(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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Diageo, up 2.0%. Kepler Cheuvreux raised the brewer and distiller to Buy from Hold.
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SSE, up 1.5%. Barclays upgraded the energy company to Overweight from Equal Weight.
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Compass Group, up 1.3%, Deutsche Bank started coverage on the contract caterer with a Hold rating.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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Royal Dutch Shell 'A', down 0.7%, Shell 'B', down 0.8%. The oil major was tracking spot oil prices lower quoted at USD56.20 a barrel Monday, down from USD56.86 late Friday.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Future, up 7.8%. The magazine publisher expects its annual results to be ahead of market expectations despite uncertainty in the macro-economic environment. Future said it had strong trading momentum in the four-month period ended January 31, and as a result anticipates results for its financial year ending September 30 to be "materially ahead of current market expectations". Future said that in the four month period to the end of January, audience members in its media division grew, resulting in strong organic revenue growth. The company also said it has seen improved conversion of higher margin revenue in both eCommerce and digital display advertising. Additionally, it said its cash position at the end of the period remained ahead of board expectations. On Friday, Future shares had dropped 16% after research house ShadowFall said it had shorted the stock, saying Future "is little more than a collection of generally low quality, often distinct and shrinking assets which carries significant execution risk".
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TalkTalk Telecom Group, up 3.2%. HSBC raised the home phone and broadband provider to Hold from Reduce.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Aston Martin Lagonda, down 5.4% at 471.65 pence. Goldman Sachs cut its price target on the luxury carmaker to 390p from 520p.
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Savills, down 2.7%. UBS cut the estate agent to Neutral from Buy.
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OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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Ryanair Holdings, up 4.0%. The Irish carrier swung to a third-quarter net profit on a strong Christmas period. Revenue for the quarter ended December 31 came in at EUR1.91 billion, up 21% from EUR1.58 billion a year ago, in what is a seasonally weak period for airlines, while net profit came in at EUR88 million from a EUR66 million loss a year before. Ryanair reported passenger growth of 6% to 35.9 million from 33.8 million, while its passenger load factor was 96%, up from 95% a year previous. Ryanair expects annual earnings in financial 2020 to be at the mid-point of its latest profit after tax guidance. Earlier this month, Ryanair upped its annual profit after tax guidance range to between EUR950 million and EUR1.1 billion. "Given the strong performance of rivals such as easyJet, it was widely anticipated that Ryanair would do well too. Ryanair has also done a good job controlling costs, and non-fuel costs per seat were only up 1%. This is positive news, as even in a benign environment not everyone has managed to keep spending in check," said Hargreaves Lansdown's Will Ryder. Peer easyJet was up 1.0%.
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OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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NAHL Group, down 42%. The National Accident Helpline owner suspended its dividend payment and said 2019 underlying earnings will be between 7.5% and 10% lower than board's expectations due to a challenging environment. The company lowered its outlook for 2020 and said it will slow the deployment of capital in its Personal Injury business in order to "de-risk the group in the light of market circumstances". In 2018, the company recorded an underlying operating profit of GBP12.1 million. Total dividend for 2018 amounted to 8.9 pence per share. The Kettering, England-based company said its Residential Property unit made a small loss in 2019 due to further contraction in the property market. The Personal Injury unit also saw fewer claims in the period due to competitive pressures, it added.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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