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(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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Carnival, up 10%. The cruise operator has opted to extend its pause on cruise operations and is cancelling further departures from the port of Vancouver in 2020 as well as some Hawaii itineraries for early 2021. The 22-day Panama Canal cruise on board the Eurodam leaving September 26 from Vancouver, Canada, and travelling to Fort Lauderdale, Florida has been cancelled. On the Koningsdam ship, the seven-day Pacific Northwest cruise from Vancouver to San Diego, California on September 2 has been cancelled. The Circle Hawaii Voyages roundtrip from San Diego on January 16 and February 2, 2021 also have been cancelled. The Maasdam 16-day Mexico and Sea of Cortez itinerary from Vancouver to San Diego on September 21 has been cancelled, as has the Noordam 14-day North Pacific Crossing from Vancouver to Yokohama, Japan on September 27. On the Volendam, the 17-day Circle Hawaii cruise roundtrip from Vancouver scheduled for September 20 has been cancelled, along with the 23-day Inca Discovery voyage from Vancouver to San Antonio, Chile on October 7.
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Informa, up 10%. The business events and publishing company's trading remained mixed with the Events division hammered by cancellations due to government-imposed lockdowns across the world, while the Subscriptions unit continuing to trade well. The London-based company said its Subscriptions unit - which makes up 35% of revenue - continues to perform "resiliently" but its Events unit - 65% of revenue - is focusing on providing alternative digital services as no physical product has been traded anywhere in the world due to Covid-19. Informa noted the Events unit is focusing on "long-term relationships ahead of short-term revenue", but added the return of events in China is now a "real" possibility. The company has scheduled a minimal physical product for June but is now planning to run a number of major events in China from early July, with China Beauty Expo in Shanghai the first scheduled major Informa event to be held post-Covid-19. In the US, the company's biggest market, Informa is assuming a low probability that any physical events will run before September, with most brands due to run in July and August either rescheduled, cancelled or switched to a fully digital event.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Games Workshop, up 11%. The miniature wargames manufacturer said closure of its operations due to Covid-19 pandemic hurt trading, however, recovery since reopening has been better than expected. The Nottingham, England-based company said it now estimates sales to be GBP270 million and pretax profit for the year ended May 31 to be no less than GBP85 million. In financial 2019, the company recorded revenue of GBP256.6 million and pretax profit of GBP81.3 million. Games Workshop said it has continued to reopen operations globally with 306 out of 532 total stores now open in 20 countries.
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Mitchells & Butlers, up 6.9%. The managed restaurants and pubs operator has made new agreements with its creditors which give the company more liquidity and financial flexibility to handle the Covid-19 lockdown. Mitchells & Butlers, which owns Toby Carvery and Harvester, has cancelled all discretionary expenditure and furloughed more than 99% of its workforce amid the UK virus lockdown which forced closures. Mitchells & Butlers has been in talks with creditors and obtained committed unsecured liquidity facilities from its "main relationship banks" amounting to GBP250 million through to the end of 2021. At present, Mitchells & Butlers has cash balances totalling GBP130 million, having already fully drawn down is existing facilities of GBP150 million. The company's loss before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation has stabilised at around GBP15 million in a four-week period during the pub closures, including rent. Cash burn before debt services is more than this, as Mitchells & Butlers pays down supplier balances - though this is set to reverse once it re-opens - at between GBP30 million and GBP35 million per four-week period.
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Hyve Group, up 2.6%. The events organiser received valid acceptances for almost all of the new shares offered under its rights issue, while its underwriters will either procure subscribers for or acquire remaining shares. Hyve had announced plans to raise GBP126.6 million through a fully underwritten rights issue back in May. The money is to shore up liquidity after events were postponed and cancelled by the Covid-19 pandemic. Hyve's rights issue involved issuing up to 9 new shares at 69 pence each for every 40 existing ordinary shares. A 1-for-10 share consolidation will accompany the rights issue, so 9 new shares will be issued for every 4 consolidated shares. Valid acceptances were received for 181.5 million shares, representing 98.9% of shares offered under the rights issue. Joint underwriters Numis, HSBC, and Barclays - as per their obligations - will attempt to find subscribers for the remaining 2.1 million of shares not taken up under the rights issue.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Helios Towers, down 13%. The firm's shareholders Millicom Holding and International Finance have netted GBP60 million from the sale of a 4% stake in the UK-based telecommunications infrastructure company. The shareholders sold 40 million Helios shares at 150 pence per share. The share sale was initially announced late Thursday. The stock was at 159.80 pence each in London early Friday, valuing the company at GBP1.60 billion. Following the stake sale, Millicom has a 13% stake in Helios, while International Finance Corp owns 2.8%. Helios Towers will not receive any proceeds, as the sale was of existing shares.
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Biffa, down 4.7%. The waste management firm secured GBP100 million from an equity fundraising, putting the waste management firm's finances in a "position of strength". In the placing, retail offer and subscription, just under 50.0 million shares were sold at 200 pence each, a 5.0% discount to its closing price of 210.5p on Thursday. Biffa shares were at 203.95p each in London on Friday. Unveiling plans for the fundraise on Thursday, Biffa said: "The proposed placing will put the group's balance sheet in a position of strength, providing the flexibility and confidence to continue to pursue highly attractive identified organic and inorganic growth opportunities in line with its strategy."
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OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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Immunodiagnostic Systems, up 82%. The company said its automated Covid-19 IgG assay test has achieved CE marking and is expected to be available for sale by the end of this month. Unlike many Covid-19 serology assays currently available, this test is a quantitative assay, Immunodiagnostic said. As a result it can determine the antibody concentration in patient serum, rather than giving a 'yes-no' result for prior exposure to the virus. "Although the clinical level of functional immunity conferred by SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies has not yet been determined, we believe quantitative tests may ultimately be valuable in determining immunity status based on the levels of antibody in the blood," the company added.
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IQE, up 28%. The company said its first quarter revenues were slightly ahead of internal expectations and trading in the second quarter to date has been strong in both the Wireless and Photonics Business units. "Despite the significant risk of disruption posed by the Coronavirus pandemic, IQE's production has not been affected to date. All of the group's global sites have continued to operate with appropriate measures and controls in place," IQE added. As a result, the firm expects its revenue in the first half to be at least GBP85 million, which is 27% higher year on year. IQE also expects to return to profitability, with a low single digit adjusted operating profit in the first half.
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By Paul McGowan; paulmcgowan@alliancenews.com
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