LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the biggest risers and fallers within the main London indices midday Monday.
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FTSE 100 WINNERS
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Petrofac, up 1.8%. Barclays has raised the company's rating to Overweight, from Equal Weight, saying that the company's core market has come back following a slowdown in 2011-2012. Barclays has left its price target unchanged at 1,500 pence, seeing a 43% upside potential. Petrofac currently trades at 1,067p.
SSE, up 0.4%. UBS has raised the energy distribution company's price target to 1,740 pence, from 1,620p, saying that the Scottish 'No' vote has removed a significant risk that had been overhanging SSE's shares. The company currently trades at 1,529p.
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FTSE 100 LOSERS
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Tesco, down 7.3%. Britain's biggest supermarket chain says it overstated its first half pretax profit guidance by GBP250 million, and it has suspended four executives while it undertakes a thorough investigation into the issue. In its first public announcement under new Chief Executive Dave Lewis, the grocer said the profit guidance overstatement for the six months to August 23 was due to the "accelerated recognition of commercial income and delayed accrual of costs". Last month, Tesco said trading profit for the first half ending August 23 would be about GBP1.1 billion. "We have asked four people in the organisation to step aside. I want to confirm that has nothing to do with disciplinary. I am not going to talk about named individuals," Lewis told journalists. He said that the problem with the audit figures was uncovered on Friday, after an "informed employee" bought it to the attention of the general counsel.
Rio Tinto, down 3%, Anglo American, down 2.7%, Antofagasta, down 2.1%, BHP Billiton, down 2%, and Fresnillo, down 1.7%. The miners are down after Chinese iron ore futures fell 4% to a multi-year low of CNY558 per tonne overnight. Liberum Capital says the fall indicates that the delivered price of iron ore into China should drop below the key support of USD80 a tonne. The price decline follows weekend comments from China's finance minister, Lou Jiwei, that any weakness in a single economic indicator will not change the government's economic policies, reiterating comments made by Premier Li Keqiang last week and dashing hopes for any short-term stimulus to support demand. Precious metal prices also have continued lower, with gold reaching USD1,207.76 overnight, its lowest level since January 2, and silver reaching USD17.31 per ounce, its lowest level in more than four-years.
Glencore, down 2.9%. The commodity giant has also been hit hard by the fall in iron ore prioces, but London Mining separately said it was in dispute with Glencore over a cash prepayment it claims the FTSE 100-listed group has refused to pay and said it was considering its options on the offtake agreement it has with Glencore, including potentially terminating the deal.
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FTSE 250 WINNERS
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Electra Private Equity, up 0.9%. The company has struck back in the war of words with Sherborne Investors, as the private equity investment trust accused the activist shareholder of making "unverifiable statements" and "unsubstantiated claims" ahead of a general meeting next month. Electra Private Equity's response comes after Sherborne, which has built up a 20% stake in the investment trust, last week claimed the trust's value could be increased by more than GBP1.0 billion with "lower risks and less volatility" than under its current strategy. The activist shareholder also criticised the trust's performance against the FTSE 250 index of small- and medium-sized listed companies, its strategy, allegedly high investment expenses, and its utilisation of borrowing.
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FTSE 250 LOSERS
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Laird, down 2.4%. The electronics and technology firm said Chief Financial Officer Jonathan Silver will be stepping down from the role at next years' annual general meeting after nearly 29 years with the company. Silver will leave the company upon conclusion of Laird's AGM on May 8, 2015. The company said he will work closely with Chief Executive David Lockwood on the appointment of a successor to ensure a smooth transition.
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AIM ALL-SHARE WINNERS
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Coal Of Africa, up 19%. The company said it will sell the Mooiplaats Colliery in South Africa to a subsidiary of Blackspear Holdings Proprietary Ltd for ZAR250 million. Coal of Africa said the sale of Mooiplaats was one of the two remaining priorities under its five-point turnaround strategy. The only remaining target to resolve is the funding of, and regulatory approvals for, the Makhado coking coal project in South Africa.
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AIM ALL-SHARE LOSERS
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MoPowered Group, off 65%. The mobile commerce company said it has raised GBP3.5 million in a heavily-discounted share placing. It issued 70 million shares at 5 pence each, a 75% discount to its middle market share price of 20.25 pence on Friday, the last business day prior to the announcement of the share placing. The proceeds from the placing will be used to strengthen its balance sheet and accelerate growth via sales and marketing activities.
Publishing Technology, down 17%. The software and services company has warned that it expects its results for 2014 to be "significantly below market expectations," and to extend the loss reported in its first-half, as a result of one-off costs to realign the business. The company has undertaken a strategic review under its new Chief Executive Officer Michael Cairns, and as a result has implemented a new strategy targeting over GBP25 million in revenue, with a 20% profit before interest and tax in the next five years. Publishing Technology expects to see profit fall by around GBP1 million this year, and will post one-off costs including restructuring of GBP300,000, investments of GBP300,000 to support its Chinese operations, GBP400,000 of development costs for its pub2web product and GBP300,000 in bad debts relating to a US client who is in default.
Red Leopard, down 16%. The company is down despite recording revenue and a slightly narrowed pretax loss for the half-year to the end of June. Red Leopard's pretax loss was GBP80,662, slightly narrower than the GBP80,977 posted in the comparable period a year earlier, as it booked GBP14,594 in revenue compared with nothing in the first half of 2013. The revenue just offset a rise in costs. The company said it has been working with the US Bureau of Land Management regarding the reopening of operations at the Idora Tunnel in order to allow the company to continue exploring its mining claims in the Shoshone County area of Idaho.
Fox Marble Holdings, down 12%. The marble quarrying company said its sales figures were "below expectations" for the first-half, but it expects improvements in production and sales now that its quarries are fully operational. The company reported revenue of EUR34,000 in the six months ended June 30, after introductory sales were made to customers in the US, Europe and the UK, but revenue development is still in its initial stages, it said. The company generated no revenue in the first half of 2013. Fox Marble's pretax loss widened slightly to EUR1.2 million in the six months ended June 30, compared with EUR1.1 million in the first-half of 2013.
Leyshon Energy, down 9.1%. The company said that the results received so far from two wells at the Zijinshan gas project were below its expectations and it said it remains in talks to buy oil and gas assets in China having seen three deals fall by the wayside so far. Leyshon said flow testing on three zones at Well ZJS7 is underway but the flows from all zones tested so far have been discontinuous, with work now ongoing to establish more consistent gas flows from the well. Results from the well indicate water production along with gas production in the tested zones, which Leyshon said may be inhibiting gas flow and preventing the company from establishing commercial flow rates.
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By Neil Thakrar; neilthakrar@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2014 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
29 Jun 2016 10:34
