----------FTSE 250 - WINNERS----------Drax Group, up 8.0%. Merrill Lynch upgraded the power generation company to Buy from Neutral.Elementis, up 4.5%. The speciality chemicals company said it made a solid start to the new year and remains confident in delivering continued progress in 2018, in line with previous expectations. The company said its hectorite-based products for the cosmetics market experienced growth across new product categories and geographies in the new year, while performance in anti-perspirant ingredients improved following pricing actions taken in 2017. The company's coatings division benefited from growth in Europe, Middle East & Africa and the Americas, and a steady performance in Asia. Growth in Energy division moderated against strong comparatives, with good performance in the US and rest of the world, and lower industry activity levels in Canada. Domino's Pizza, up 3.5%. The pizza chain reported an encouraging start to 2018, with like-for-like sales growth in the UK particularly strong. The pizza delivery firm's group system sales increased 18% to GBP311.1 million for the 13 weeks to April 1, and rose just over 10% on an organic basis. In the UK & Republic of Ireland, system sales were up 10% to GBP285.5 million, with a similar organic growth rate. Like-for-like UK sales growth was 7%, and the Republic of Ireland's was 3.5%. UK online sales rose 16% year-on-year for the period, and this made up 79% of first quarter system sales. It opened nine new stores in the UK, and now trades from 1,054 outlets. Domino's is planning to add between 65 and 75 new sites to its UK portfolio in 2018. ----------FTSE 250 - LOSERS----------Hastings Group, down 6.3%. The insurer said poor weather in its first quarter led to higher claims, though premiums and revenue rose. Hastings said the snow and icy weather experienced in the UK in February and March led to a higher increase in claims than normal. However, the firm stressed this should not "significantly" impact its calendar year loss ratio, which it expects to be just below or in its targeted range of 75% to 79%. Hastings also said, as previously announced, the market pricing environment was "challenging" in February and March, though things have improved and it expects to meet its three million customer target during 2019. During the three months to March, gross written premiums rose 5% to GBP226.0 million, and for the 12 months to March they have risen 16% to GBP942.2 million.----------