Pets at home Share News (PETS)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Thursday.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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Sky, down 3.8%. The pay-television provider said operating profit rose 12% in the first nine months of its financial year, as revenue growth was driven by strong customer additions during the third quarter. However analysts were less convinced. Liberum said "Our main concern is with Sky's long term profitability, it will never reach the heights to justify the valuation as there will be continuing pressures from programming cost inflation." Haitong took issue with Sky's lack of visibility, "Sky should report full financials or none at all, because only selective disclosure is likely to mislead investors." While Barclays raised concerns on the upcoming German football rights auction, "Sky Deutschland cannot get exclusivity, which is a negative development."

Smith & Nephew, down 2.2% and Capita, down 1.3%. The stocks 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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Smiths Group, up 4.2%. The diversified engineer said it has struck a USD710.0 million deal to acquire the US's Morpho Detection from French engineering group Safran. Morpho is a California-based detection and security technology company, Smiths said, and will be merged into the UK-listed company's existing Smiths Detection business. Morpho makes and supplies detection systems and services to airports, border control services and other high-risk critical infrastructure sites, such as nuclear power plants, military installations and government buildings. In addition, the company has an extensive services arm to maintain and upgrade its installed base of equipment and related products.

Pets at Home Group, up 3.9%. The pet products and services provider reported growth in revenue in its recently-ended financial year, driven by a good performance in both its merchandise and services divisions and as it added 1.3 million members to its VIP club. The company said group revenue in the year ended March 31 grew to GBP793.1 million from GBP729.1 million the year before, as like-for-like revenue grew by 2.1%.

Acacia Mining, up 3.3%. The miner said its profit rose in the first quarter of 2016 after the company countered lower gold prices by increasing production and improving its margin through cost reductions. Acacia said revenue in the first quarter of 2016 amounted to USD221.0 million, whilst earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation totalled USD66.0 million. That revenue was 3% higher than the previous quarter thanks to a rise in gold sales whilst Ebitda was 24% higher quarter-on-quarter as Acacia began to benefit from lower cash costs. Operational cashflows were also up 11% to USD52.0 million, driven by that rise in Ebitda.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Petrofac, down 2.9%. The oil and gas company was downgraded to Hold from Buy by Jefferies.

Victrex, down 1.6%. The speciality chemicals company was cut to Hold from Buy by Berenberg. The German bank raised concern about a lack of earnings catalysts for Victrex given pressures on its consumer electronics-facing business.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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Strategic Minerals, up 37%. The miner said maiden drilling programme planning has begun for the Hanns Camp nickel-copper sulphide project in Western Australia. The company also said the permit of work for the project has been lodged with the Western Australian Department of Mines. Drilling is expected to start in mid-to-late May, once the permit has been secured, Strategic Minerals said. Hanns Camp is part of the Laverton Project, in which Strategic Minerals owns a 50% stake.

United Carpets Group, up 19%. The carpet retailer said it anticipates beating market expectations for its financial year that ended in March. The company said the improved trading performance it saw in the first half continued into the second, with like-for-like sales in the second half to the end of March up 6.4% year-on-year. Due to this, United Carpets foresees its final results outpacing market expectations.

Darty, up 13% at 149.02 pence. French retail chain Groupe Fnac SA said it has increased its offer for the London-listed electrical goods retailer, after rival bidder Steinhoff International Holdings put in a higher offer on Wednesday. Groupe Fnac initially made an offer of 105.4 pence per Darty share last November, which Darty had previously recommended shareholders to accept. Steinhoff had increased its offer to 138.0p per share, valuing Darty at GBP742.0 million. However, Groupe Fnac countered with a new offer of 145.0p per share, valuing Darty at GBP779 million. Darty said it would carefully consider both offers.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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Torotrak, off 12%. The fuel-efficiency technology company said it has redeployed resources amid uncertainty for its KERS bus technology. Torotrak said the results from the UK government's Ultra Low Emission Bus grant applications have been delayed, with no new announcement made on when the awards will be given out. This uncertainty, coupled with low fuel prices, has caused bus operators to postpone investing in low-emission technologies, Torotrak said. As a result, it and partner Wrightbus will delay further investment in the launch of Torotrak's KERS technology for buses until the situation becomes clearer.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com; @ArvindBhunjun

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