LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are amongst the biggest risers and fallers within the main London indices midday Thursday.
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FTSE 100 WINNERS
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Rio Tinto, up 3.4%. The Anglo-Australian miner reported a fall in underlying earnings in 2014, but said it would hike its dividend by 12% to 215 US cents per share, up from 192 cents per share last year. The group said it will launch a USD2 billion share buyback programme, comprising a USD400 million off-market share buy-back tender and a USD1.6 billion on-market buyback of shares.
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FTSE 100 LOSERS
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Tullow Oil, down 1.3%. SocGen has cut its rating for the company to Hold from Buy, and its price target to 460p from 580p.
Diageo, down 1.1%. Goldman has cut the drinks company rating to Sell from Neutral, and its price target to 1680 pence from 1865p.
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FTSE 250 WINNERS
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Lancashire Holdings, up 5.1%. The insurance and reinsurance provider said it is in a "very good place for 2015", as it posted a rise in pretax profit for 2014. The company proposed a further special dividend of 50 cents, takings total special dividends for the year to USD1.70, compared to 65 cents in 2013. It also maintained its final dividend of 10 cents, taking its total standard dividends for the year to 15 cents.
Informa, up 3%. The business media and events company raised its dividend for 2014, as impairment charges offset a rise in revenue, leading it to swing to a pretax loss. Informa proposed a final dividend of 12.9 pence, taking its total dividend to 19.3 pence, up from 18.9 pence a year before.
DCC, up 3%. The support services company said its operating profit in the third quarter rose year-on-year, on the back of good performances in its technology, healthcare, environmental and food and beverage units. The group added that volumes and margins in its DCC Energy business were held back by the milder weather conditions in Europe, in particular in the UK, its largest market.
Morgan Advanced Materials, up 2.9%. The carbon and ceramic products manufacturer said its pretax profit halved in 2014, dragged back by currency headwinds, but shares in the company rose as it said its revenue and margins improved in the second half. The FTSE 250-listed carbon and ceramic products manufacturer said its pretax profit for the year to December 31 was down to GBP31.5 million from GBP64 million a year earlier.
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FTSE 250 LOSERS
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Zoopla Property Group, down 3.2%. The online property portal said it is trading in line with its expectations for the year, though total advertising members fell 11% to 16,967 at the end of January from 18,999 a year earlier due to the challenge from start-up property portal OnTheMarket.
AO World, down 6%. Panmure has initiated the online domestic appliances retailer at Sell, with price target at 152p.
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AIM ALL-SHARE WINNERS
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Mariana Resources, up 30%. The company reported positive results from the initial drilling programme at the Hot Maden Prospect in Turkey. The group said the assay results from the drilling showed the stronger mineralisation from the Hole 4 discovery at the site continued into the new drilling targets.
Lidco Group, up 29%. The cardiovascular monitoring equipment firm said it expects its full year pretax profit to meet market expectations, at a level similar to the GBP217,000 it posted in the previous year. It expects to post revenues of GBP8.37 million for the year to end-January, compared to GBP8.6 million a year before. LiDCO said that despite the reduction in revenues from an "exceptionally strong performance" in the previous year, it has maintained its profitability by improving gross margins and controlling overheads.
Trakm8 Holdings, up 8.3%. The telematics and data provider announced it had signed a partnership with Marmalade, a specialist provider of cars and insurance for young drivers. The initial contract order is valued at GBP1 million, which Trakm8 said will be realised within the next financial year.
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AIM ALL-SHARE LOSERS
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Northcote Energy, off 19%. The company said it has issued shares to Darwin Strategic following receipt of a conversion notice at the end of January. Northcote has issued 75.2 million shares to Darwin at 0.133 pence per share. The price was set under the terms of the convertible loan note deal between the two, and the shares have been issued to satisfy the GBP100,000 loan amount.
By Daniel Ruiz; danielruiz@alliancenews.com
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