LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Wednesday.----------FTSE 100 - WINNERS----------Standard Life Aberdeen, up 2.9%. The asset manager is to end its co-chief executive structure, which was formed as a result of the merger between Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management in 2017. Keith Skeoch, former head of Standard Life, will become the sole chief executive officer with his co-CEO Martin Gilbert, founder and former head of Aberdeen, to take up the role of vice chair. "The decision to stop having two chief executives is definitely a good start as it should bring a tighter focus at the top of the company," said AJ Bell's Russ Mould. However, for 2018, the company reported assets under management and administration from continuing operations of GBP551.5 billion, down 9.3% from GBP608.1 billion at the end of 2017. Standard Life proposed a final dividend of 14.3p per share, bringing its total for the year to 21.6p, up 1.4% on 2017. The company intends to maintain its 2018 dividend during "the period of transformation", which the company said is 75% complete.----------FTSE 100 - LOSERS----------Hikma Pharmaceuticals, down 4.8%. The generic drugmaker's shares fell after annual earnings missed consensus estimates. For 2018, revenue was USD2.07 billion, a 6.7% increase from USD1.94 billion in 2017, which Hikma said reflected strong demand for its in-market products and new launches. Company-compiled consensus was for revenue of USD2.10 billion, putting Hikma's actual result just behind. Core operating profit was USD460 million 19% above its core operating profit of USD386 million in 2017, but 2.3% less than the USD471 million consensus. Hikma posted a pretax profit of USD293 million for the year, swinging from a pretax loss of USD738 million in 2017. The company declared a final dividend per share of 26 cents, taking the full-year dividend to 38 cents for the year. This is 12% higher than its dividend of 34 cents per share for 2017.----------WM Morrison Supermarkets, down 1.0%. The supermarket chain reported a fall in annual profit, but sales met analysts expectations amid strong like-for-like growth. For the year ended February 3, the UK's fourth biggest supermarket by market share posted pretax profit down 16% to GBP320 million from GBP380 million a year ago, as the company incurred some extra costs from investment in new store-pick capability and the roll-out of its wholesale supply deal with McColl's Retail Group. After rolling out its deal with McColl's, Morrisons said it was able to meet GBP700 million of annualised wholesale supply sales ahead of its initial guidance. Looking ahead, the supermarket said it expects to begin its supply to a further 300 McColl's stores by the end of 2019, as it remains on track to meet GBP1.00 billion wholesale supply sales "in due course". McColl's Retail was down 3.8%. ----------FTSE 250 - WINNERS----------Provident Financial, up 1.5%. The subprime lender swung to a profit in 2018 after making "immense progress" in the year as it continues to face regulatory pressure and a hostile takeover from smaller peer Non-Standard Finance. In 2018, Provident swung to a pretax profit of GBP90.7 million from a GBP147.9 million loss in 2017, on revenue of GBP1.12 billion and GBP1.20 million, respectively. Provident declared a nominal dividend of 10.0 pence per share for 2018, having paid none in 2017. For 2019, it intends to pay an interim dividend for 2019 in September and a final dividend in May 2020. Provident did not give any updates on the "unsolicited" offer from Non-Standard Finance, reiterating its belief that the offer "undervalues" Provident and presents a "significant" operational and execution risk. ----------FTSE 250 - LOSERS----------Avast, down 5.1%. The antivirus computer software company said it had a "successful" first year as a public company, while also saying its chief executive plans to step down. It was Avast's first annual results since its May 2018 stock market float and subsequent promotion to the FTSE 250 index. For 2018, Avast swung to a USD192.5 million profit from a USD28.9 million loss reported in 2017. This was on the back of revenue rising to USD808.3 million from USD652.9 million, while costs remained broadly stable on the prior year. Avast declared an 8.6 cents ordinary dividend for the period from May 15 to December 31, in line with its intention at the time of its IPO. Meanwhile, the company also said Steckler is to step down on June 30 as CEO and be replaced by president of the Consumer business, Ondrej Vlcek. The Consumer segment is Avast's largest unit. "Solid 2018 results with sales up 8.3% will likely be overshadowed by news of CEO Steckler's retirement," said UBS. ----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS----------Charles Taylor, up 2.6%. The insurance market professional services provider declared a 5% rise in its total dividend for 2018 as revenue saw double-digit growth. Charles Taylor declared a final dividend of 8.08 pence per share, bringing the total payout to 11.56p, up 5.0% from 11.01p the year before. Revenue for the period grew by 25% to GBP263.6 million from GBP210.8 million the year before, driven by strong performances in all segments, particularly the new InsureTech division. Looking ahead, Charles Taylor said it has made a good start to 2019, with its full-year performance set to be in line with market expectations.----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS----------Red Emperor, down 84%, 88 Energy, down 37%, Pantheon Resources, down 24%. The partners in the Winx-1 well in the North Slope of Alaska reported disappointing results from wireline logging. Among London-listed companies, 88 Energy is the operator of the licence with a 36% stake, Red Emperor Resources owns a 31.5% interest, and Pantheon Resources has 10%. The companies said a provisional petrophysical analysis of logging program indicates low oil saturations. Moreover, testing and fluid sampling indicates that reservoir quality and fluid mobility is insufficient to warrant production testing.----------
2 Mar 2015 08:36
