Proton Mtr Pwr Share News (PPS)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Tuesday.
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FTSE 100 - WINNERS
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Direct Line Insurance Group, up 7.1%. The insurer's interim results outpaced market expectations and as it declared a special dividend despite a dip in pretax profit. Direct Line reported operating profit for the half-year to the end of June of GBP323.6 million, a huge beat against company-compiled consensus of GBP263.0 million. The operating profit was 3.6% lower year-on-year, due to lower investment income, which declined to GBP92.7 million from GBP111.5 million a year before. The blue-chip firm also declared a special dividend of 10.0 pence per share, in addition to an interim dividend of 4.9p per share, up from 4.6p a year before. According to Shore Capital, the special payout was ahead of the 6.0p expected.

InterContinental Hotels Group, up 1.9%. The Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn owner reported a drop in profit in the first half of 2016 as revenue fell following the disposal of hotels last year, but IHG said it is confident in the outlook for the full year. The hotel operator said its pretax profit in six months to June 30 fell to USD298 million from USD458 million in the first half of 2015, as revenue decreased to USD838 million from USD915 million. IHG will pay an interim dividend of 30 cents, which is a 9% increase on the 27.5 cents paid the year before.

Fresnillo, up 1.3%. The gold miner declared a big increase in its interim dividend and pushed its full-year guidance for gold production up by 10% after delivering a solid set of results for the first half of 2016. The company said profit from continuing operations before tax amounted to USD255.1 million in the first half of the year to June 30, a huge rise from the USD136.1 million profit reported a year earlier, as revenue in the period rose to USD886.9 million from USD752.3 million. The interim dividend for the period was declared at 8.6 cents per share, four times the 2.1 cents paid the year before. Blue-chip peer Randgold Resources and mid-cap gold miner Centamin were also up 1.5% and 1.7% respectively.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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Travis Perkins, down 3.8%. The builders' merchant said the UK repair, maintenance and improvement market is likely to be hit if uncertainty resulting from the country's vote to leave the European Union continues, noting that like-for-like spending growth on a two-year basis slowed in July from the second quarter. The group said pretax profit for the six months to the end of June was GBP175.5 million, up from GBP158.6 million a year earlier. This was driven by a 5.0% increase in revenue to GBP3.11 billion from GBP2.94 billion a year earlier. Travis declared an interim dividend of 15.25 pence per share, up from 14.75p per share a year earlier.

Johnson Matthey, down 2.7% at 3,184.70p. Berenberg downgraded the speciality chemicals company to Hold from Buy as the share price has reached the bank's price target. Berenberg subsequently raised its target price to 3,350.0p from 3,250.0p. "We have consistently argued that Johnson Matthey should not be trading at a discount to its 10-year historical valuation 17 times 12-month forward price to earnings ratio. This is now where the stock is trading." Berenberg added that given the potential risks from slower US truck production and diesel market share declines, further upside to the shares are also limited at this stage.

Anglo American, down 1.0%. The miner said the value of the latest sales cycle to be carried out by its De Beers diamond unit was 7.8% lower than the previous cycle as the company said its outlook remains cautious for the remainder of this year. Anglo American said the latest sales cycle to be carried out by De Beers, the sixth one since the start of the year, had a total value of USD520.0 million compared to the previous sales cycle that had a value of USD564.0 million.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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BBA Aviation, up 6.3%. The aviation services company said it swung to a substantial loss in the first half of 2016 due to writedowns and acquisition-related costs, while revenue increased thanks to the contribution of US group Landmark Aviation. BBA said it made a USD269.0 million pretax loss in the recent six months, compared to a USD61.7 million profit made a year before. Underlying pretax profit for the half, excluding one-off items, rose 53% to USD100.3 million from USD65.6 million. BBA declared an interim dividend of 3.63 US cents per share, up from 3.47 cents a year before. In addition, JPMorgan raised the stock to Overweight, according to traders.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Rotork, down 9.0%. The actuators manufacturer reported lower pretax profit for the first half of 2016 due to restructuring costs booked as the company works through tough end-market conditions in the oil and gas sector. The group said pretax profit for the six months to the end of June was GBP38.3 million, down from GBP56.3 million a year earlier. Profit was hit by restructuring costs booked by the company as it works to cut costs, but this was exacerbated by a fall in revenue to GBP263.9 million from GBP274.2 million, down 3.7%, and as its adjusted operating margin fell to 19.2% from 23.7%.

Elementis, down 5.2%. The specialty chemicals company said first half profit declined in the first half of the year as lower levels of chromium sales and the ongoing challenges in the oil markets offset improved sales within its other divisions, sending revenue lower than last year. The company reported pretax profit of USD44.7 million in the first half of 2016 compared to the USD65.3 million profit reported a year earlier as a result of a dip in revenue and a rise in some of its costs. Revenue fell to USD334.0 million from USD360.4 million to push gross profit down to USD122.9 million from USD139.9 million. Administrative costs were higher in the first half at USD36.3 million compared to USD25.8 million a year earlier, but that was partly offset by a fall in distribution costs to USD39.5 million from USD45.5 million.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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Proton Power Systems, up 90%. The producer of fuel cells and fuel cell electric hybrid systems proposed a restructuring of the business into three trading units to underline its future growth strategy as it looks to capitalise on volume growth within the clean technology market. Proton said it plans to split the business into three units; the Stationary business, Mobile business and a Maritime business - which it said will allow each division to focus on their market sector as "traction in the Clean Tech market increases". The company has already reorganised the board as a result of its plans. Business Development Director Thomas Meltzer has resigned with immediate effect whilst Financial Director Achim Loecher has also stepped down, however, he will remain as a non-executive director of the business.

Morgan Sindall Group, up 6.1%. The construction and regeneration company said it swung to a profit in the first half of 2016 and was on track to deliver a full year result ahead of its previous expectations, noting that its Chairman Adrian Martin will step down by the end of the year. The company posted a pretax profit of GBP15.4 million for the six months ended June 30, compared to the GBP27.2 million pretax loss reported a year earlier, despite revenue remaining flat at GBP1.15 billion. The jump in profit was primarily down to impairments booked on onerous contracts the year before, which did not repeat. Morgan Sindall said its operating margin improved by 30 basis points on the same period a year earlier to 1.6%, whilst its committed order book rose by 11% from the year-end in December to GBP3.15 billion.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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APC Technology Group, down 12% at 8.85p. The electronic components distributor said it has raised GBP1.1 million through a share placing to support the growth of the business. APC said it has issued 13.8 million shares at 8.00p per share to raise the funds. In addition, for every five shares subscribed, investors will get two warrants exercisable at 10.00p. Shares in the company were down 13% to 8.70p on Tuesday morning. APC said the funds will be used to provide working capital to support its growth plans. "I would like to thank our shareholders for their continued support. This raise will help to fund the continuing turnaround of the business as we focus on the core business units," said Chief Executive Richard Hodgson.

Equiniti Group, down 6.6% at 171.00p. Barclays Bank said private equity company Advent International Corp sold a 12% stake in the technology services provider for a total of GBP61.2 million. Advent sold 36.0 million shares in the outsourcer at 170 pence per share. Advent will continue to hold a 7.9% stake in Equiniti.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com; @ArvindBhunjun

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