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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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Smith & Nephew, up 2.7%. The London-based medical equipment manufacturer has acquired US-based Tusker Medical for an undisclosed sum as part of its strategy to invest in "innovative technologies that address unmet clinical needs". Tusker Medical, which is headquartered in Menlo Park, California, manufactures Tula System, a system for in-office delivery of ear tubes to treat ear infections. The Tula system enables the placement of ear tubes in the physician's office without general anaesthesia for patients six months and older. Smith & Nephew said the acquisition is complementary to its existing ENT business, with the same customer and patient populations. The transaction was financed from existing cash and debt facilities. The commercial terms have not been disclosed.
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Unilever, up 2.4%. Jefferies raised the consumer goods company to Buy from Hold.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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Just Eat, down 2.6%. A shareholder in the food delivery chain said a potential UK competition probe into the firm's merger with Takeaway.com is "shocking". Cat Rock Capital Management owns an approximate 3% stake in Just Eat, and also holds around 6% of Takeaway.com. Just under a year ago, Cat Rock had called on Just Eat to begin merger talks with "industry peers", having welcomed the departure of former Just Eat Chief Executive Peter Plumb shortly before, criticising the appointment of what it called an industry outsider. The UK Competition & Markets Authority on Friday confirmed it will be looking into whether the combination would lessen competition in the UK takeaway platform sector. Just Eat and Takeaway.com had originally envisaged the new, enlarged company to start trading in London on Monday next week, and the name was to be changed to Just Eat Takeaway.com on Friday this week. However, due to the CMA move the timetable has been delayed by a week and the new company will be renamed on January 31 and start trading February 3.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Rathbone Brothers, up 3.0%. RBC raised the wealth manager to Outperform from Sector Perform.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Marston's, down 9.2%. The brewer and pub and hotel operator warned that its second-half costs are expected to be higher by a further GBP2 million to GBP3 million amid a higher-than-anticipated increase in the UK national minimum wage to 6.2% from April. Elsewhere, Marston's said it delivered a "creditable" performance in the 16 week period to January 18 despite a "challenging" market. Managed and franchise like-for-like sales growth at its pubs increased 1.0% during the period, Marston's said, driven by drinks sales. Food sales, meanwhile, were weak, the company noted. Trading of pubs over the Christmas fortnight was strong, with like-for-like sales growth of 4.5%. Turning to Marston's beer operations, the company said volumes during the period were slightly behind last year, reflecting weaker lager sales. Excluding lager, volumes were in line with last year.
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OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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RTC Group, up 9.8%. The recruitment company said it traded in line with market expectations during 2019. "The performance of the group and improvement in the net debt position is extremely pleasing and encouraging, especially in light of the uncertainty surrounding the UK economy. I remain cautiously confident in our ability to deliver continued growth across all areas of our business," said RTC Chair Bill Douie.
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Norman Broadbent, up 8.6%. The recruitment company reported a 22% increase in revenue for 2019 to GBP11.5 million. Net fee income grew by 15% year-on-year to GBP7.6 million. This has helped the company to return to profit in 2019, it said without specifying, after reporting a pretax loss of GBP700,000 in 2018. "The continued growth in revenue and our return to full-year profitability after several years of losses is an extremely important milestone for Norman Broadbent," said Chief Executive Mike Brennan.
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OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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Modern Water, down 42%. The water monitoring systems supplier intends to raise GBP1.9 million through a placing, which will go towards working capital purposes, and the repayment of debts. Modern Water said it will issue 370.0 million shares at a price of 0.5 pence per share, reflecting a 60% discount to Modern Water's closing price on Thursday at 1.25p. Should the placing go through, Modern Water will appoint Gerard Brandon as non-executive chair, and Nigel Burton as non-executive director, it said. As well as debt repayments, proceeds will also go towards supporting the development of Modern Water's patented Membrane and Monitoring products. The placing is subject to shareholder approval at a general meeting on February 14.
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Getech Group, down 14%. The mapping services provider said its annual results are set to come in below market forecasts. The company said its performance was hurt by volatile macroeconomic and commercial backdrop for oil and gas exploration spending. Getech was in talks on "several substantial" transactions in 2019, which had the potential to deliver "material" revenue growth, but did not complete during the year. The company said it expects it to result in a GBP2 million year-on-year fall in revenue. In 2018, Getech generated revenue of GBP8.0 million. "Getech began December 2019 financially ahead year-on-year and with a high-value sales pipeline that was commercially well-advanced. The shortfall in 2019 revenue is therefore disappointing," said Chief Executive Jonathan Copus.
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By Evelina Grecenko; evelinagrecenko@alliancenews.com
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