Last checked at 
LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers on the main London indices midday Wednesday.
-------
FTSE 100 - Winners
Sports Direct International is up 1.8% after reporting a 19% increase in gross profit and a 15% rise in sales over the nine weeks to September 29. In a pre-close trading update, the UK's leading sports retailer by revenue, which joined the FTSE 100 last month, said that trading since the end of September has remained strong, and that it is confident in its full-year outlook.
Reckitt Benckiser, up 0.9%, continues to climb after it Tuesday reported a 5% rise in revenues in the third quarter, and bowed to investor pressure, launching a review of its underperforming pharmaceuticals business that could be worth GBP3 billion if sold. Alongside this, Citigroup has raised its price target to 5,400 pence from 5,000p, while Exane BNP lifts its price target to 4,500p from 4,400p.
-------
FTSE 100 - Losers
Smiths Group, down 4.2%, is the biggest faller on the blue-chip index. Shares in engineering group Smiths went ex dividend Wednesday. A final dividend of 27p was paid to shareholders along with a special dividend of 30p, meaning a 57p per share payment to those holding the stock up until Tuesday. The unusually large dividend has pushed Smiths to the top of the blue chip losers table, although excluding the predictable ex dividend move shares are only trading marginally lower.
HSBC Holdings, down 1.5%, said it has terminated the sale of its banking business in Pakistan as regulatory approval has not been received. HSBC Bank Middle East Limited, which is indirectly wholly-owned by HSBC, terminated the sale of its banking business in Pakistan to JS Bank Limited. HSBC said the subsidiary would explore alternative options for its banking business in Pakistan.
ARM Holdings is down 1.3% after closing more than 3% lower at the end of a volatile day Tuesday when it reported third-quarter results which showed an increase in sales but a disappointing forecast for future royalty revenue. ARM has had its price target increased by Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan, BNP and Citigroup but its rating cut to Neutral from Buy by UBS. The semiconductor and software company announced extremely strong licensing agreements, and new licensing "turns in to royalties in the end", says Janardan Menon, analyst at Liberum Capital. The problem is that the smart phone and tablet market, which used to provide high-value royalties for ARM, is a structurally changing market. The company has guided that royalties will remain weak into the fourth quarter and when they do come, they will be from smaller-value products, says Menon, who says "ultimately this is a royalty stock". Liberum Capital has a Sell rating on the stock with a price target of 725p.
-------
FTSE 250 - Winners
Laird, up 6.1%, is the biggest gainer on the FTSE 250, after saying its expectations for its full-year results remained unchanged. Its third-quarter revenues were boosted by a strong performance in its Performance Materials division. Laird reported revenues of GBP141 million in the third quarter, up from GBP133 million in the previous year, as revenue from the company's unit that produces material that protects electronic products rose 9% to GBP93 million. Trading was boosted in this division by launches of new products by Laird's customers to the smartphone and games console markets.
Pace, up 5.2%. The company said it will buy broadband network equipment maker Aurora Networks Inc for USD310 million, a deal it expects to significantly boost earnings from 2014 and provide USD8 million in annual synergies. It said the acquisition will allow it to meet a "constant" demand from cable provider customers for cheap increases in broadband bandwidth. It will pay a further USD13 million when the deal closes for tax benefits that it expects to recover in the three years after the acquisition. The company said trading in the last three-and-a-half months had shown good progress, and it reiterated its full-year guidance for revenues to be broadly in line with 2012, its operating margin to be above 7.5% and for strong cash flow to continue. Strong cashflow in recent months, combined with a reduction in working capital, means it now has a net cash position compared with the USD322 million in debt it was holding at the end of 2012.
Home Retail Group, up 4.3%, has jumped despite saying that profits fell in the first-half of the year due to costs for restructuring Argos. However, excluding those costs, pretax profit rose by 53%. Home Retail reported a slight increase in first half revenues to GBP2.59 billion, compared with GBP2.53 billion a year earlier. The company maintained its interim dividend at 1.0 pence per share. Its benchmark pretax profit, which excludes exceptional items and store impairment charges, rose 53% to GBP27.4 million, from GBBP17.9 million a year earlier.
