Marks & Spencer Share News (MKS)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Thursday.----------FTSE 100 - WINNERS----------Tesco, up 2.5%. The supermarket chain revealed a strong trading performance in its third quarter and the key Christmas period, which the company said led to outperforming the UK grocery market. For the 19 weeks to January 5, Tesco's group like-for-like sales were up 0.8%, driven by a strong Christmas period, with sales up 1.5% in 6 weeks to January 5, and a steady third-quarter performance, up 0.5% in the 13 weeks to November 24. At actual currency rates, total sales excluding fuel in the 19-week period grew by 10% year-on-year on the back of an arresting 15% increase in the grocer's core market UK & Republic of Ireland. During the 19-week period, in the UK, where Tesco is the biggest supermarket by market share, like-for-like sales grew 1.2%. Looking ahead, CEO Dave Lewis said that there is "more to do everywhere" but the company remains on track to deliver its ambitious plans. ----------Marks & Spencer, up 2.4%. The food, clothing and homewares retailer reported a fall in revenue across all its divisions during the festive period but described its performance as "steady" amid a difficult trading environment. For the 13 weeks to December 29, the retailer reported total group sales down 3.9% to GBP3.04 billion on a year prior. In the UK, M&S's core market, total sales were down 2.7% to GBP2.78 billion while like-for-like sales fell by 2.2%. "Trading numbers from M&S won't surprise anyone, but neither will they bring any cheer. Sales are falling in both the food and clothing & home divisions thanks to the well-documented decline in high street footfall. A strong performance from M&S online and a reduction in the amount of stock cleared at knock down prices are bright spots in an otherwise dreary picture," noted Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Laith Khalaf.----------SSE, up 0.7%. Credit Suisse resumed coverage on the energy supplier with an Outperform rating. ----------FTSE 100 - LOSERS----------BHP Group, down 5.8%. The Anglo-Australian miner went ex-dividend, meaning new buyers no longer qualify for the firm's special payout.----------Burberry Group, down 2.6%. Berenberg downgraded the fashion house to Hold from Buy. ----------FTSE 250 - WINNERS----------Mitchells & Butlers, up 5.5%. The restaurant and pub operator said trading for the first quarter of its financial year was positive, helped by a strong festive period. The group, which owns Nicholson pubs and Harvester restaurants, reported like-for-like sales for the three-week Christmas period of 9.8%, with sales of over GBP12 million on Christmas Day. Over the full seven week period since Mitchells & Butlers's last update in mid-November, the group's sales performance saw like-for-like growth of 6.9%, with 6.9% growth in Food and 6.6% in Drink. For the 14 weeks ended January 5, like-for-like sales growth was 4.7%. During the quarter, the company opened two sites and completed 114 conversions and remodels. In addition, Liberum raised the stock to Hold from Sell. ----------Premier Oil, up 4.0%. The oil and gas company reported a rise in 2018 output buoyed by new production from the North Sea Catcher field. Premier's production was 80,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2018, 7% higher than the year before and a record for the company. In November and December, production averaged 92,000 barrels per day, with both months beating expectations. Premier's production in the UK rose 18%, due to the ramp-up from Catcher, while performance at Vietnam's Chim Sao field beat expectations, averaging 15,200 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2018 from 14,900 barrels in 2017. In 2019, Premier is guiding for production of around 75,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day on average, with a full year from Catcher coming in. On an underlying basis, that would represent an increase in output. ----------FTSE 250 - LOSERS----------Halfords, down 20%. The car parts and bicycle retailer lowered its profit expectations after it revealed a drop in third quarter sales. Halfords now expects annual adjusted pretax profit for the year ending March 30 to be between GBP58 million and GBP62 million. In November, Halfords said it expected profit for the 2019 financial year to be broadly flat on the GBP71.6 million achieved for the 2018 financial year. For the 14 weeks to January 4, the retailer's total revenue fell by 2.0% hurt by a 2.5% drop in the company's retail division. Autocentres revenue, however, was up 1.9%. On a like-for-like basis, total sales fell by 1.7%, with Retail down 2.2% due to "mild weather and weak consumer confidence" and offsetting a 1.4% increase in Autocentres revenue. The company blamed the weather for its poor results in Retail as motoring sales experienced a decline in weather-related and discretionary products and services.----------Card Factory, down 12%. The greeting card retailer said that while its revenue growth in the recent festive period was "creditable", its flat like-for-like trading reflects a continued weakness in consumer demand across the retail sector. Card Factory's revenue growth for the 11 months ended December 31 was 3.4%, compared to 5.9% growth a year before. Like-for-like sales in the 11 month period, however, declined a very slight 0.1%, compared to a 3.0% increase in the same period a year ago. The firm also said it is continuing to mitigate cost challenges such as the new UK national living wage and higher wholesale electricity prices, which will result in between GBP5 million and GBP6 million of additional costs.----------Ted Baker, down 7.3%. The fashion retailer was downgraded to Neutral from Buy by Goldman Sachs. ----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS----------hVIVO, up 15%. The pharmaceutical company said it achieved the primary endpoint in a phase II study of FLU-v, a vaccine candidate for influenza. The company said that the study showed that the treatment led to a "statistically significant" reduction in mild to moderate influenza, most commonly known as flu. If compared to placebo, one dose of FLU-v produced a highly statistically significant reduction in the disease, the company explained, comprising a positive signal of influenza infection and at least one influenza symptom. ----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS----------Brighton Pier Group, down 25%. The leisure and entertainment firm warned earnings for both its Bars and Pier divisions will be lower than anticipated. Christmas trading in Bars was broadly flat year-on-year, Brighton Pier said, but trading is still "challenging" across some of its estate, meaning earnings for the six months to December will be lower than hoped. In the Pier arm, as previously noted, trading was hurt during the first half to December due to bad weather over the August Bank Holiday weekend, which continued into September. Further, issues on the railways to Brighton have impacted visitor numbers. These two headwinds mean, like Bars, earnings in Pier have been lowered than expected in the first half. The overall effect on the group of the two divisions' struggles means pretax profit for its year ending June 2019 will be around 18% lower than current consensus, for which it did not give a figure. In its last financial year, pretax profit was GBP2.3 million, up 21% year-on-year. ----------