ROSE.L Share News (ROSE)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices midday Wednesday.

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FTSE 100 - WINNERS

Prudential, up 4%. The group reported a sharp fall in 2013 pretax profits due to short-term fluctuations on investment returns, but its closely-watched operating profit grew by 17%, driven by its US operations. Prudential also increased its dividend by 15%. Separately, it said it has signed a new 15-year agreement with Standard Chartered that will see a wide range of Prudential's life insurance products exclusively distributed through the emerging markets-focused bank's branches in a number of markets, including Hong Kong and Singapore. The two companies also will look to collaborate in other parts of Asia and Africa.

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FTSE 100 - LOSERS

G4S, down 4.5%. The outsourcing company said it swung to a loss in 2013 as it booked GBP386 million in charges and restructuring costs related to its problems with UK government contracts. It posted a pretax loss of GBP170 million for 2013, compared with a profit of GBP158 million in 2012. Its net loss was GBP362 million, compared with a GBP40 million profit. Excluding the charges, its closely-watched profit before interest, tax and amortisation was down 6% at GBP442 million, while the figure was up 2.8% at constant currencies. Its revenues rose to GBP7.43 billion, from GBP7.24 billion.

Standard Chartered, down 3.8%, Meggitt, down 3.5%, British American Tobacco, down 3.4%, Hammerson, down 3.1%, Land Securities, down 2.7%, Hargreaves Lansdown, down 2.5%, and HSBC Holdings, down 2.1%. The companies are amongst the leading fallers in the blue-chip index after going ex-dividend, meaning new buyers no longer qualify for the latest dividend payout.

Glencore Xstrata, down 2.4%. The major mining and commodities trading company's shares have been hit by a collapse in the price of copper. The price of copper has fallen to multi-year lows in recent sessions on both the London Metal Exchange and the Shanghai futures market, due to concerns about economic growth in China.

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FTSE 250 - WINNERS

Hikma Pharmaceuticals, up 2.2%. The group has proposed a final special dividend and raised its total dividend, as it saw pretax profit jump in 2013. Pretax profit was USD298 million, up from USD132 million in 2012, as revenue rose to USD1.37 billion from USD1.11 billion. The company posted a total dividend of 20.0 cents per share, up from 16.0 cents in the previous year. It also announced a special dividend final dividend of 4.0 cents, bringing its total special dividend for the year to 7.0 cents. Additionally, Hikma said it had made a good start to the year, and it expects to deliver group revenue growth of 5% in 2014.

Ferrexpo, up 1.8%. The iron ore producer said its pretax profit increased in its full year 2013 due to strong revenues and that there are currently no disruptions to its operations in Ukraine despite the ongoing political upheaval in the country. The group, which operates solely in Ukraine, said its pretax profit increased 15% to USD305.4 million from USD265.7 million in the previous year as revenues increased 11% to USD1.58 billion from USD1.42 billion in 2012. Additionally, it said that there is currently no disruptions to its operations in Ukraine, following the change of leadership in the country and ongoing crisis in the Crimea region.

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FTSE 250 - LOSERS

Kenmare Resources, down 5.7%. The titanium producer said it swung to a pretax loss in the full year 2013, as revenues fell significantly on lower commodity prices and as it focused on the development of its Moma investment during the period. It posted a pretax loss of USD42.1 million in 2013, compared with a pretax profit of USD52.8 million the previous year, as revenues fell 41% to USD137.9 million from USD234.6 million in 2012. It said its revenues fell as the weighted average product price the company received in 2013 dropped 31%.

Direct Line Insurance Group, down 4.8%, and Serco Group, down 3.7%, are two more companies that have gone ex-dividend.

Ocado Group, down 3%. The online grocer is a big faller despite reporting that group gross sales rose 23% in the first trading quarter of its new financial year, driven by an 18% increase in average orders per week. Shore Capital analyst Clive Black remains convinced that Ocado's business model will not work, and that in time, "there is a greater likelihood than not that both Waitrose and WM Morrison Supermarket will walk away from the company." Furthermore, Ocado's update comes before the expected commencement of a step up in pricing activity in the industry, says Black.

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AIM - WINNERS

Pentagon Protection, up 22%. The security and energy savings company's shares have jumped after it announced GBP555,000 of new contract wins.

Nyota Minerals, up 12%. AIM-listed KEFI Minerals said it has increased the total JORC compliant resources at its newly acquired Tulu Kapi project in Ethiopia. It updated its total indicated and inferred resource to 24.1 million tonnes at 2.64 grams per tonne, increasing its total resource to 2.1 million ounces of gold at the site from 1.9 million ounces previously. KEFI holds a 75% interest in the site, while Nyota Minerals holds the other 25% interest. KEFI's shares are quoted flat.

Hummingbird Resources, up 11%. The group said a new mineral resources estimate carried out at the Tuzon deposit on its Dugbe 1 project in Liberia had materially increased the resource grade, size and indicated ounces in the deposit.

Rose Petroleum, up 10%. The group said it had now completed the acquisition of its new hydrocarbon exploration concession in Bavaria, Germany, after the statutory period for legal challenges against the licenses expired. The licence is both a conventional and unconventional oil play, meaning that hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, may be used on the site, pending certain regulatory changes.

Amara Mining, up 10%. The gold mining company has announced the results of its preliminary economic assessment at its 100%-owned Yaoure Gold Project in Ivory Coast, confirming opportunity for strong returns. It said it expects to produce an average annual 325,000 ounces over a 12-year initial life of mine at Yaoure from a single open pit mine scenario containing 4.2 million ounces. It expects to produce an average annual 325,000 ounces over a 12-year initial life of mine at Yaoure from a single open pit mine scenario containing 4.2 million ounces.

Karelian Diamond Resources, up 8%. The Finnish diamond explorer said it has been granted three more exploration claim reservations by Finnish authorities. A claim reservation gives the company exclusive rights to apply for exploration claims within the reservation area.

Ceres Power Holdings, up 5.3%. The fuel-cell technology company said its pretax loss narrowed significantly in its first-half as improved revenues and reduced costs helped the company. Its pretax profit narrowed to GBP3.8 million for the six months to the end of December 2013, compared to a GBP8.4 million loss in the previous year, as revenues increased 78% to GBP895,000 from GBP502,000 in 2012.

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AIM - LOSERS

Wolf Minerals, off 10%. The metals exploration and development company said its shares on the Australian Securities Exchange have been placed in a trading halt at the company's request. It asked for the suspension in order to allow a capital raise to take place, which will include its major shareholders Resource Capital Funds VLP and TTI Ltd.

CloudBuy, down 8%. The company posted a widened pretax loss for 2013, despite seeing revenue rise, as costs jumped up primarily due to its launch in Asia Pacific. It posted a pretax loss of GBP936,417, widened from a pretax loss of GBP849,502 in the previous year, as higher administrative expenses and share based payments offset a rise in revenue to GBP3.0 million from GBP2.2 million.

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

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