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LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are among the biggest risers and fallers within the main London indices midday Thursday.
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FTSE 100 WINNERS
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Vodafone Group, up 1.9%. Vodafone said it has sealed a partnership with Dresden University of Technology under which the pair will research and develop 5G technology. The company said the partnership is part of its programme to partner with universities, technology companies and industry groups on developing the next generation of wireless technology. Dresden University has recently opened a 5G lab, which will offer specific facilities for researchers to test and evaluated a wide range of 5G technologies, Vodafone said.

Shire, up 1%. The stock is up after the Irish drug company said it will pay USD56.5 million to settle a probe into its US sales and marketing practices for Adderall XR, Vyvanse Daytrana, Lialda and Pentasa for a period up to 2010. Its also paying USD2.9 million to resolve a similar complaint in Louisiana.
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FTSE 100 LOSERS
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Royal Mail, down 3.5%. The stock has fallen for a second day. On Wednesday, it was hurt by a profit warning from Dutch rival TNT, while on Thursday smaller UK rival UK Mail Group warned that parcel volumes had been lower than expected in recent weeks, prompting Investec to say the UK parcels sector has been going through a more challenging period that previously expected. On the plus side, UK politicians have launched an inquiry into Royal Mail's claims that it will struggle to fulfil its obligation to deliver to every address in the country six days a week for the same price due to intense competition in profitable areas, The Guardian reported. The paper said the business select committee launched an investigation on Wednesday following pressure from Royal Mail executives who complain that rival operator TNT is able to cherry-pick profitable delivery routes in big cities while Royal Mail must provide the same service to all 29 million addresses in the country as part of its legally binding universal service obligation.

Fresnillo, down 3.6%, Randgold Resources, down 2.7%, and Antofagasta, down 1.2%. The companies are down after gold hit its lowest price since early January.

Hammerson, down 2.7%. The retail-focused real estate investment trust said it will conduct a share placing to raise about GBP400 million to help fund the GBP180 million acquisition of the rest of the Highcross shopping centre in Leicester that it doesn't already own, a GBP100 million investment in a new outlet shopping centre venture, and GBP120 million to fund existing developments. The company will place 71.3 million new shares, which is 9.99% of its existing issued share capital.

J Sainsbury, down 1.1%. The supermarket chain is down after having its price target cut to 225 pence, from 280p, by JP Morgan and to 275p, from 330p, by Deutsche Bank. The company currently trades at 257.9p.

BHP Billiton, down 2.3%, Tullow Oil, down 1.4%, and BP, down 1.3%. The companies are down as Brent oil hits its lowest price since 2012 Wednesday.
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FTSE 250 WINNERS
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CSR, up 7.2%. The chip maker tops the mid-cap index after it said the Takeover Panel has granted an extension to the deadline for Microchip Technology Inc to make a bid for the company. CSR said the deadline for the US semiconductor maker to make a bid has been extended to October 15 in order to allow the two companies more time to conclude their discussions.

Amec, up 3.1%. UBS has upgraded the company's rating to Buy, from Neutral, with a price target increase to 1,215p, from 1,100p. The stock currently trades at 1,099p.

Cairn Energy, up 2%. The oil and gas explorer said it has signed a deal to farm-out a 10% interest in the Catcher oil field and adjacent acreage in the UK North Sea in return for Dyas UK Ltd funding exploration and development costs up to a cap of USD182 million, cutting its own development bill for the field by about USD380 million. In a statement, the company said Dyas will acquire a 10% stake in each of the P1430, P2040, P2070, P2077 and P2086 licences by funding the exploration and development work. That will leave Cairn with a 20% interest in the Catcher licence as a whole, but will reduce its capital expenditure in the area to the end of 2017 to USD200 million, down about USD380 million.
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FTSE 250 LOSERS
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Mitchells & Butlers, down 6.3%. The UK pubs and restaurant operator said total sales in the 51 weeks of its financial year grew by 3.8%, helped by better food and drink sales, but said that after strong demand in July following the World Cup, trading conditions in August slumped. In a pre-close trading update, the company said like-for-like sales in the 51 weeks to September 20 were up 0.6%, however it said growth in the nine weeks to September 20 was minimal, up only 0.1% as food sales grew by 0.1% and drink sales declined by 0.2%.

Enterprise Inns, down 2.7%. The weakening sector backdrop has been been unhelpful for the stock, said Shore Capital analyst Gerard Lane.

