Scholium Group Share News (SCHO)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are amongst the biggest risers and fallers within the main London indices midday Monday.
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FTSE 100 WINNERS
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Fresnillo, up 2.2%, and Randgold Resources, up 0.8%. The gold miners are trading higher as the price of gold has regained ground. The metal currently trades at USD1,241.72 an ounce, having hit a low of USD1,228.17 on Friday, due to dollar strength following a strong US non-farm payrolls report. Additionally, Randgold Resources said pretax profit fell in 2014 on weaker gold prices but it raised its final dividend by 20% and said it is going to continue to commit to "significant expenditure" in 2015.
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FTSE 100 LOSERS
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ARM Holdings, down 1.8%. The chip designer said it has acquired Dutch security software company Offspark for an undisclosed amount. Offspark focuses on internet-of-things communication security, and its PolarSSL technology is already being used in a number of devices, including sensor modules, communication modules and smartphones, ARM said.

Land Securities Group, down 2.1%. The commercial property company said its Westgate Oxford Alliance joint venture has confirmed plans to proceed with the GBP440 million development. Land Securities said the joint venture, on which it is working with the Crown Estate, will start preparatory works imminently, with construction set to start in spring this year.

Standard Chartered, down 1.7%. The emerging markets bank has been cut to Sell from Hold by Deutsche Bank.
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FTSE 250 WINNERS
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KAZ Minerals, up 3.8%. The miner has been raised by Credit Suisse to Neutral from Underperform.

Centamin, up 2.3% on the higher gold price.
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FTSE 250 LOSERS
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Halma, down 4.3%. JP Morgan has downgraded the safety, health and environmental technology company to Underweight from Neutral.
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AIM ALL-SHARE WINNERS
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Ferrex, up 43%. The company said it has finalised its plans for the first phase of the definitive feasibility study for the Nayega maganese project in Togo, and said it is expecting to receive the mining permit for the project soon. Ferrex said the objective of the first phase is to export 250,000 tonnes of manganese ore per year to generate early cashflow, which will be followed by phase two, which involves the construction of a "low cost, high value ferromaganese production facility."

TomCo Energy, up 23%. The company said it has secured the first of the three major permits necessary to take the company's Holliday block in Utah into production. The Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining has approved the company's Notice of Intention to Commence Large Mining Operations at the Holliday block.

Daily Internet, up 12%. The company said its Netplan Internet Solutions subsidiary has agreed to contracts worth GBP440,000 with builders' merchant M P Moran & Sons Ltd. In a statement, Daily Internet said the contracts are the first of several projects being worked on as part of Netplan's partnership with Q4Ex, which were embarked upon before the acquisition of the software-as-a-service provider in December last year.
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AIM ALL-SHARE LOSERS
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Max Petroleum, off 70%. The company said it is "unviable" unless it can secure further investment and successfully restructure its debt due to the fall in the oil price.

Scholium Group, down 30%. The antiquarian books company outlined plans to dispose of its South Kensington book operations to a new company headed by its current chief executive and said it expects to miss market expectations for the year.

Oracle Coalfields, down 9.1%. The company said it is raising GBP3.4 million in equity primarily to take the development of its lignite coal mine project in the south-eastern Sindh Province of Pakistan to implementation. In addition, the group said it has submitted a performance guarantee to Sindh government authorities and finalised a tenancy agreement on "suitable" office premises in Karachi, as it looks to have its mining lease restored following its cancellation by the Secretary of the Energy Department of the Sindh government in December.
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By Neil Thakrar; neilthakrar@alliancenews.com; @NeilThakrar1

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