Mobile Streams Share News (MOS)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices midday Thursday.
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FTSE 100 - WINNERS
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Lloyds Banking Group, up 4.8%. The banking group is the biggest riser in the blue-chip index after convincing analysts and investors that it's on the right track to return to paying a dividend. The bank said its first-quarter pretax profit fell to GBP1.37 billion from GBP2.04 billion a year earlier, when results were boosted by gains on the sale of government securities totalling GBP776.0 million. However, it also said net interest income increased to GBP2.72 billion, compared with GBP457.0 million a year earlier, boosted by improving margins. Operating expenses also fell to GBP2.91 billion from GBP3.00 billion, driven by a simplified structure, while impairments fell to GBP350.0 million from GBP859.0 million. Although revenues were light, the narrowing of the gap between underlying and statutory numbers was the highlight of this update, said Jefferies analyst Joseph Dickerson. Moreover, with the common equity tier 1 ratio increased by 40 basis points, gives confidence around the dividend prospects, says Shore Capital analyst Gary Greenwood.

British Sky Broadcasting, up 3.6%. The broadcaster said that it was on track to deliver on its expectations for the full year, as it saw revenue rise in the nine months to end-March, although operating profit continued to be hit by higher costs. It posted an operating profit of GBP910 million, down from GBP994 million a year before, despite seeing revenue rise to GBP5.67 billion from GBP5.31 billion, hit by its continued investment in connected services and the step-up in Premier League football broadcasting costs.

BG Group, up 3.1%. The oil major reported lower first-quarter profit as the situation in Egypt continued to weigh, but analysts suggest the update is better than the market had been anticipating. It posted a net profit of USD1.11 billion for the three months to end-March, down from USD1.21 billion a year earlier. However Liberum Capital says that the adjusted operating profit and adjusted net income were both 13% ahead of consensus forecasts. Although the update on Egypt is negative, the first quarter results may lead to some upgrades to forecasts, says analyst Andrew Whittock.

Schroders, up 2.4%. The company has reported an increase in first-quarter pretax profit as it saw GBP3.8 billion in net inflows boosting assets under management. In the three months to end-March, Schroders said pretax profit rose to GBP118.9 million from GBP115.0 million for the corresponding quarter a year earlier. Net revenue increased to GBP358.8 million from GBP323.0 million, while operating expenses increased to GBP233.5 million from GBP213.5 million. Net inflows of GBP3.8 billion drove an increase to GBP268.0 billion from GBP262.9 billion in assets under management over the course of the first-quarter, though GBP1.3 billion in investment returns also contributed.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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Weir Group, down 4.3%. The engineering firm has retained its guidance for the full-year, saying that 2014 trading has so far has been in line with management expectations, although it expects full-year results to be hit by currency headwinds. It said its performance in the first quarter was buoyed by higher underlying activity levels as it entered 2014, particularly in its Oil & Gas and Power & Industrial divisions. However, following a strong share price run since the end of 2013, "a lack of upgrade has seen share price go softer," says Scott Cagehin, an analyst at Numis Securities. Numis has downgraded the company to Hold from Add on the back of the 2014 price gains, but continues to view Weir as a "high quality business with leading market positions, excellent margins and strong cash generation."

J Sainsbury, down 4%, and Tesco, down 2%. The food retailers are two of the biggest blue-chip losers after Bernstein Research revised its price target on the pair lower. Bernstein has cut Sainbury's price target to 345.00 pence from 430.00p, and Tesco's to 255.00p from 280.00p.

Rolls-Royce Holdings, down 2.6%. The aircraft and marine engine maker said it now expects profit and revenue in its marine unit to fall 10% compared with 2013 due to a one-off charge estimated at GBP30 million to rectify a "product quality issue" and due to lower services volumes. However, it said it still expects to post flat revenue and profit in 2014, excluding a hit from exchange rate movements and the charge for its marine division.

ARM Holdings, down 1.3%. The chip maker said its Chief Financial Officer Tim Score has decided to retire. Score will step down from the role in May 2015 after serving as CFO since 2002.

Rio Tinto, down 1%. The Financial Times has reported that the group is suing Vale and BSG Resources, alleging the rival mining groups were part of a conspiracy to steal its rights to a vast African iron ore deposit worth billions of dollars, citing the lawsuit. The suit filed Wednesday by Rio in the US alleges that the miner has lost billions of dollars because of the actions of Vale and others, the FT said. Rio said it was asking the court to award “compensatory, consequential, exemplary and punitive damages . . . in an amount to be determined at trial”.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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James Fisher & Sons, up 7.6%. The marine services provider said revenue in the first quarter was "strongly ahead" of the same period a year earlier, with good demand for its offshore services across international markets and in the North Sea. For the period January 1 to date, it said its specialist technical businesses have benefited from their strong order pipeline during the period.

