LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are amongst the biggest risers and fallers within the main London indices midday Wednesday.
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FTSE 100 WINNERS
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Direct Line Insurance Group, up 3.0%; Admiral Group, up 2.6%. The motor insurers are outperforming following a report from the AA indicating that premiums in the industry are on the rise for the first time in more than two years. The AA said its index tracking the cheapest comprehensive cover available edged up by GBP6, or 1.2%, to GBP531 in the three months to September 30. For the overall market, premiums were up 4.2% over the same period to an average of GBP891.
Whitbread, up 2.0%. Nomura raised its price target on the hotel and restaurant operator to 4,925 pence, which suggested a 17% upside to Tuesday's closing price of 4,200 pence. Following an interim update from Whitbread on Tuesday, Nomura reiterated a Buy recommendation, saying the company had the highest operational gearing in the sector and should benefit from a cyclical upturn. Its Premier Inn and Costa Coffee brands also have unrivalled rollout potential, Nomura says.
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FTSE 100 LOSERS
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British American Tobacco, down 4.0%; Imperial Tobacco, down 0.7%. BATS said that it's profitability has been hit by the relative strength of the pound. Its nine-month revenue was up 2.4% at constant exchange rates but down 9.6% at actual rates. The company, one of the world's biggest tobacco producers, said revenue grew at constant rates of exchange on the back of a slightly better price mix, but said growth was held back by weaker trading in Western Europe and, to a lesser extent, the Americas. It also cited competitive pricing in markets such as Australia and Malaysia as a drag on pricing. Imperial has seen a small negative read across.
GKN, down 1.0%. The engineering group has suffered a number of price target cuts from brokers Wednesday after it was a strong performer on Tuesday when it reported a third quarter update. JP Morgan cut its target to 370p from 460p; Canaccord cut its target to 450p from 500p; and Barclays cut its target to 390p from 440p. The stock closed Tuesday at 313p.
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FTSE 250 WINNERS
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Esure, up 6.2%; Saga, up 2.4%. the FTSE 250-listed motor insurers are feeling the benefit of the report of rising premiums along with the blue chip names.
Playtech, up 6.7%. The gaming software group is one of the best performers in the mid-cap index after reporting faster-than-expected revenue growth. Revenue was EUR116.5 million in the three months to end-September, up from EUR90.6 million a year earlier, as casino software sales rose by a third to EUR62.4 million. It added that average daily revenue for the first 21 days of the fourth quarter is up by more than 22% on the year and up by more than 2% compared with the third quarter. "Management is confident of exceeding current market expectations for the full year," it said.
International Personal Finance, up 5.0%. The home credit business reported a 5% rise in pretax profit in the third quarter to GBP34.0 million, up from GBP32.5 million a year earlier. Revenue rose to GBP245.5 million from GBP264.4 million, helped by a 4.8% increase in customer numbers to 2.6 million.
Laird, up 4.7%. The electronics company said revenue in its third quarter rose to USD251 million, up 15% from USD218 million, although in sterling terms, this growth was reduced to 6% growth to GBP150 million from GBP141 million. Laird maintained its expectations for the full year, as "almost all" of its businesses grew in the third quarter.
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FTSE 250 LOSERS
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SuperGroup, down 4.1%. The fashion retailer is the worst performing stock in the index after announcing a management reshuffle. The retailer has appointed Non-Executive Director Euan Sutherland as its new chief executive, with founder Julian Dunkerton moving to the newly created role of founder and product and brand director, a move they said would assist an accelerated expansion overseas. That move has been welcomed by most analysts, but they have also trimmed full-year estimates for the company due to the warm UK weather that has hit the clothing retail sector in general over September and early October.
Senior, down 2.4%. The aerospace and defense company said its adjusted pretax profit in the period since July 1 has been in line with its expectations and it expects its full-year results to meet forecasts. Analysts have sounded a note of caution, however, over uncertainty on the level of additional costs to the business into 2015. Following a strong run in the shares ahead of the update, Numis Securities has downgraded the stock to Add from Buy.
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AIM ALL-SHARE WINNERS
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Fitbug Holdings, up 280%. The maker of wearable health and fitness devices has seen its shares surge after it said US retail chain Target Corp and UK supermarket J Sainsbury PLC will stock Fitbug products in their wearables ranges from November 9, marking the company's largest retail sales agreements to date. Fitbug said its products will be stocked in all of Target's 1,800 stores as well as on Target.com, the online business. Sainsbury's, meanwhile, has agreed to stock Fitbug products in 293 stores.
Eurasia Mining, up 16%. The company said it has been given a discovery certificate for a 21.5 kilometre squared area of alluvial platinum reserves on its West Kytlim exploration licence. Eurasia said the certificate has been awarded for a new discovery of platinum at the Tylai-Kosvinsky Placer on the West Kytlim licence in the Urals in Russia. It gives Eurasia exclusive rights to apply for a production licence for the site. It said a mining licence application has been lodged.
Photonstar LED Group, up 12%. The maker of smart LED lighting products has seen its shares rise after it said it had started shipping its new professional version of the Halcyon intelligent wireless lighting system, HalcyonPro, a product aimed at tapping into the growing Internet of Things, smart devices and energy savings market. The maker of smart LED lighting products said the system includes a range of professional lighting products for interior applications such as schools, offices, hotels, hospitals and homes.
Zoo Digital Group, up 12%. The cloud-based media production software company said first-half revenue will be no less that USD8.6 million, a a 40% rise on the USD4.7 million in revenue it posted in its last financial year, driven by stronger revenue from its subtitling services business.
Bacanora Minerals, up 10%. The mining company said it has appointed Hatch Pty Ltd as its engineering consultant for both its Sonora Lithium Project and Magdalena Borate Project, both in northern Mexico. Hatch will assist with the design of a lithium compound plant at Sonora, which will be capable of processing 50,000 tonnes per year and contribute to the mining operation for the project's indicated mineral resource of 3.3 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent, according to Rare Earth Minerals PLC, which has a 11.3% stake in Bacanora, and a 38% interest in the Sonora project with Bacanora, its joint venture partner in Mexico.
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AIM ALL-SHARE LOSERS
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Surgical Innovations, down 33%. The surgical products company reiterated its expectation of posting a "significant" pretax loss for its full year, and warned it will post an exceptional charge of GBP1.6 million following a further review of its balance sheet. Surgical Innovations said the exceptional charge will be in addition to those it posted in its interim results in September. At that time it said it had booked exceptional costs of GBP2.6 million relating to manufacturer asset write-downs, as demand from its international manufacturer products weakened further, and to costs from the Regional Growth Fund project.
Blue Star Capital, down 10%. The investment company has seen its shares fall after it raised GBP175,000 in a discounted share subscription. Blue Star, which focuses on the technology and gaming sectors, said it issued 31.8 million shares at 0.55 pence per share, a discount to its 0.725 pence closing price on Tuesday. Blue Star said the proceeds will be used to provide working capital and support its current investment portfolio.
Premier Gold Resources, down 7.7%. The company said Non-Executive Chairman Bob Stewart, a Member of Parliament, has resigned from the board with immediate effect to focus on on his parliamentary duties. In a statement, the company said Non-Executive Director Christian Schaffalitzky will become interim non-executive chairman until a suitable replacement is found. Schaffalitzky is a senior metals exploration and development geologist with 38 years experience in the field.
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By Jon Darby; jondarby@alliancenews.com; @jondarby100
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