LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are amongst the biggest risers and fallers within the main London indices midday Tuesday.
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FTSE 100 WINNERS
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BP, up 1.3%. The oil and gas giant said its pretax profit for the first quarter of 2015 was substantially lower than a year ago after its upstream division was hit by the lowest quarterly oil price since the start of 2009, and reduced activity, partially offset by the downstream division which experienced a lift in earnings. However, the results were ahead of analyst expectations, helped by a one-off, non-cash, deferred tax credit as a result of the reduction in the rate of the UK North Sea supplementary charge.
Fresnillo, up 0.9%. The precious metals miner trades up as the price of gold once again rose above the USD1,200 an ounce mark. It currently trades at USD1,201.53.
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FTSE 100 LOSERS
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Standard Chartered, down 2.7%. The emerging markets bank reported a 22% drop in first quarter pretax profit, due to pressure on operating income and higher charges for bad loans. It said it made a USD1.47 billion pretax profit in the quarter ended March 31, compared with USD1.88 billion in the corresponding quarter of the prior year. The income statement excludes own credit adjustments.
St James's Place, down 2.2%. The wealth manager and financial adviser trades lower despite reporting an increase in funds under management in the first quarter of its financial year, after taking in GBP1.30 billion of net inflows, boosted by higher limits for individual savings accounts and greater flexibility for people saving for retirement in the UK.
Whitbread, down 1.8%. The hotel and coffee-shop operator said pretax profit rose in its recently-ended financial year as sales in both its Premier Inn and Costa Coffee chains continued to rise, and it has started looking for a new chief executive as Andy Harrison told the board he will retire by the end of the current financial year. The stock had risen almost 2% Monday.
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FTSE 250 WINNERS
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Centamin, up 3.1%, Lonmin, up 2.6%, and Acacia Mining, up 2.2%. The miners are up on the rise in gold price.
Dunelm Group, up 1.5%. The homes goods company said Whitbread chief executive Andy Harrison will become Chairman in July 7 when Geoff Cooper retires. Harrison is already a non-executive director on the company's board.
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FTSE 250 LOSERS
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Allied Minds, down 4.1%. The US-focused science and technology development and commercialisation company reported a wider loss for 2014 as it spent more on research and development, but its key value measure rose strongly. It reported a net loss of USD45.5 million for 2014, compared with a loss of USD34.5 million a year earlier, as a rise in both R&D and selling, general and administrative expenses more than offset a rise in revenue to USD7.7 million from USD2.9 million.
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AIM ALL-SHARE WINNERS
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Pinnacle Technology Group, up 27%. The company said it had raised about GBP0.9 million by placing 13.2 million new shares at 6.5 pence each, a placing that was done to facilitate a strategic investment by MXC Capital. MXC said it subscribed for 5.9 million of the placing shares, which gives it a 10% stake in Pinnacle's enlarged share capital. It said it has also been granted seven-year warrants over a further 5% of Pinnacle's share capital. Pinnacle's shares currently trade at 7.15p.
Tissue Regenix Group, up 18%. The company said the first clinical trial of its decellularised tendon device, Orthopure XT, has been approved by the UK's Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency. The trial is a "critical step" towards gaining EU clearance and a CE Mark, which will allow doctors and clinics to use it on patients throughout the UK and Europe, the company said.
NetDimensions Holdings, up 9.2%. The software and services company said its revenue and invoiced sales for the first quarter were "substantially ahead" of a year earlier. It said it added new clients with contracts worth a total of USD1.2 million in the quarter ended March 31, compared with USD873,000 a year earlier.
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AIM ALL-SHARE LOSERS
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Rose Petroleum, off 23%. The company's shares are down despite saying test results from the Mancos shale formation within the Uinta Basin acreage in Utah, US, are "in line with expectations" and said it plans to conduct a six well drilling programme starting in late 2015 after identifying its "top targets".
InfraStrata, down 10%. The petroleum exploration and gas storage company trades lower despite saying its pretax loss narrowed in the first half of the year, as the company continues to focus on reducing costs and drilling two wells in Northern Ireland.
Stellar Resources, down 8.2%. The companies behind the Horse Hill project in the northern part of the Weald Basin in the UK Tuesday moved to clarify press comments surrounding the Horse Hill licenses and their expiry dates. The Horse Hill project, which recently announced a potential major oil find near Gatwick Airport, is operated by Horse Hill Developments Ltd, which owns a 65% stake in the prospect and the remaining 35% of the prospect is held by Magellan Petroleum Corp. Stellar Resources holds a 10% stake in Horse Hill Developments.
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By Neil Thakrar; neilthakrar@alliancenews.com; @NeilThakrar1
Copyright 2015 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
11 Mar 2016 07:57
