PRG.L Share News (PRG)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices midday Thursday.
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FTSE 100 - WINNERS
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Smith & Nephew, up 5.1%. Hot on the heels of Stryker Corp denying plans to acquire Smith & Nephew last Wednesday, fellow US medical device maker Medtronic Inc is considering a takeover bid, Bloomberg has reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. While the report said that Medtronic's bid is at an early stage and that no offer is imminent, the recent M&A speculation has seen Smith & Nephew's shares jump more than 15% in little over a week.

Lloyds Banking Group, up 0.2%. The group has agreed to sell a portfolio of UK commercial real estate loans for GBP352 million to Promontoria Holding 109 B.V. The gross assets of the portfolio are GBP536 million, Lloyds said, and produced a loss of GBP17 million in 2013. Lloyd's said that it will use the proceeds of the sale for "general corporate purposes" and does not expect the sale to effect its capital position due to provisions it has already taken against the assets. Promontoria is an affiliate of Cerebus Global Investors.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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Persimmon, down 5.6%. The housebuilder's shares have fallen sharply after the group went ex-dividend, meaning new buyers no longer qualify for the latest dividend payout.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Bellway, up 1.3%. The housebuilder said that weekly reservation rates have increased as demand for its new homes remains robust, buoyed by growing consumer confidence and a strong supply of mortgage finance. In an interim management statement for the period February 1 to May 31, the housebuilder said its weekly reservation rate rose 11% to 177 per week, up from 160 per week for the comparable period in 2013. The value of its forward order book of homes due for completion beyond July 31 has also significantly improved to GBP670 million from GBP380 million last year. Additionally, Numis Securities has upgraded Bellway to Buy from Add following the trading update.

Brewin Dolphin Holdings, up 1.3%, and Rathbone Brothers, up 1.3%. Liberum Capital has initiated coverage on 15 companies, including Brewin Dolphin and Rathbones. The brokerage has initiated Brewin Dolphin with a Buy recommendation and price target of 379.00 pence, saying that its new management team has set out an ambitious and seemingly credible new strategy, the focus of which being to improve efficiencies and profitability. If this is successful, "a positive re-rating should be retained," says Justin Bates, an analyst at the brokerage. It has initiated Rathbones with a Buy rating and 2,214.00 pence price target, saying that the company is the epitome of steady, controlled growth, but recent acquisitions "add some spice".

Cranswick, up 1.1%. Investec believes that there is "more to come" from British food producer Cranswick, after the company reported strong trading in its recent financial year. Much of Cranswick's growth to date has been fuelled by the development of its retail offer, says Nicola Mallard, an analyst at Investec. However, the analyst believes that scope still remains for the company to increase its business further in retail, and perhaps more significantly in other areas, including the "export arena" and "foodservice".
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Lonmin, down 3.2%. Shares in the mining company have fallen after South African newspaper Business Day reported that the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union has rejected a government-brokered proposal for an ZAR800 monthly increase in order to end strikes which have crippled South Africa's platinum mining industry. The union met with the Department of Mineral Resources for South Africa on Tuesday and discussed the possibility of an ZAR800 monthly increase to employees. However, according to Business Day, the union rejected the offer and said its stance remains that of a ZAR12,500 basic wage. On Wednesday, the Mineral Resources Minister Advocate Ngoako Ramatlhodi met with the major platinum miners Lonmin, Impala Platinum Holdings and Anglo American Platinum, a subsidiary of FTSE 100-listed Anglo American, to discuss a further proposal from the AMCU, which the producers are currently mulling over. Anglo American shares are off 0.4% on the back of the news.

Tullett Prebon, down 2.7%. Liberum has initiated the interdealer broker with a Sell recommendation and a price target of 240.00 pence. Liberum believes that the group's trading continues to deteriorate and that it will get worse before it gets better. "While we believe the business is better positioned than most, we nonetheless fear for near-term profitability and valuation," says Liberum analyst Justin Bates.
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AIM ALL-SHARE - WINNERS
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Paragon Diamonds, up 13%. The diamond development and production company said it has received positive results from an independent modelling report at the Lemphane kimberlite pipe project in Lesotho, supporting improved economics of the project ahead of the start of production. It now expects to uncover a diamond over 100 carats for every million tonnes processed at the site and that around 12% of carats will be diamonds over 9 carats. It anticipates that diamond values will be between USD930 per carat and USD1,025 per carat at the site, as its planned one million tonne of kimberlite from stage 1 mining at the site will take on larger diamonds of up to 100 carats. Paragon Diamonds has used diamond values of USD750 per carat for its planning of the site up until now.
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AIM ALL-SHARE - LOSERS
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ASOS, off 27%. The online fashion retailer has lowered its profit guidance for the current financial year and next year, after saying it was hit by heavy discounting and sterling strength, which it said took a big chunk out of its international business. Finance Director Nick Beighton told journalists Thursday full-year profits will fall to around GBP45 million, compared to its previous profit guidance given in March of around GBP63 million to GBP65 million. ASOS also lowered its profit expectations for the next financial year, saying it was "resetting its expectations".

Independent Oil & Gas, down 13%. The oil and gas company said it is seeing delays to its field development plan at the Blythe Field and the appraisal well for its Skipper discovery, as it struggles to obtain suitable vessels for the process. It said that the operator of the Blythe Field, Alpha Petroleum Resources, has received tenders for the pipeline route and site survey for its planned field development but that due to restricted availability of suitable vessels, the results from the survey are not expected until the third quarter. As such, submission of its field development plan for Blythe to the Department of Energy & Climate Change is now expected to occur in the fourth quarter. The company also announced delays to its Skipper appraisal well, which plans to appraise the Skipper discovery and other prospects, due to the time required to prepare for the appraisal well and secure a suitable drilling rig. It said the well is now scheduled to take place in the second or third quarter 2015.

Botswana Diamonds, down 9.1%. The diamond mining company is down after it said it has identified targets for further testing at its PL117/2011 site in the Orapa region of Botswana following first results of its joint venture exploration programme at the site. It said the first phase of analysis by its joint venture partner AK Alrosa OAO of data collected on PL117 has been completed and it has identified two targets AN117/1 and AN117/2 in the northern part of the block and three further anomalies AN1,AN2 and AN4.
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By James Kemp; jameskemp@alliancenews.com; @jamespkemp

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