Vesuvius, down 1.8%. The company has been cut by Numis to Hold, from Add, with a target price of 515p. The stock currently trades at 467.00p.

Ultra Electronics Holdings, down 1.4%. Bank of America Merril Lynch has cut the company's rating to Underperform from Neutral.
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AIM ALL-SHARE WINNERS
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Surface Transforms, up 42%. The carbon ceramic brakes manufacturer said it has signed a pre-production contract with an unnamed international aerospace system supplier for the supply of its carbon ceramic brake discs to a US military aircraft. Surface said the contract will have a modest positive revenue impact in its 2014-15 and 2015-16 financial years, with production sales due to start in the 2016-17 financial year, subject to final qualification and flight testing. The contract has been signed on a rolling three-year basis, and the company estimates sales at contract maturity will be more than GBP1.3 million.

Cellcast, up 18%. The broadcasting company said it swung to a pretax profit in the first-half, thanks to cost cutting and a GBP2.98 million one-off payment from Sony subsidiary Entertainment Networks after Cellcast's exclusive right to manage Freeview channel Movie Mix was ended early. Cellcast posted a pretax profit of GBP2.0 million, compared with a loss of GBP914,824 a year earlier, as revenue rose to GBP9.3 million, from GBP8.3 million, thanks to the one-off payment. Cost of sales fell sharply and administrative expenses were almost halved.

SyQic, up 9.8%. The company expressed confidence for the future after it posted a rise in pretax profit in the half year to end-June, with a more than quadrupling in revenue driven by the recovery of its Indonesian business. It posted a pretax profit of GBP960,000, up from GBP35,000 in the previous year as revenue multiplied to GBP4.6 million, from GBP876,000 a year before. The company said business had improved in Indonesia following the easing of regulatory action on the industry in the middle of 2013.

Proteome Sciences, up 9.2%. The company said its PS Biomarker Services arm has won a contract with Genting TauRx Diagnostic Centre Sdn Bhd to develop diagnostic products. Under the terms of the deal, Proteome will be paid research fees totalling USD2 million in both upfront and milestone payments. In exchange, Genting TauRx will get a licence to Proteome's existing blood biomarkers for Alzheimer's and both companies will share commercialisation rights of the diagnostic assays which are developed.
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AIM ALL-SHARE LOSERS
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Inditherm, off 29%. The company reported that it swung to a pretax loss in the first half of the year as its margins were hit by a shift towards exports and its neonatal intensive care product distribution business, and it warned that the situation was likely to continue. The company posted a pretax loss of GBP173,000 for the six months to end-June, compared with the GBP4,000 profit it made a year earlier when it was buoyed by large orders from the NHS. Its revenue dropped to GBP998,000, from GBP1.0 million, while overheads increased to GBP699,000, from GBP609,000.

Falanx Group, down 14%. The security and risk management consultancy reported its first pretax profit driven by the continued turmoil in the Middle East, and predicted that it will grow significantly over the next five years. The company reported a pretax profit of GBP9,488 for the year to March 31, compared with the GBP81,274 loss it reported a year earlier when it had no revenue. Its revenue in the last financial year was GBP4.4 million. The company said its profit was low because it had spent a significant amount on recruiting new staff, establishing its cyber defence operations, and doing due diligence on potential acquisition targets.

Clean Air Power, down 13%. The company said it had to withdraw its US Genesis EDGE Dual-Fuel test engine from the testing process until it has sorted out issues that were found with the selective catalytic reduction after-treatment system on the base diesel engine. Clean Air Power said in June that the engine had met all Environmental Protection Agency emission requirements in internal testing at its facilities in the UK before It was shipped to Ricardo PLC's US unit for independent testing in preparation for an EPA certification application.

Havelock Europa, down 13%. The office and buildings interiors provider said its loss was steady in the first half, but revenue declined amid challenges for its education unit in particular, and it said its full-year results will be dependent on the fourth quarter. The pretax loss in the six months to June 30 was flat at GBP2 million, as cost cutting offset a fall in revenue to GBP32.5 million, from GBP34.2 million a year earlier. The fall was attributed to anticipated declines in business from the education sector and a quieter period for its financial services operation. Delays to the school-building programme resulted in a 6% fall in revenues for the company's Interiors arm to GBP29.5 million from GBP31.3 million a year earlier.
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By Neil Thakrar; neilthakrar@alliancenews.com

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