Computacenter rises 1.8% after it said it expects full-year results to be in line with expectations and remained bullish about its future outlook. Computacenter said its revenue for the third quarter increased 11% to GBP730 million from GBP657 million in the previous year, and it had entered its most important fourth quarter with momentum and growth in its two major markets, the UK and Germany. It expects its current pipeline to have a positive impact in 2015, although it expects growth to be a little quieter next year in its Contractual Services division. Panmure has raised Computacenter's price target to 548p from 504p.
Kenmare Resources, up 2.6%, is retracing some of the losses it made in the last two days as it said it expects to restart the fire-damaged section of a plant at its Moma mine in the latter part of November after it found that the trommels hadn't been damaged. The fire had shut Wet Concentrator Plant A at the titanium mine in Mozambique Monday, but the company said Wednesday that repair works are already underway and replacement parts have been ordered and are expected to be delivered in November. It said it therefore only a limited impact on production at the mineral separation plant because it is being fed from stockpiles and feed from Wet Concentrator Plant B.
Al Noor Hospitals Group is up 2.5% after it said it continued to perform in line with expectations in the third quarter, reporting topline growth and increased patient volumes. It said that revenue rose 11.4% to USD84 million in the three months to September 30. The number of revenue-generating physicians increased by 78 in the first three quarters, to 418, and it remains confident in achieving its target of hiring between 90 and 100 additional physicians in 2013. The company said that it has successful completed two new acquisitions, including a 75% stake in Al Madar Clinic, a medical centre primarily focused on dentistry and cosmetics, and a 75% stake in Dubai-based, Manchester Clinic, together valued at USD16 million. It also said that three medical centres were commissioned during the first three quarters, and that it plans to open two new medical centres in Dubai by the end of the year, as part of its organic growth plan.
-------
FTSE 250 - Losers
De La Rue, down 10%, is the biggest faller on the FTSE 250. The company expects full-year operating profits to fall short of its GBP100 million target, due to more difficult trading conditions in its Currency division and Cash Processing Solutions business. The banknote printer said it expects operating profits for the full year to come in around GBP90 million, GBP10 million below a three-year target set out in the company's Improvement Plan in May 2011. De La Rue, which also makes passports and identity cards, warned that its Currency division faces a worsening pricing environment in the printed banknote market because there is overcapacity in the market. The company said recently confirmed orders, set for delivery in the second half of the current financial year and over the course of the next financial year, reflect the pricing pressure in the printed banknote market. Panmure has cut De La Rue to Sell from Hold, lowering its price target to 786p from 964p.
International Personal Finance is down 7.1% after Canaccord cut its recommendation for the company to Hold from Buy. The company's share price is under pressure despite reporting that it is well-placed to achieve a good full-year performance, following strong third-quarter results.
Premier Oil, down 4.8%, after the UK-based exploration and production company reported a fall in production for the first nine months of 2013 and lowered its full year forecasts for the second time this year. Production guidance for 2013 has been reduced from 63.0 mboed to 57-59 mboed following issues with export lines from UK Huntingdon field and the Chim Sao operation in Vietnam. Both issues should be resolved shortly and have no impact beyond 2013, says Liberum Capital. Even so, the broker reiterates a Sell recommendation on the stock with a price target of 300p.
