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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Easyjet, up 2.8%. The low-cost carrier was upgraded by RBC Capital to Outperform from Underperform. Easyjet was taking back some of the losses from Friday, when it fell 1.7% after reporting growth in passenger numbers in April year-on-year, but a decline in load factor.
Smith & Nephew, up 2.1%. Jefferies lifted its recommendation on the medical devices maker to Buy from Hold.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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Miners - Anglo America, down 5.5%, Rio Tinto, down 3.9%, Antofagasta, down, 3.9%, Glencore, down 3.9, Fresnillo, down 3.4%, BHP Billiton, down 2.3% and Randgold Resources, down, 1.8%. The stocks were trading lower after weak trade data from China. The Asian giant's exports decreased unexpectedly in April after rising sharply in the previous month, and imports fell at a faster-than-expected pace. Exports dropped 1.8% year-over-year in April, while they were expected to remain flat. Imports plunged 10.9% in April from a year ago, much faster than the 4.0% fall expected by economists.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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G4S, up 7.3%. The outsourcer said it had a positive start to 2016, with revenue growing and no new provisions booked on onerous contracts. Ashley Almanza, the chief executive of G4S, said the group performed well in the first quarter against a backdrop of macroeconomic uncertainty. This, he said, was reflected by revenue in the first quarter to the end of March growing to GBP1.51 billion from GBP1.44 billion in continuing businesses.
Greggs, up 4.8%. The bakery and food-to-go retailer said it increased sales in the first 18 weeks of 2016 as its breakfast and healthier Balanced Choice ranges continued to prove popular and as it carried on refitting and investing in its store estate. The group said total sales in the 18 weeks grew by 5.7% year-on-year, while company-managed shop like-for-like sales were up by 3.7%, which it said was driven by its breakfast range, hot sandwiches and Balanced Choice items. " Brokers cheered Gregg's trading update, with Investec and Shore Capital saying it represents "a good start to the year", and N+1 Singer expecting the figures to help the stock recover some of the ground lost since the start of 2016. The shares remain down 15% in the year so far.
Beazley, up 3.6%. The insurer was upgraded to Outperform from Market-Perform by Bernstein.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Dignity, down 1.7%. The funeral services provider said trading in the first quarter was in line with its expectations as the number of deaths in the UK fell as anticipated. The company said revenue for the 13 weeks to March 25 was GBP81.2 million, compared to GBP85.5 million a year earlier. Underlying operating profit, which strips out one-offs, slipped to GBP31.1 million from GBP35.8 million.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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Bango, up 21% at 57.99 pence. The mobile payments company said it has agreed a cash-and-shares takeover of US-based carrier billing services provider BilltoMobile from Danal. Bango will acquire BilltoMobile for USD3.5 million, comprising USD3.0 million in cash and USD500,000 in Bango shares, which will be issued at 60.00 pence per share. Bango said the acquisition will add around USD80.0 million of end-user spend to its books, based on BilltoMobile's results for 2015. The deal also will give app stores and US-based merchants access to Bango's Boost technology, boosting Bango's presence in the US market.
Imagination Technologies Group, up 13%. The chipmaker disclosed in a regulatory filing that Chinese state-backed technology conglomerate Tsinghua Unigroup International Co bought a 3.0% stake in the company. Tsinghua Unigroup, speaking to Reuters in November last year, said it plans to spend USD47.0 billion in the next five years in a push to become the world's third-largest chipmaker. Tsinghua Unigroup last August made a USD23.0 billion informal offer to buy US-based Micron Technology, which was rejected, and has already bought stakes in US data storage group Western Digital Corp and Taiwan-based Powertech Technology.
K&C Reit, up 14% at 8.00p. The residential property company said it has agreed to purchase property company The Osprey Management Co for GBP1.6 million, payable in cash and shares. The company said under the agreement, which took place on Friday, it will purchase the entire share capital of Osprey Management from the company's Managing Director, Susan Hards. K&C said the GBP1.6 million payment for the company will comprise of GBP1.3 million in cash and the issuance of 3.0 million K&C shares at 10.00p per share to Hards.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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Opera Investments, off 33%. The investment trust said its reverse takeover of SoloPower Systems Holdings Inc has been terminated and its shares will resume trading. Opera struck a deal in July 2015 to acquire SoloPower, a US-based solar energy company, via a GBP220.0 million reverse takeover deal with Hudson Clean Energy Partners, a US private equity firm. Opera said it has now received notification from Hudson that SoloPower will seek to fund itself without the need for a public offering or London listing, meaning the acquisition will be terminated. Shares in Opera had been suspended while the reverse takeover was negotiated.
Premier Veterinary Group, down 10%. The veterinary practices operator said its pretax profit widened in the first half of its financial year, as it refocused on its preventive healthcare programme, Pet Care Plan, but it did make a large gain on the disposal of its remaining veterinary practices. The company said its pretax loss almost doubled to GBP1.1 million in the six months to March 31, compared with GBP570,000 for the same period a year earlier. The wider loss came despite a rise in revenue to GBP1.4 million from GBP1.1 million, as administrative expenses nearly doubled to GBP2.2 million from GBP1.2 million a year earlier.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com; @ArvindBhunjun
Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
23 Jun 2015 15:23