Johnson Matthey Share News (JMAT)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the biggest risers and fallers within the main London indices midday Wednesday.
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FTSE 100 WINNERS
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Barratt Developments, up 3.4%; Persimmon, up 2.3%. The housebuilders are the best performing stocks in the index after the latest UK economic data showed a faster-than-expected drop in unemployment to 6.2%, as well as a slightly faster-than-expected rise in average earnings, at 0.6% including bonuses in the three months to July. The minutes from the September Bank of England policy meeting, also released Wednesday, showed that most rate setters remain in favour of keeping interest rates at rock bottom, voting 7-2 to maintain the 0.5% rate. The combination of ultra lose monetary policy and an economy improving on all fronts should lead to more demand for houses, and more profit for those building them.

ARM Holdings, up 2.1%. The micro-chip maker is doing well after sector peer and fellow Apple supplier Imagination Technologies released an interim management statement forecasting a heavier second half weighting than usual due to new product shipments, such as the new Apple iPhones, later in the year.

Johnson Matthey, up 1.4%. The chemicals group received an upgrade from Berenberg to Buy, from Hold. The bank also increased its price target to 36.5p from 29p, although that remained below Tuesday's close of 38.5p. Berenberg says the company now has a dominant position in most of the markets in which it operates and that its relative underperformance so far this year will be reversed in the second half.
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FTSE 100 LOSERS
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Smiths Group, down 5.4%, as its medical and detection units continued to weigh on its results and it was hit hard by the strength of sterling. It posted a pretax profit of GBP302.0 million in the recent financial year, down from GBP395.7 million the year before, as revenue fell to GBP2.95 billion from GBP3.11 billion, and exceptional and amortisation charges rose, partly due to restructuring costs. Revenue at John Crane, Smiths Interconnect and Flex-Tek rose at constant currency, but this was offset by further declines in Smiths Medical and Smiths Detection which are still being hit by government budget cuts. The group increased its full year dividend by 1.9%, even though it remains cautious about the outlook for the medical and detection units.

British Sky Broadcasting Group, down 0.2%. The media group's plan to buy the rest of Sky Deutschland AG hit a snag Wednesday, as Sky Deutschland's board members said that they will not recommend BSkyB's EUR6.75 per share bid. Sky Deutschland said in a statement that it has concluded that the offer price "does not reflect the full potential and thus intrinsic value of the business." The board said that it operates in an under-developed market, and the full realisation of its potential is subject to the success of a business plan over a long period of time "with inherent uncertainty."
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FTSE 250 WINNERS
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JD Sports Fashion, up 6.1%. The sportswear, outdoor clothing and fashion retailer reported a big increase in its pretax profit to GBP16.5 million for the six months to August 3, up from only GBP6.1 million a year earlier. Its growth was driven by a 27% increase in revenue to GBP721.5 million, up from GBP567.4 million last year, after strong sportswear sales continued, and it was given a boost by the build up to the football World Cup.

DS Smith, up 5.3%. The supplier of recycled packaging for consumer goods said it has made good progress since the start of its financial year on May 1, with like-for-like corrugated box volumes improving in all operating regions. It said growth was ahead year-on-year and also ahead of its medium-term targets.

Imagination Technologies, up 4.6%, after it forecast a heavier second half weighting than usual due to new product shipments, such as those with Apple Inc later in the year. The micro-chip maker said that in the period from May 1 to Tuesday, it had seen encouraging activity in licensing across all three main intellectual property product areas and its customer base. The average royalty rate for the quarter remained strong, the company said, and marginally higher than the previous year. Imagination said its progress on licensing in the period supports its target of 10% licensing revenue growth for the full year.

ICAP, up 3.4%. The inter-dealer broker was raised to Neutral, from Sell, by UBS Wednesday, accompanied by a price target increase to 340p from 320p. ICAP shares closed Tuesday at 359.1p. ICAP's shares have underperformed the FTSE All-Share by some 15% over the last 12-months, and UBS thinks the market is pricing the shares for a gloomy update from the company on September 30. Given that the bad news is priced in, the upgrade reflects the possibility of a positive surprise, the Swiss bank said.

Dignity, up 2.3%. The funeral service provider is proposing to return GBP54 million to shareholders as part of a debt restructuring proposal aimed at cutting its annual debt servicing costs. The company said its overall balance sheet liability would increase to GBP580 million under the proposal to restructure its Class A and B secured notes, but said its debt service costs would fall to GBP34 million a year, from GBP40 million at present.

Intermediate Capital Group, up 1.9%. The specialist asset manager said it has exercised its option to acquire the 49.255% of Longbow Real Estate Capital LLP it doesn't already own from the LLP's eight individual partners. The company acquired its initial 50.745% interest in Longbow in March 2011 from a combination of third-party investors representing a 35% stake and partners representing a 15.745% stake. It bought the initial stake for GBP4.3 million in order to add direct real-estate finance to its portfolio of specialist mezzanine and senior debt investment strategies. It will pay GBP13.0 million on completion of the acquisition, which is expected in October, and an expected deferred payment of about GBP24.0 million to the partners in 2016.
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FTSE 250 LOSERS
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IG Group Holdings, down 4.5%. The financial derivatives trading platform company said net trading revenue - trading revenue excluding interest on segregated client funds and net of introducing broker commissions - fell to GBP85.6 million in the three months ended August 31, from GBP93.6 million in the corresponding period last year. The group reported declines across all of its geographic regions, amid quiet financial markets and continued weakness in foreign exchange activity.