UBM, down 1.5%, continues to fall after it lowered its expectations for full-year revenue growth Tuesday, saying it now expects it to be at or slightly below the bottom of its guidance range of 3% to 5%. Weaker market conditions in Brazil and India caused it to scale back the number of launch events planned for its fourth quarter. Berenberg has cut the company's price target to 765p from 810p, Liberum has lowered it to 840p from 890p, Exane BNP to 820p from 830p, Goldman to 890p from 915p, Barclays to 810p from 830p, Nomura to 800p from 860p, while JPMorgan Cazenove also cuts its price target to 815p from 830p
-------
AIM - Winners
UBC Media Group is up 33% after it reported further investments in Audioboo, an audio social-network platform which is quickly growing its user base. Audioboo increased its registered users nearly threefold from 600,000 to 1.7 million, UBC said, and is now gaining an average of 5,000 new customers a day. The platform has won new contract partners including ESPN Radio and the UK Premier League. It boasts audio pages from celebrities such as actor Stephen Fry and radio DJ Chris Moyles. To support Audioboo's growth, UBC has loaned the company GBP432,000, and will make a further investment of GBP210,000. It expects to have a total 34% interest in Audioboo following the end of the current round of funding. The company said that in addition to its investments in Audioboo it was investing in developing interactive software applications and mobile apps for clients including UK's Radioplayer.
Wasabi Energy is up 26% after it said it expects the UK government's deal with EDF Energy to build a new nuclear power station to result in significant opportunities for its own energy business in the country. It said the GBP92.50 per megawatt hour price the government has agreed to pay EDF Energy for electricity produced from the new Hinkley point power station when it is completed in 10 years, significantly higher than the current UK wholesale electricity price, has led it to believe that higher electricity tariffs will boost returns from its low-cost technology. "If the proposed Hinkley Nuclear Power Plant strike price of GBP92.50 per megawatt hour is reflected in the wholesale cost of electricity within the UK, the Kalina Cycle projects being promoted by Wasabi Energy will become exceedingly attractive," Chairman John Byrne said in a statement.
Greatland Gold, up 12%, said that it had received good results from its sampling work at the Ernest Files project in Western Australia, as it raised GBP675,000 in the third quarter to fund field work. The Ernest Giles project covers 945 square kilometers. The company completed a trial Mobile Metal Ion surface sample of the project, and Greatland said results had been encouraging, indicating extensions to its existing gold mineralisation by about 800 meters south of where it had already drilled in 2012.
Pressure Technologies is up 8.8% after it said that its full-year performance will be ahead of market expectations. Sales and profits in its Engineered Products division improved after a low start to the year, buoyed by increased demand in the oil and gas sector and growth in naval defense projects. The company expects further progress in this division, although it cautions that it expects its Cylinders division to see a reduction in margins due to aggressive pricing by Asian competitors.
Deltex Medical Group jumps 8.6% after it established a dedicated trainer account in the US, as another hospital agreed to implement its oesophageal doppler monitoring technology, and it expects further deals in coming months, while the US regulator approved marketing of its CardioQ-ODM+ monitor in the US. The company appoints dedicated clinical trainers to support implementation of the technology. It said the trainer is now in place and the hospital will initially focus on the highest risk surgical patients, estimated at 60 per month, with a view to expanding it to all major and high risk surgery in future phases. Separately, the company said it would launch its CardioQ-ODM+ monitor in the US immediately after the US Food and Drug administration approved marketing of the second generation of its cardiac response monitors. Deltex had built up stocks of the product in anticipation of getting the approval, and expects the stocks to have been installed within three months and is now building a second batch. It was launched in Europe in 2012 and has become the company's best-selling monitoring product.
-------
AIM - Losers
Avia Health Informatics share price, down 66%, has plunged after its expanded share issue, bolstered by a GBP326,000 placing, was readmitted to AIM. The company's shares were suspended in June after it ran into difficulties when talks to license its healthcare technology failed. It then decided to sell that business and convert to an investment company focusing on graphene technology. The funds raised in the placing will be used to fund the costs of the issue, the disposal, its Company Voluntary Arrangement, and working capital.
Bluestar Secutech is down 46% after it said it will cancel its AIM listing due to continuing trading difficulties and after a fall in its valuation made the prospects of raising new funds through its listing remote. The loss-making company said it has launched a tender offer for 17.1 million shares at 2.5 pence each, a maximum of 23.52% of the company's share issue, for those shareholders who want to exit the company ahead of the delisting.
-------
By James Kemp; jameskemp@alliancenews.com; @jamespkemp
Copyright 2013 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
