(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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Fresnillo, up 2.0%, Polymetal International. The gold miners were tracking spot prices higher. The precious metal was quoted at USD1,950.70 an ounce Monday morning, up from USD1,945.10 at the London equities close Friday.
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Persimmon, up 1.8%. Davy raised the housebuilder to Neutral from Underperform.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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International Consolidated Airlines, down 3.5%. The British Airways parent was lower after the UK government's decision to impose a 14-day self-isolation quarantine on travellers from France came into effect over the weekend. In addition, over the weekend Germany declared nearly all of Spain, including the tourist island of Mallorca, a coronavirus risk region following a spike in cases. Spain has seen a surge in new infections since it lifted its three-month lockdown measures in June. "As noted in the week ahead, the number of new Covid-19 cases across Europe is the number one thing to watch in the coming days as it has the potential to send nascent economic recovery into reverse...A sharp rise in cases in Spain, France and Germany will make traders nervous about new lockdowns and ensure that local equity markets remain volatile," said Markets.com analyst Neil Wilson. Anglo-German travel operator Tui was down 5.0%.
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Bunzl, down 1.0%. Goldman Sachs downgraded the distribution firm to Neutral from Buy.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Cranswick, up 5.0%. The meat producer said its outlook for financial 2021 is ahead of expectations following strong trading in the first quarter. Retail demand has been "exceptionally robust" as a result of the shift towards greater in-home consumption. This along with increased poultry sales from the new GBP78 million poultry processing facility at Eye, Suffolk, has offset lower foodservice revenue. The positive performance has continued into July and August, the company said. Retail volumes are expected to normalise over the remainder of the year following the exceptional demand experienced earlier on in the year. Cranswick remains in a "robust" financial position with facilities of GBP200 million. Outlook for the current financial year, ending March 27, 2021, is expected to be ahead of expectations.
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Petropavlovsk, up 4.8%. The Russian gold miner said it has appointed mining veteran Maksim Meshcheriakov as its interim chief executive officer to "ensure operational stability" and strengthen governance of the company following a boardroom tussle. The London-listed company added that Meshcheriakov, who joins with immediate effect, will not be a director and the appointment of a permanent CEO and other executive management roles will be determined by the board in due course. Meshcheriakov, who is expected to be a candidate for the permanent CEO role, has more than 17 years of mining experience and has been involved in various projects in mining, metallurgical and other sectors, including most recently as director-general of Traxys's tin project in Russia.
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OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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Amigo Holdings, up 6.2%. The guarantor loans lender said it has reduced the size of its bank loan facility to GBP250 million from GBP300 million and has extended the waiver for the performance trigger condition on the facility. The company has secured an extension of the securitisation facility performance trigger waiver period to December 18. This follows the extension of the waiver to August 14. The waiver allows both Amigo and its lenders to "fully understand the impact of Covid-19 on the business, whilst maintaining the existing facility", the company explained. The reduction in the loan amount was attributed to Amigo's current lower funding requirements, as the company has halted lending to customers. The company plans to use all cash generated from customer loans to further reduce the outstanding loan balance. The loan is currently drawn at GBP199 million. Amigo said it has adequate liquidity to continue to fund operations and support its customers, with close to GBP145 million is cash as at July 31.
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BATM Advanced Communications, up 2.7%. The telecoms and medical laboratory systems company announced a stellar first half of 2020, following a strong response to the Covid-19 pandemic by its Bio-Medical division, ahead of market expectations. BATM posted a pretax profit for the first half ended June 30 of USD1.9 million, widening from USD1.2 million a year prior. Revenue was up 38% to USD77.4 million from USD56.2 million a year ago. BATM anticipates its full-year revenue to increase by 32% to the year prior, which is ahead of the updated market expectations published in June. It expects both its Bio-Medical and Networking & Cyber divisions to see revenue growth for the full year of 2020. The company expects to reinstate its dividend policy at the end of the year.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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