Dixons Carphone, down 1.3%. Vodafone Group and EE have each held talks with the administrator about buying parts of the Phones 4U business, including some stores, staff and stock in the UK, according to the Financial Times Wednesday. The reports come after Phones 4U announced its fall into administration earlier in the week, prompting speculation that Dixons Carphone might snap up some of its business. Vodafone shares were trading up 0.6% midday Wednesday.
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AIM ALL-SHARE
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Mariana Resources, up 21%. The mining company said it has secured up to USD6 million in financing to back the growth of its South American exploration portfolio. The company said it has entered into a convertible securities issuance deed with Bergen Global Opportunity Fund LP, an investment fund managed by Bergen Asset Management.

Cenkos Securities, up 16%. The brokerage doubled its interim dividend and said it is evaluating further ways of making returns to shareholders, particularly share buy-backs, as it reported a significant jump in first-half pretax profit due to a buoyant UK equities market. The company reported a GBP23.5 million pretax profit in the six months ended June 30, compared with GBP3.1 million in the corresponding period last year.

Paternoster Resources, up 15%. The investment company said it would make an investment in West Africa-focused oil explorer Elephant Oil Ltd, giving it exposure to the West Africa Transform Margin. The company said it has agreed to subscribe for 1.2 million shares in Elephant, representing 5.5% of Elephant's enlarged share capital. Paternoster is buying the shares for 25.3 pence each, making the total investment worth GBP300,000.

Agriterra, up 9.6%. The pan-African agricultural group said it has suspended its cocoa operations in Sierra Leone due to the Ebola outbreak and precautionary restrictions on travelling in Sierra Leone. Despite this, the shares have responded positively to the news that it has also finally successfully reached a settlement regarding it legacy oil claims in South Sudan, in which it has received USD5.6 million in cash.

Connemara Mining Company, up 9.1%. The zinc, lead and gold exploration firm with licences in Ireland, posted a pretax loss of EUR140,000 for the six months to June 30, compared with a loss of EUR190,000 a year earlier. In the same statement, Connemara said it is continuing to review other investment opportunities, but as recent proposals did not bear fruit, it will raise fresh funds to cover working capital expenses.

W Resources, up 8.7%. The tungsten, copper and gold mining company, said the drilling programme at the Tarouca project in Portugal has been completed, with further significant high-grade tungsten mineralisation found. Initial evaluation of the most recent results at the site has highlighted an "outstanding" exploration target in the north east of the licence area between the TAD007 and TAD021 holes.

Leni Gas & Oil, up 8.1%. The company reported encouraging initial flow results from its Goudron field in Trinidad, and said a series of initial production tests from the Gros Morne Sandstones at well GY-665 at Goudron resulted in a calculated open-hole flow rate of 700 barrels of oil a day. It said the well is currently producing water-free oil at a rate of 415 bopd through a choke.

Pennant International, up 5.7%. The provider of management services primarily for the defence, rail, aerospace and naval sectors said its Canadian subsidiary has won a services consulting contract, worth up to CAD7.9 million initially, from Public Works and Government Services Canada.
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AIM ALL-SHARE LOSES
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Bellzone Mining, down 13%. The shares took a hit after it said it remains in talks with China Sonangol International in order to reach an agreement on the final satisfaction of its loan agreement, and said it is still in talks with other potential long-term financing providers. Bellzone only has funding at present to continue operations until the middle of this month and will require new funding under the China Sonangol deal or other sources of funding early in the week commencing September 22 in order to continue operations.

ServicePower Technologies, down 11%. The software group swung to a pretax loss of GBP930,000 in the second half of 2014, from a profit of GBP219,000 the year before, as revenue declined to GBP6.2 million from GBP7.3 million. In the previous year, results benefited from a GBP600,000 foreign exchange gain, but this year revenue was hit by the timing of contract signings, customers moving to purchasing software as a service rather than an up-front perpetual licence, and the strength of the pound against the dollar.

Iafyds, down 10%. The investment company, which is rushing to try and find a suitable investment before it loses its AIM listing, Wednesday reported a GBP29,000 loss for the six months to end-June, narrower than the GBP2.7 million loss it reported a year earlier when it had booked losses from its previous business. However, there was no further news on a possible new investment, and time is continuing to run out. The company used to be called VPhase, but the low-cost energy company had to appoint administrators last September, and the remnants were renamed Iafyds when it came out of company voluntary arrangement in January. It is now an investment company under AIM rules, meaning it has a fixed time scale by which it must find a new operating business.
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By Jon Darby; jondarby@alliancenews.com; @jondarby100

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