(Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Monday.
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FTSE 100 - WINNERS
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NMC Health, up 31%. The UAE-focused hospital chain said it is "disappointed" with the share price reaction following an "attack" on the company last week. Muddy Waters, which was founded by short-seller Carson Block, on Tuesday last week said: "We have serious doubts about the company's financial statements, including its asset values, cash balance, reported profit, and reported debt levels." On Monday, NMC Health said it will be commencing an independent, third-party investigation into claims made by the short seller. The independent review will be overseen by a committee made up of a majority of independent non-executive directors. "We are confident that this review, when complete, will be entirely confirmatory of the disclosures provided by the company to date," said NMC Health. It added that it believes its current share price is "not a fair reflection of the value of the company" which has a "consistent track record of strong growth and cash generation". Muddy Waters on Monday responded that NMC Health's response to its claims was misleading, calling on it to disclose the true amount of its debt.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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GlaxoSmithKline, down 0.8%. ViiV Healthcare said Saturday it has received a complete response letter from the US Food & Drug Administration related to its application for cabotegravir and rilpivirine long-acting regimen for treatment of HIV-1 infection in virologically suppressed adults. The FDA sends a complete response letter if it determines to not approve a new drug application in its current form. ViiV, a joint venture of GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer and Shionogi, said the reasons given by the FDA for its rejection relate to chemistry manufacturing and controls, rather than any safety issues. It said it will work with the US regulator to determine next steps for the application.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Derwent London, up 1.7%. The property company said it has agreed to sell its office and retail building at 40 Chancery Lane in central London to Deka Immobilien for GBP121.3 million. The property company said the sale price represents a net yield to the purchaser of 4.25%. The disposal price net of rental top-ups and costs is 3.8% above June book value. Derwent London said 40 Chancery Lance building is let to French advertising firm Publicis Groupe until July 2035, with a tenant break in July 2033, at a net income of GBP5.5 million per annum.
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OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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Carclo, up 42%. The plastic parts manufacturer said late Friday it has completed its exit from the Wipac, the exterior LED lighting business. Carclo has appointed Rachael Wilkinson and Zelf Hussain of PricewaterhouseCoopers as joint administrators of Wipac, which was immediately sold to Wipac Technology, a newly formed subsidiary of Wuhu Anrui Optoelectrics. The GBP10.5 million proceeds from the sale will be applied by the administrators to reduce the outstanding liabilities owed to the creditors of Wipac. Carclo expects to secure about GBP3.5 million of the net proceeds, it said. In addition, Carclo said Ed Watkinson, chief financial officer, will step down from his role in January 2020. He was appointed to the role at the end of September on an interim basis. The company said it is in the process of recruiting a long term CFO to join the management team.
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OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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Catenae Innovation, down 34%. The digital media and technology firm late Friday said it has convened a general meeting for Monday with the hopes of raising new equity finance. In September, Catenae warned second-half revenue was going to miss its own expectations. This was because, Catenae had said, the firm's target markets are depressed due to a reluctance to invest due to economic and Brexit-related worries in the UK. "In the event that the resolutions are not passed, the directors will need to urgently seek alternative sources of finance as it is important that significant additional funding is secured in the near term in order to provide a sustainable basis on which the company can continue to operate," the company said.
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Nichols, down 14%. The soft drinks maker said it expects 2019 sales to be ahead of the year prior, but warned that profit for 2020 will be "materially below expectations". Nichols expects sales to be approximately 4% ahead of GBP114.6 million a year prior, and pretax profit is expected to be in line with market expectations. Pretax profit in 2018 was GBP31.8 million. However, the company said pretax profit is expected to be "materially below" current expectations in 2020 as a result of a 50% excise tax on non-carbonated sweetened drinks recently implemented in the Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates. The tax will be applied to all non-carbonated drinks containing either natural or artificial sweeteners, meaning that, unlike the UK soft drink levy penalising the use of sugar but not artificial sweeteners, product reformulation is not an option.
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By Lucy Heming; lucyheming@alliancenews.com
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