LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers on the main London indices midday Thursday.
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FTSE 100 - Winners
British Sky Broadcasting Group, up 4.7%. BSkyB is leading the gainers on the FTSE 100, trading at a 12 year high, after the group release first-quarter results, which Numis Securities says are ahead of expectations. Despite increased competition from BT, Sky has reported 111,000 broadband additions in the first quarter, ahead of Numis's 75,000 forecast. Growth in connected TV services also was strong in the quarter. SkyGo Extra increased by 291,000, beating estimates of an increase of 100,000. "We are making excellent progress against the plan we set out in July to accelerate growth and returns from new services," said Chief Executive Jeremy Darroch in a statement. "While the consumer environment remains challenging, we are well placed as we execute a strong set of plans for the rest of the year." Numis retains an Add recommendation for the stock and a price target of 1,014p.
SABMiller, up 4.2%. The multinational beverage company reported higher sales growth over the three months to September 30, despite lagging sales from Western Europe. SABMiller said that group net producer revenue in the six months to September 30 grew by 4%, driven by strong growth from its Latin America, Africa and South Africa beverage divisions, which continued to expand portfolios, while in Africa capacity expansions continued to drive growth. It also said that within the Asia Pacific region, it saw good growth from China, while its brand restoration programme in Australia continues to deliver benefits. "Despite current prevailing uncertainties about developing market economies, we remain confident in the long term growth prospects for the group," said Chief Executive Alan Clark in a statement.
Burberry Group, up 2.3%. Having dropped nearly 10% since the announcement on Tuesday that company CEO Angela Ahrendt will step down next year, making way for current Chief Creative Officer Christopher Bailey, Burberry shares are recouping some losses. There is always disappointment when a successful CEO leaves, but the share price move was "hugely exaggerated" says Berenberg retail analyst John Guy. The market is starting to absorb that Bailey is not just a creative guy but has also been instrumental in the companies successful strategy, says Guy.
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FTSE 100 - Losers
Travis Perkins, down 2.4%. Travis Perkins shares are lower despite the building merchant seeing an 8.6% increase in total sales in the third quarter. Having gained more than 12% from the middle of last week, as the results were expected to be strong following improved UK construction data, investors are disappointed that there was no upgrade to full-year earnings per share forecasts, says Liberum Capital analyst Charlie Campbell. The merchant side of the Travis Perkins business saw 7% growth, compared with 5.5% in the previous quarter, while in the consumer arm, which mostly comprises DIY retailer Wicks, growth was flat. The lack of consumer growth may also be disappointing to shareholders, although Campbell points out that the consumer business only accounts for about 20% of the total.
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FTSE 250 - Winners
Polymetal International, up 6.8%. The biggest FTSE 250 gainer after the company said it is on track for full-year gold equivalent production target amid positive third-quarter production results. The Russian gold and precious metals producer said its gold equivalent production increased 30% to 413,000 ounces in the three months ended September 30 compared to 317,000 ounces the previous year. Equivalent production is a measure that takes into account metal grades. As a result the company said it is on track to reach its full year gold equivalent production target of 1.2 million ounces. Polymetal expects to produce 1.3 million ounces of gold equivalent in 2014 and 1.4 million ounces of gold equivalent in 2015.
Cairn Energy, up 3.4%. Shares trade higher after the Europe-focused oil and gas exploration and development company said that, with regards to its frontier exploration programme, it expects to start operations shortly on its part-owned offshore Morocco drilling programme, where a multi-year, multi-well exploration campaign to target a total 4.0 billion barrels of oil equivalent resource is underway. The start of the program has been long awaited, and targeting over 4.0 billion barrels of oil offers material upside potential, says Jefferies, which reiterates a Buy rating on the stock.
Man Group, up 2.7%. Shares in Man Group are higher after the investment manager said it had broken its run of quarterly outflows to record a net inflow of funds of USD700 million in the quarter to September 30. Assets under management are now 4% better than expected, says Numis Securities. The company also announced that it is on track with planned cost savings. "Assets under management doesn't always tell the full story", says Numis analyst David McCann, who believes the groups 3-5% management fee structure is uncompetitive in the long run.
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FTSE 250 - Losers
Renishaw, down 6.9%. The engineering company said revenue for the three months to September 30 has fallen compared to the same period last year as the business continues to trade in challenging conditions. In an interim management statement, the company which designs, manufactures and sells advanced precision metrology and inspection equipment for the healthcare sector said revenue during the period dropped to GBP79.0 million, from GBP95.9 million in 2012. "Whilst we may continue to experience unpredictable orders both in terms of size and timing we expect continued global investment in production systems and processes to lead to greater demand for the group's products," the company said.
Xaar, down 2.4%. The inkjet printing technology group said that its full-year expectations remain unchanged as revenues in its third quarter continued to be in line with its half-year results. The lack of improvement has disappointed and sent the share price lower. Management said its manufacturing expansion programme remained on track to deliver increases in capacity during the rest of 2013 and 2014. It added that its net cash at September 30 was GBP56.6 million.
Rank Group, down 2.4%. The gaming-based entertainment company said that like-for-like sales in the 15 weeks to 13 October this year were down 7%, causing share prices to tumble. Total revenues for the period were up 15%, driven by strong revenues from its Grosvenor Casino chain, although the brand reported a 7% fall in revenues on a like-for-like basis. The Rank Group attributed the decline in comparable revenues to exceptionally hot weather in July, causing visitor numbers to fall across its venues. It also cited a lower casino win margin in London, and a disappointing performance by Mecca's venues and digital channel.
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AIM - Winners
Plus500, up 15%. The company, which provides a platform for trading contracts for difference, said it expects to "comfortably exceed" revenue expectations and "substantially exceed" profit expectations for the year ending December 31, after a 66% increase in third quarter revenue. Plus500 also reaffirmed its commitment to a pursuing a progressive dividend policy.
Wasabi Energy, up 11%. Wasabi Energy Limited said it has completed the acquisition of a 50% stake in Egenda Enerji, which controls an advanced geothermal power project in Turkey. The clean-energy technology company said its wholly owned subsidiary Imparator Enerji decided to take up the previously announced purchase option, following a recent resource upgrade and comprehensive pre-feasibility study at the site. Wasabi didn't provide financial details of the acquisition. Wasabi also said its internal pre-feasibility study has been completed and validates the company's plans for a 30 megawatt expansion of the Tuzla Geothermal Power Project including the installation of additional power generation capacity.
Nyota Minerals, up 9%. Nyota's share price has had an extremely volatile morning, currently up about 9%. The gold exploration and development company, operating in East Africa, said that it has signed two agreements with a new development partner for the Tulu Kapi Gold Project in Ethiopia. The first agreement is a head of terms for the sale of a majority stake in Nyota Minerals (Ethiopia) Limited which holds its flagship Tulu Kapi mine and other exploration licences in Ethiopia. The second part of the deal is the provision of a short-term loan facility of up to GBP360,000 to keep the company and its subsidiaries operational until the completion of the sale. A spokesman for Nyota declined to identify the new partner, but told Alliance News that the deal was not with Centamin PLC, which was one of the key players in discussions over Nyota's future.
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By Jon Darby; jondarby@alliancenews.com; @jondarby100
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