RMP.L Share News (RMP)

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

Barclays, up 2.7%. Numis has upgraded the bank to Add from Hold, increasing its price target to 280.00 pence from 274.00p, noting an improved gross leverage outlook and the better macro-economic outlook in Europe.

Kingfisher, up 2.1%. The home-improvement retailer's share price has jumped on the back of an upbeat trading statement from its smaller peer, FTSE 250-listed Home Retail Group.

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FTSE 100 - LOSERS

WM Morrison Supermarkets, down 7.4%, J Sainsbury, down 7.3%, and Tesco, down 4.4%. Shares in the food retailers have plummeted after Morrisons reported a 13% decline in underlying profits in its recent financial year and a swing to pretax loss on big exceptional charges. Morrisons also joined the supermarket price war after it announced significant cost-cutting measures, following similar measures by Tesco and Sainsbury's. It warned that, for the current financial year, it is expecting to earn little better than half of what it recorded in the financial year just ended as the challenging consumer and market environment continues.

G4S, down 2.8%. After falling 5.3% on Wednesday after it revealed that it swung to a loss in 2013, the outsourcing company is again a big loser Thursday. The group has been hit by a sequence of negative price target revisions. Panmure Gordon has lowered its price target to 185.00p, down from 200.00p, JPMorgan Cazenove has cut it to 288.00p from 310.00p, Citigroup has dropped it to 250.00p from 270.00p, and Goldman Sachs has lowered it to 175.00p from 193.00p.

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FTSE 250 - WINNERS

Home Retail Group, up 5.3%. The home and general merchandise retailer said it now expects group "benchmark" pretax profit for 2013 to beat the top-end of current market expectations of GBP107 million to GBP111 million after it reported strong like-for-like sales growth from both its Argos and Homebase chains for the financial year just ended.

Bwin.party Digital Entertainment, up 4.5%. The company swung to a profit in 2013 thanks partly to much bigger cost reductions than it had targeted. The company reported a pretax profit of GBP44.9 million for the year, compared with a GBP23.5 million loss in 2012, mainly thanks to a EUR83.8 million gain related to the settlement of certain legal and regulatory disputes. However, profits were also lifted by cost-cutting. It cut costs by EUR97 million in 2013, well above its target for savings of EUR70 million.

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FTSE 250 - LOSERS

Northgate, down 6%. The commercial vehicle rental company is a big loser despite saying that it remains in a strong financial position and is trading in line with expectations. Numis analyst Mike Murphy attributes the decline to profit taking, saying that the company's shares have experienced a strong run since the beginning of December. Prior to the announcement, Northgate's shares had jumped 40% since the start of December.

Ocado Group, down 3%. The online grocery retailer, which has recently launched a joint partnership with Morrisons, has been knocked by Morrisons disappointing 2013 full-year results.

Riverstone Energy, down 2.2%. The energy investment vehicle's shares have dropped after it said it has invested up to USD82 million in Fieldwood Energy LLC and up to USD83 million in Rock Oil Holdings LLC.

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AIM - WINNERS

Webis Holdings, up 11%. The gaming and technology firm's subsidiary WatchandWager.com has signed an agreement with the Hong Kong Jockey Club Horse Race Betting Limited. Webis said that both parties have the option to renew the agreement for the 2014/15 racing season.

MDM Engineering Group, up 10%. The engineering group has received a GBP65.3 million cash takeover offer from Foster Wheeler AG, which it is recommending shareholders to accept. Under the deal, Foster Wheeler's subsidiary Foster Wheeler M&M Ltd will acquire all of the ordinary shares in MDM for an offer price of 170 pence per share, subject to shareholder and regulatory approval. MDM shares are currently quoted at 163.5p.

Eland Oil & Gas, up up 7%. The company said its Nigerian joint venture is set to get a significant reduction in its underlying tax rates after it made good progress in talks about its tax status with the relevant Nigerian government departments.

Premier African Minerals, up 6%. The natural resource company said assay results from drilling on the RHA Tungsten Project in Zimbabwe have shown high-grade tungsten oxide results. Results from six holes studying the Lode 2A mineralised zone all intersected mineralisation with inspection showing high grade results of up to 359 kilograms per tonne of tungsten oxide in assay and 154 kilograms per tonne in composite.

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AIM - LOSERS

Triple Plate Junction, off 18%. The gold exploration company's shares are down after it signed an exploration information database agreement with Newmont Exploration Pty Ltd. Under the deal, Triple Plate will be granted access to Newmont's proprietary database covering various exploration activities in Myanmar, Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia and Cambodia for an initial period of two years.

Gulf Keystone Petroleum, down 9.8%. The oil and gas company's shares have fallen after a new report on its Kurdistan reserves and contingent resources indicated a baseline of 12.5 billion barrels of oil in place, at the lower end of previous estimates. Previous estimates put Shaikan’s oil in place between 12.4 billion and 15 billion barrels.

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By James Kemp; jameskemp@alliancenews.com; @jamespkemp

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