LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Friday.
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FTSE 100 - WINNERS
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AstraZeneca, up 1.1%. Liberum upgraded the pharmaceutical company to Buy from Hold. AstraZeneca's recent share price fall indicates the market has mispriced the company's earnings potential, said Liberum, which sees long-term upside for the stock. Liberum analyst Roger Franklin has been bearish on Astra's MYSTIC lung cancer drug. However, following a 20% fall in the stock's share price from its September highs, the analyst believes the market is effectively pricing a zero valuation on Astra's immuno-oncology programmes.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Paragon Group of Cos, up 3.8%. Shares in the specialist lender were rebounding after being cut to Underperform by Merrill Lynch on Thursday. The stock closed down 6.4% on Thursday.
Countrywide, up 2.3%. The estate agent's shares were also bouncing back after warning that it expects property sale volumes for 2016 to be 6.0% below 2015, and they are likely to fall further in 2017 on Thursday. The stock closed down 13% on Thursday.
Pennon Group, up 1.6%. The water and wastewater company said it delivered a "good performance" in the first half of its financial year, as South West Water continued to deliver sector-leading returns, leading to a 20% lift in profit. The company said underlying pretax profit in the six months to the end of September totalled GBP128.1 million, while the reported profit that includes exceptional items amounted to GBP102.4 million. They can both be compared to the underlying and reported profit of GBP106.8 million the year before. Revenue in the first half declined 0.5% year-on-year to GBP685.5 million from GBP689.1 million, but lower operating costs allowed earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to rise slightly to GBP234.7 million from GBP231.7 million.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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Constellation Healthcare Technologies, up 21% at 225.00 pence. The healthcare services group said it has reached an agreement to merge with CHT Holdco and said shareholders are set to receive a huge premium as part of the deal. Constellation Healthcare said that, under the terms of the deal, its shareholders will receive USD2.93 per share in cash and 43.0 cents in promissory notes, making the total deal worth USD3.36 per share. That equates to 270.0 pence per share - a 45% premium to the closing share price on Thursday - and values the London-listed firm at USD309.4 million. Constellation shareholders will need to approve the sale, but a date for a meeting has not yet been set.
Triad Group, up 19%. The IT services company reported growth in profit in the first half of its financial year, as revenue increased on a strong order book and a number of government initiatives it worked on during the period. Triad's pretax profit rose to GBP668,000 in the six months to the end of September, from GBP215,000 the year before, as revenue increased to GBP14.8 million from GBP12.7 million. Triad said its improved financial performance was underpinned by a strengthened order book, resulting from an increase in the number of larger engagements and growth in existing lines of business.
Regency Mines, up 18%. The miner signed a deal to acquire a significant stake in a US-based company that is in the process of acquiring the Rosa metallurgical coal mine in Alabama in the Warrior coal basin. Regency has signed conditional heads of terms to acquire a 20% stake in Carbon Minerals Corp, which is a special purpose vehicle formed to hold the Rosa mine, for a total of USD1.7 million. Regency will pay that consideration through monthly payments of USD25,000 plus a royalty on each tonne of coal that is produced. A refundable deposit of USD50,000 has been paid and a further USD200,000 will be due once due diligence work has been completed. That is expected to be completed before Christmas.
CloudTag, up 12%. The personal monitoring firm said it has signed a formal agreement with Griffin International Co under which Griffin will sell the company's products in both the US and Canada. Griffin International is part of the CITIES Market Studios Group, one of the largest commercialisation and distribution players in North America. Under the deal, CITIES has agreed not to act as sales agent for any product supplier which directly competes with CloudTag during the term, which is for an initial period of one year. The contract will be automatically renewed at the end of the term unless terminated by either party before the renewal date.
Lamprell, up 4.6%. The oilfield services and rig construction firm said it has been awarded a new contract to fabricate multiple jackets and piles for the East Anglia One offshore wind farm being developed by ScottishPower Renewables. The project will have 102 turbines that together will be capable of powering over 500,000 homes each year. For Lamprell, the total contract is worth USD225.0 million. The company will procure, fabricate and supply 60 foundations comprising of jackets and piles to ScottishPower Renewables, which will then install the jackets foundation structures to facilitate later installation of the wind turbine generators offshore.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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fastjet, down 12%. The low-cost African carrier said Non-Executive Chairman Colin Child has resigned from the company as it continues with its 'stabilisation plan', including moving its head office to Johannesburg from London. The airline said, having led a fundraising exercise in July, Child believes "it would not be appropriate" for him to continue as chairman, given the company is initiating a further fundraising exercise sooner than originally expected. Chief Executive Nico Bezuidenhout will assume the role of interim chairman until a replacement is appointed. Meanwhile, fastjet has commenced the process of relocating its head office function in London to Johannesburg, expecting to complete the process by March 2017.
Ithaca Energy, down 9.5%. The oil and gas explorer warned it found electrical faults while carrying out routine expectations on the Stella field, meaning first production will not be achieved until the start of 2017. The company was planning to pump its first oil from the Stella field in the UK North Sea before the end of November but said this won't happen until "early January 2017" as it has to carry out a work programme to repair the faults identified on a number of electrical junction boxes on the vessel's processing facilities. The date of first oil has been pushed back several times this year, originally anticipating first oil in the third quarter of 2016 before pushing it back to September, then to late September, before moving the date to the end of November.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com; @ArvindBhunjun
Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Today 12:22
LONDON MARKET MIDDAY: FTSE 100 falters ahead of incoming US data
(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London were predominantly higher at midday on Tuesday, though the FTSE 100 remained in the red, ahead of data from the US this afternoon.
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