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(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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BT Group, up 5.6%. Shares rose after Sky News reported the telecommunications firm is preparing to defend itself against takeover approaches. According to Sky News, BT has asked bankers at Goldman Sachs to update its bid defence strategy in recent weeks. However, the article said the former UK state monopoly has not yet received a formal approach from any potential suitor. BT's market capitalisation stands at GBP10.67 billion, with shares having fallen to an 11-year low of 94.77p earlier this month. "This speculation in some ways justifies current investor's belief that the company is undervalued, but its current organisational structure suggests the share price will not appreciate to fair valuation anytime soon. The view among some is that if BT is to become a private company it may be easier to restructure and unlock value than as listed business," said analysts at the Share Centre.
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Bunzl, up 4.0%. The distribution and logistics firm said it delivered a resilient performance in the first half despite the unprecedented challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. For the half-year to June 30, revenue rose 7.0% to GBP4.85 billion from GBP4.53 billion last year, and pretax profit was up 22% to GBP245.4 million from GBP200.5 million. Bunzl raised its interim dividend 1.9% to 15.8 pence from 15.5p paid out last year. As a result of the better-than-expected trading performance during the first half of the year. Bunzl said it also has decided to reinstate and pay the final dividend for 2019 at the same level as originally proposed of 35.8p. Bunzl said that, as it is no longer possible for this dividend to be approved by shareholders at the annual general meeting, it will be paid as an additional interim dividend in November.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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International Consolidated Airlines, down 1.2%. Shares in the British Airways parent were lower amid continuing pressure on the travel sector. More than 90,000 jobs have been lost or placed at risk across the wider UK travel sector since the coronavirus crisis started, the association of travel agents and tour operators has said. Abta has written to UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak asking for a package of measures to support businesses and employees before thousands more jobs are lost. It is calling on the government to adopt a "regionalised" approach to quarantine rules and use the Autumn budget to announce an air passenger duty holiday covering summer 2021 to incentivise people to book holidays. The travel association warned that the job situation in the industry had reached a "critical point", with measures to control the pandemic affecting the market.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Meggitt, up 3.0%. The aerospace and defence contractor said it has secured a contract with Modec for the supply of printed circuit heat exchangers to the Bacalhau floating production storage & offloading vessel. The contract will be supplied by Meggitt's Heatric business, it said. Meggitt said the use of its printed circuit heat exchangers technology in gas compression and gas injection processes enables "superior" performance at a fraction of the size and weight of other heat exchanger solutions. No financial details were disclosed.
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Balfour Beatty, up 1.0%. The construction firm said its Gammon Construction joint venture has been awarded a HKD12.88 billion contract to expand a terminal at Hong Kong International Airport. The HKD12.88 billion contract, equivalent to around GBP1.27 billion, is for expanding Terminal 2 of the airport and was granted by the Airport Authority Hong Kong. China-focused joint venture Gammon is equally owned by London-headquartered Balfour Beaty and conglomerate Jardine Matheson Holdings. Gammon will be responsible for expanding the main Terminal 2 building as well as for construction of interconnecting bridges, plus mechanical and electrical works. It also will build associated roads and viaducts.
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OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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Lidco Group, up 14%. The hemodynamic monitoring company said it saw a "record" performance in the first half of 2020, with its product revenue up by 82%. The company saw total revenue for the first half ended July 31 increase by 75% to GBP6.2 million from GBP3.5 million a year prior. Product revenue was up 83% to GBP6.1 million from GBP3.3 million a year before. Lidco said demand for its products increased due to their importance in the treatment and management of Covid-19 patients, with hemodynamic optimisation playing a major role in the management of the complex interaction of respiratory and cardiovascular factors. Lidco product sales grew by more than 100% in the UK to GBP4.1 million from GBP1.6 million a year ago. The company said UK hospitals invested in growing their critical care provision by acquiring new monitors to meet anticipated needs.
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7digital, up 13%. The digital music and radio services platform announced the winning of a follow-on contract with audio-visual streaming service 'jazzed'. Under the initial 12-month contract, jazzed will use 7digital's application programming interface and platform access to fuel its roll-out into several new territories, allowing jazzed users to stream tracks of the jazz genre from 7digital's own catalogue. The extended deal will include on-demand access to around 5 million music tracks in high-definition lossless audio. In addition, 7digital will receive a monthly licensing fee and usage-based payments as part of the contract.
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OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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Amigo Holdings, down 25%. The guarantor loans provider noted statements from former chief executive James Benamor which detailed his plans to return as chief executive but backed newly returned CEO Glen Crawford, urging Benamor not to waste time or money in his bid to return. Amigo said that, while it agrees it continues to face significant challenges to its ongoing operations, it believes that the reappointment of Glen Crawford as CEO is a critical step for the business in navigating through its issues and returning the company to full health as quickly as possible. The announcement of Crawford's return came after Benamor called for Amigo's entire board to be ousted, having said the company is "committing slow-motion suicide". However, shareholders rejected Benamor's resolutions.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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