RPS.L Share News (RPS)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are amongst the biggest risers and fallers within the main London indices midday Thursday.
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FTSE 100 WINNERS
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Weir Group, up 1.5%. Merrill Lynch has raised the engineering company to Neutral from Underperform, with a price target increase to 1,880.00 pence from 1,500.00p. The stock currently trades at 1,864.00p.

Royal Dutch Shell 'B', up 1.1%. The oil and gas major said its pretax profit fell as expected in the first quarter of 2015 after its upstream division took a substantial hit from the fall in oil prices which was partially offset by an improved performance from the downstream division. It said it has further cut its capital investment budget and reduced costs as part of its ongoing cost control programme. However, the company's current cost of supply earnings excluding divestment gains, tax credits and other items of USD3.2 billion came in 35% ahead of consensus according to analysts.

Tesco, up 1.0%. UBS has initiated the supermarket at Buy with a 260.00 pence price target. The stock currently trades at 222.65p.
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FTSE 100 LOSERS
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ITV, down 4.9%, Centrica, down 4.1%, Fresnillo, down 1.5%, Reed Elsevier, down 1.4%, and Merlin Entertainments, down 1.3%. The stocks are down after going ex-dividend, meaning new buyers no longer qualify for the latest dividend payouts.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group, down 2.5%. The bank said it swung to a first-quarter net loss, as revenue fell and operating expenses rose due to GBP856 million in litigation and conduct costs and GBP453 million in restructuring costs. RBS said it made a GBP446 million net loss in the three months ended March 31, compared with a net profit of GBP1.20 billion in the corresponding quarter of the prior year.

International Consolidated Airlines Group, down 1.8%. The owner of British Airways and Spanish airlines Iberia and Vueling reported its first ever first-quarter operating profit, as all three of its airlines reported an improved performance and it was buoyed by the earlier timing of Easter and lower fuel prices, and it kept its guidance for the year as a whole. However, London Capital Group dealer Will Heden says while the first-time profit will bring cheer to investors, the strong recent share price performance of the shares leaves it open to profit taking. IAG shares are up 13% year-to-date.
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FTSE 250 WINNERS
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Zoopla Property Group, up 13%. The property portal diversified into the online price comparison market, saying it will buy Ulysses Enterprises Ltd, the operator of the uSwitch energy, telecoms and financial products comparison site for up to GBP190 million. It will pay GBP160 million initially on a cash-free, debt free basis, and the a performance-based earn-out of up to GBP30 million.

MoneySupermarket.com, up 2.3%. The price comparison website reported a 25% rise in revenue in the first quarter, with improvements across its price comparison lines and good trading in its MoneySavingExpert.com and TravelSupermarket.com divisions. It said group revenue in the three months to the end of March was GBP76.6 million, up 25% year-on-year. Within the Moneysupermarket.com portal, insurance revenue rose 12%, money revenue rose 24%, and its home services business revenue more than doubled.
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FTSE 250 LOSERS
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Ophir Energy, down 10%. The oil and gas explorer's shares are trading lower after Kulczyk Investments SA sold its entire 8% holding in the company at a discount. Kulczyk sold 56.6 million shares in the company for 140 pence per share, raising a total of 79.3 million. Ophir shares currently trade at 145.1384p.

RPS Group, down 8.9%. The energy and environmental consultancy said it has struck a deal to acquire Norway's Metier Holding AS and said its energy business has had a slower-than-expected start to the year as tough conditions in the oil market dragged on its performance. RPS said it will pay NOK267 million, or around USD22.3 million, in cash to acquire Metier, an Oslo-based project management and training services provider.

James Fisher & Sons, down 8.0%. The marine engineering services company said its Marine Support, Specialist Technical and Tankships units have started 2015 in line with hopes but its Oil Offshore arm has taken a hit from the weak conditions in the oil and gas market, with the company expecting a weaker first half due to one-off contract wins secured a year earlier.

Berendsen, down 4.5%. The textile service company said Chief Executive Officer Peter Ventress will retire from end-July, and it has appointed James Drummond to take up the role from the start of August, as it traded in line with its expectations in its first quarter. Drummond previously acted as chief executive of Avincis Group, which was acquired by Babcock International Group last May, and prior to that chief executive of Invensys' Rail division.

Rexam, down 2.7%, Polymetal International, down 2.4%, Cobham, down 2.3%, William Hill, down 1.9%, and Card Factory, down 1.9%. The companies have gone ex-dividend.

Booker Group, down 2.4%. UBS has initiated the food wholesaler at Sell, with a 140.00p price target. Booker Group currently trades at 145.45p.

Fidessa Group, down 2.0%. The financial software and services company reiterated its expectations for a gradual increase in growth rate in 2015 from the level it achieved in 2014, and said that in the longer term it believes stability and opportunity will increasingly return to markets. It said that systemic risks and pressures have remained in the financial markets, but gradual improvements in market conditions that it saw in 2014 have continued into 2015.
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AIM ALL-SHARE WINNERS
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Thor Mining, up 20%. The company said it said it will fully own the Spring Hill gold project in northern Australia after agreeing to acquire the remaining equity stake it did not already own. Thor has agreed to buy the 49% stake in the project held by WDR Gold Pty Ltd, a subsidiary entity of Western Desert Resources Ltd, after it went into liquidation for AUD210,000.

Alkane Energy, up 16%. The gas-to-power producer said the improved trading conditions seen at the end of 2014 have continued in the early months of the new year. Overall output in the first quarter was up 26% to 60 gigawatt hours, compared to 48 gigawatt hours a year earlier. Revenue in its generation business is up 43% in the quarter, boosted by the higher output and by system payments made to the company following its move into power response last year.
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AIM ALL-SHARE LOSERS
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Optare, off 54%. The bus and coach manufacturer said it will de-list from AIM because it's not getting any benefit from being a listed company.

Ubisense Group, down 19%. The software company said it is talks with its broker Numis Securities over a potential equity fundraising to strengthen its balance sheet, as it may not be able to recover an expected shortfall in revenue caused by contract delays in its second half.

JQW, down 19%. The Chinese business-to-business e-commerce platform confirmed the strong growth in 2014 revenue it had flagged back in February, but said profits grew by less as margins fell due to a higher proportion of sales being made through agents. The company also warned that its market has become tougher due to the slowing growth in the country's economy, although it said it has so far been able to react positively and said trading so far in 2015 has been positive.

William Sinclair, down 12%. The horticultural products company said it still expects its full-year results to be materially weaker, despite a pick-up in trading. The company said its trading has picked up in line with seasonal variations, but said it expects its underlying result for the year to be materially weaker year-on-year and said a material level of costs is building related to its Ellesmere Port operation ramp-up.
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By Neil Thakrar; neilthakrar@alliancenews.com; @NeilThakrar1

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