LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are amongst the biggest risers and fallers within the main London indices midday Tuesday.
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FTSE 100 WINNERS
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Bunzl, up 1.2%. The distribution and outsourcing company said overall trading has been in line with hopes since its results in August, with group revenue in the third quarter to September 30 up 6% year-on-year on a constant currency basis. It said this was driven by underlying growth of around 3% on the back of positive contributions from acquisitions. In addition, the group said it will acquire Netherlands-based De Ridder Groep BV, a specialist distribution business focusing on the prisons, police stations and detention centres segments, for an undisclosed amount.
Antofagasta, up 1.0%. UBS has raised the miner's rating to Neutral from Sell with an unchanged price target of 710.00 pence. The stock currently trades at 672.50p.
Meggitt, up 0.6%. The company confirmed that one of its subsidiaries has been reaffirmed as the supplier of the next generation virtual small-arms trainer programme for the US Army. The US General Accounting Office has rejected a protest made by another bidder for the contract, Meggitt said, meaning its Meggitt Training Systems company has been affirmed as the supplier for the programme.
Ashtead Group, up 0.3%. The company is up after positive results from its US peer United Rentals, according to Jefferies.
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FTSE 100 LOSERS
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Shire, down 8.0%. US-based AbbVie Inc late Wednesday recommended that its shareholder vote against the takeover of Shire, a day after it said it was reconsidering the GBP32 billion recommended deal in the wake of the US Treasury's crack down on so-called tax inversion deals. AbbVie confirmed it faces paying Shire a break fee of USD1.64 billion. Shire said it is "considering the current situation".
Wolseley, down 2.5%. The company went ex-dividend, meaning new buyers no longer qualify for the latest dividend payouts.
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FTSE 250 WINNERS
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MAN Group, up 5.9%. The company said funds under management grew by a quarter during the third quarter, as its acquisition of Numeric and Pine Grove, and USD1.3 billion of net inflows and performance, offset a USD2.9 billion hit from the rise in the US dollar. The fund management group said funds under management were USD72.3 billion on September 30, up 25% from USD57.7 billion at the end of June, with US-based Numeric and Pine Grove adding USD16.2 billion of assets. It reported net inflows of USD0.4 billion as USD4.5 billion of sales more than offset redemptions of USD4.1 billion, and a positive investment movement of USD0.9 billion.
WH Smith, up 3.2%. The stationer and bookseller declared a 14% increase in its total dividend for the year to 35.0 pence per share, and also announced an additional share buyback of up to GBP50 million, after posting a 9% increase in its pretax profit to GBP112 million for the year ended August 31, compared with a GBP103 million profit the prior year. Revenue for the year fell 2% to GBP1.16 billion, down from GBP1.19 billion a year earlier, and was also down 3% on a like-for-like basis, dragged down by its high street stores. However, the sales decline was a marked improvement on the 5% decline its reported the prior year, and gross margins rose thanks to further cost cutting.
Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment, up 2.6%. The online gaming company said it is trading in line with expectations and it is confident on its outlook for the full year after posting a rise in revenue in the third quarter. Total revenue in the third quarter to September 30 rose 2% to EUR148.7 million, from EUR145.7 million last year. It said that excluding the loss of its Greece business, total revenue would have risen 2%.
Booker Group, up 0.7%. The food wholesaler group has raised its interim dividend by 16% to 0.52 pence per share, after reporting a higher pretax profit for its half-year, buoyed by a increase in sales on the back of its Makro acquisition. Booker like-for-like sales, excluding Makro, were up 2.4% in the period, with non-tobacco sales up 3.4% and tobacco sales up 0.6%. The company said it is continuing to drive sales by further improving choice, prices and service, and plans to increase its delivery capacity by about 80% in the next two years through utilising the Makro space and upgrading the fleet.
Renishaw, up 0.6%. The the metrology and healthcare products manufacturer expressed confidence that it will have a "successful year" after revealing that pretax profit more than doubled in its fiscal first quarter. In a statement ahead of its annual general meeting, the company said its pretax profit for the three months to end-September rose to GBP21.3 million, from GBP10.6 million a year earlier, even though exchange rate movements knocked GBP3.3 million off this year's figure.
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FTSE 250 LOSERS
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Close Brothers Group, down 4.6%, and Galliford Try, down 4.5%. The companies are amongst the fallers in the mid-cap index after going ex-dividend.
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AIM ALL-SHARE WINNERS
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Karelian Diamond Resources, up 43%. The company said it has recovered high concentrations of kimberlitic indicator minerals from its Reiihivaara target in the Kuhmo field in Finland, suggesting the presence of diamonds in the area. Laboratory results from the samples collected at the target show high concentrations of over 100 kimberlite indicator minerals, which present other minerals within the kimberlite associated with diamonds.
Red Rock Resources, up 9.7%. The company said Resource Star Ltd, in which it holds a 20.94% stake, has signed two agreements with IT services provider Fujitsu Australia Ltd, in relation to its recent acquisition of Cloud Lands Digital Fortress Pty Ltd. Resource Star has now made two agreements with Fujitsu. The first will provide Cloud Lands access to Fujitsu's top-tier professional IT services and on-going customer support, and takes effect immediately. It will see Fujitsu supply expertise and knowledge in service fulfilment to deliver high-security professional IT services to Cloud Lands.
Orogen Gold, up 5.9%. The company has raised GBP75,000 by placing new shares with directors, money it will use along with the GBP1.1 million it raised in a placing last month to advance its exploration programme at the Mutsk gold project in Armenia. In a statement, it said it had placed 65.2 million new shares with the directors at 0.115 pence each. The placing shares represent about 1.87% of its enlarged share capital.
Stellar Diamonds, up 5.0%. The company has raised about GBP396,180 before expenses in a share subscription by its biggest shareholder, money it will use to buy a number of earth moving machines for its Tongo project in Sierra Leone and Baoulé project in Guinea from that shareholder. It said it issued nearly 25.6 million new shares to its largest shareholder, Foradex Invest SRL, at 1.55 pence each, as well as one half warrant per subscription shares to subscribe for nearly 12.8 million shares at the same price. The warrants are exercisable immediately and expire in April 20, 2015.
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By Neil Thakrar; neilthakrar@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2014 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
6 Nov 2013 10:12
