Paddy Power Betfair Share News (PPB)

LONDON (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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Antofagasta, up 5.2%. The Chilean-focused miner was upgraded to Buy from Neutral by Citigroup.

Fresnillo, up 3.2%, Randgold Resources, up 1.4%. The gold miners were tracking spot gold prices higher, quoted at USD1,211.87 an ounce, compared to USD1,202.88 at the London equities close Friday. Gold was being support by weakness in the dollar following Donald Trump's innauguration as US president on Friday. Midcap peer Hochschild Mining was up 4.5%. Hochschild on Monday said operations at its Pallancata mine in Peru will restart by Wednesday, after an agreement was reached with a local community that had been blockading a road at the mine.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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Paddy Power Betfair, down 2.2%. The bookmaker said it expects to report underlying earnings at around the mid-point of its previously guided range, notwithstanding worse-than-expected gross win margins in November and December. The group said that revenue rose by 18% in 2016 to GBP1.55 billion from GBP1.32 billion in 2015, or by 11% at constant exchange rates. Paddy Power Betfair said that, since its third quarter update in November, it had continued to see good sportsbook staking growth, but "results favoured customers", pointing to the unexpected victory of Donald Trump in the US election, which it said had cost it almost GBP5 million.

Admiral Group, down 2.0%. The insurer was downgraded to Sell from Hold by Deutsche Bank. Admiral is the German bank's least preferred pick among UK motor insurers. "Admiral...has the highest share of large bodily injury claims in our coverage, the highest excess of loss retention limit and the highest average premium per policy (implying a riskier mix of drivers)," Deutsche noted.

Unilever, down 1.6%. The consumer goods giant was cut to Equal Weight from Overweight by Barclays. The bank said its saw no reason why Unilever should not continue to operate effectively, combining market share gains with solid margin improvement. "However, a combination of recent sector outperformance, emerging market trading and currency uncertainty, together with the need to take wider price increases to recover oil related input cost inflation, all warrant a more cautious stance near-term," Barclays said.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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SSP Group, up 5.2%. Jefferies lifted SSP to Buy from Hold, as the broker believes the travel concessions operator is set to remain a market leader despite a reduction in dwell times at train stations and airports. The upgrade comes ahead of SSP's first-quarter trading update, scheduled for Thursday.

Bovis Homes Group, up 4.1%. A top investor in the housebuilder is pushing for a GBP5.0 billion merger with a fellow London-listed rival after the housebuilder's chief executive resigned following a profit warning, the Sunday Times reported. Schroders Investment Management, which holds a 6.4% stake in Bovis, making it the second largest shareholder, is understood to have written to Berkeley Group Holdings, a bigger competitor, pushing it to consider an all-share merger. Berkeley shares were up 1.8%.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Essentra, down 5.0%. The cigarette filter maker said it expects its adjusted operating profit for 2016 to be at, or "modestly below", the lower end of its previous guidance. In a trading update, Essentra said its Health & Personal Care Packaging unit saw a significant decline in revenue and profitability in the last two months of 2016. "As a result, and while the detailed year-end close and audit is ongoing, the board expects adjusted operating profit to be at, or modestly below, the bottom end of the company's previously communicated guidance of GBP137 million to GBP142 million," said Essentra.

Inmarsat, down 3.4%. The satellite communications provider was cut to Neutral from Buy by Merrill Lynch, according to traders.

Jupiter Fund Management, down 2.4%. The fund manager was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral by Credit Suisse and to Equal Weight from Overweight by Barclays.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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Eden Research, up 47%. The agricultural chemicals company said it has received authorisation in France for its first product 3AEY, to be used to treat and prevent botrytis in table and wine grapes. Botrytis is a widespread fungal disease that causes grey mould on fruits and vegetables and which can lead to the rapid loss of commercially valuable crops, with average losses from affected crops accounting for around 20% of the total harvest. Eden Research said its terpene-based fungicide 3AEY product will be sold in France by its partner SumiAgro France, part of Sumitomo Corp, under the brand name Mevalone.

Edenville Energy, up 24%. The coal and uranium development company said it has agreed a partnership with Sinohydro Corp of China to aid in the development of its Rukwa coal to power project in Tanzania. Edenville said Sinohydro will complete the bankable feasibility study for the power plant project, with the aim of proceeding to a formal joint venture in which Sinohydro will take the role of engineering, procurement and construction contractor. The memorandum of understanding signed between the parties is valid until July 2018, with Sinohydro also set to explore funding options for the project. Edenville will be responsible for development of the coal mine, along with permits and legal aspects.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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Braemar Shipping Services, down 16%. The marine services company forecast a big drop in underlying operating profit year-on-year, as underperformance in its Technical division continued to hit group results. The company, which provides services for the shipping, marine, energy, offshore and insurance industries, said it now expects its underlying operating profit before interest, acquisition costs and tax to be between GBP3.0 million and GBP3.5 million for its financial year to the end of February. In the prior year to the end of February 2016, Braemar reported an underlying operating profit before one-off and acquisition costs of GBP13.8 million.

Flowtech Fluidpower, down 6.5%. The fluid power products distributor its pursuit of opportunities was "more cautious" in the second half of 2016, despite reporting a rise in revenue for the year as a whole. Flowtech, which makes pneumatic, hydraulic and industrial fluid power products, said its 2016 revenue was up 20% at GBP53.7 million from GBP44.8 million a year before. The company said that, to date, a rise in its input prices due to the depreciation of sterling has been passed on to customers. However, Flowtech said in the second half of 2016 it saw some margin contraction. Due to margin contraction and the cost of investments, Flowtech said it expects its underlying pretax profit for all of 2016 to be in the range of GBP7.0 million to GBP7.2 million. Flowtech's pretax profit for 2015 was GBP5.3 million.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com; @ArvindBhunjun

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