RPC Group, up 2.2%. The rigid plastic packaging supplier said that it will buy Hong Kong-based injection moulded components and tools maker ACE Corporation Holdings for up to USD430 million, an acquisition it has been working on for three years. It will fund the initial payment by issuing ACE's shareholders with about 8.5 million new RPC shares, raising about GBP75 million in a share placing, with the rest coming from a new revolving credit facility. It will issue about 13 million new shares in the placing. In a trading update, RPC also said the company expects its overall trading performance for the financial year that ended March 31 to be in line with management expectations, after revenue in the fourth quarter rose compared with the previous year.

Howden Joinery Group, up 2.6%. The company said that its performance since the beginning of the year has been in line with its expectations as improved market conditions seen since last summer have continued. The company also confirmed plans to open 30 new depots during 2014. Howden has already opened six new sites since the beginning of the year; it is now trading from 565 depots in the UK.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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N Brown Group, 5.6%. The home shopping company reported a rise in pretax profit for its financial year, with a pretax profit of GBP97.3 million, up from GBP96.4 million in the previous year. Shore Capital says the results are broadly in line with expectations. However the brokerage has also lowered its full-year 2015 earnings per share forecast to 28.5p, from 30.4. The short-term downgrade reflects an anticipated GBP1 million cost and trading losses associated with a new flagship store on Oxford Street and an extra GBP1 million of investment in website infrastructure improvement.

Serco, down 3%. The outsourcing company said, after the UK equity market close on Wednesday, that it is reducing its full-year group revenue expectations by GBP200 million on a reported basis as the firm's performance for the year-to-date has been "weaker than expected." It said it will be seeking to strengthen its balance sheet via an equity placing of up to 49.9 million shares, representing up to 9.99% of existing share capital.

Lancashire Holdings, down 2.9%. The speciality reinsurer and insurer has reported lower first-quarter pretax profit for the three months to end-March. It said pretax profit fell to USD57.4 million from USD78.9 million. Net revenue rose by USD28.4 million to USD182.5 after an increase in net premiums earned, but expenses were up by USD46.7 million at USD118.7 million. Berenberg analyst Tom Carstairs said the earnings were "a slight miss" versus consensus expectations at the pretax profit level but also said the language used around the returns to shareholders may be an issue. Chief Financial Officer Elaine Whelan said the company is likely to return a "substantial" amount of earnings to shareholders later in the year. "While we await clarification of this from the analyst presentation later today, we believe that this may represent a disappointment for investors expecting 100% of full-year earnings to be returned given the competitive pricing environment," Carstairs said.
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AIM ALL-SHARE - WINNERS
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Mobile Streams, up 34%. The company said that it had returned to profitability in February and March on an earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation basis after a loss in January, although it made a loss in its third quarter to end-March overall. The company is continuing to weather a reduction in profits, hit by the sudden devaluation of the Argentine peso against sterling in January. As a result it made an EBITDA loss in January, and this combined with marketing expenses growing faster than revenues hit quarterly results. Revenues were GBP11 million, down from GBP14.5 million in the previous quarter. Revenues in Argentine peso terms rose 12%, Mobile Streams said.

Savannah Resources, up 11%. The firm has seen its shares rise after it said it had paused drawing down funds from its facility with the Bergen Global Opportunity Fund LP for 30 days due to the general share market conditions for junior resources companies. In a statement, the company said it had drawn down USD800,000 under the facility to date, and Bergen had retained all the shares that it had been issued. Savannah said it has the right to pause drawdowns under the terms of the facility, and it also has the right to terminate the facility at any time and not to issue further shares on payment of a "modest" termination fee.

Leni Gas & Oil, up 9.4%. The company said its first development well at its Goudron field in Trinidad had struck oil. The firm only started drilling the well this week, and said it had already encountered oil between 571 feet and the current well depth of 1,100 feet, with combined pay intervals so far of approximately 193 feet in the upper Goudron Sands.

Ariana Resources, up 9.3%. The Anglo-Turkish gold exploration and mine development company has discovered additional gold-silver bearing zones within the Kiziltepe Sector of the Red Rabbit Mining Project. It said a new highly anomalous zone of mineralisation has been identified at Kepez Far West. Ariana holds the Red Rabbit project, located in Western Turkey, in a joint venture with Turkey's Proccea Construction Co.

Scancell Holdings, up 9.1%. The cancer treatment developer has appointed long-time consultant Dr Sally Adams to its board as development director with immediate effect. The company, which is developing immunotherapies to treat cancer, said 53-year old Adams had worked as a consultant since 2008, providing the company with guidance through the drug development process.
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AIM ALL-SHARE - LOSERS
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Stellar Resources, off 11%. The exploratory mining company said the gold treatment plant it purchased for the Clogau Gold Mine has been shipped, but the director of the Wales operations said gold production will be "limited" in the early stages.
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By James Kemp; jameskemp@alliancenews.com; @jamespkemp

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