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(Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Friday.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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Meggit, down 6.1%. Societe Generale cut the the aerospace and defence contractor to Sell from Hold. On Thursday, Meggitt said it booked a single-digit revenue rise in its first quarter, though it has begun to see a "softening" in trading in its civil aerospace division. The company announced cost cuts of as much as GBP450 million, including salary and job cuts. Meggitt said that to mitigate the likely slump in demand, it will use furlough schemes. It has also taken the "difficult decision" to cut 15% of its workforce.
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Rolls-Royce, down 3.2%. Societe Generale cut the jet engine-maker to Sell from Hold.
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Whitbread, down 2.8%. The Premier Inn-owner will delay the announcement of its full-year results to ensure the company and its auditors have "adequate time" to complete standard procedures. This also comes following recent joint regulatory guidance in the UK from the Financial Conduct Authority, the Financial Reporting Council and the Prudential Regulation Authority. As previously communicated, it said, Whitbread's performance for the financial year ended February 27 is expected to be in-line with forecasts.
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Pearson, down 2.6%. The publishing company's trading in the first quarter was in line with its revised expectations, with revenue falling 5% year-on-year in the period. The company blamed Covid-19 pandemic for the decline in revenue, and warned that if social distancing is prolonged significantly, its North American and International Courseware businesses will see a "more pronounced effect" as campuses and schools remain closed for longer. In the quarter to March-end, Global Assessment revenue declined 3%, International revenue by 10%, and North American Courseware revenue by 10%. The lone bright spot was Global Online Learning, where revenue grew 6%. At the end of the quarter, Pearson had "significant" financial headroom, with immediately available liquidity of about GBP800 million. Its recently completed simplification programme has also identified GBP50 million in cost savings to be realised in 2021. Pearson had previously proposed a final dividend for 2019 of 13.5p, which shareholders will vote on at Friday's annual general meeting.
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Burberry, down 2.3%. The luxury fashion designer said it is manufacturing non-surgical gowns at its trench coat factory in Yorkshire and the board will be taking a pay cut. Burberry said its trench coat factory in Castleford is now manufacturing non-surgical gowns and supplying them to the NHS, and the firm has donated more than 100,000 pieces of personal protective equipment so far to help the fight against Covid-19. While Burberry said it continues to have "look hard" at its cost base, reducing non-essential spend, it will continue to maintain base pay for all employees unable to fulfil their roles due to store closures. It will not rely on government support for jobs in the UK, where more than a third of its employees are based.
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Legal & General, down 2.0%. The life insurance and financial service firm was down despite its business performing robustly, as it plans a new debt issue to take advantage of "favourable debt market conditions". LGRI, its institutional retirement business, transacted GBP1.2 billion of global pension risk transfer across 12 transactions in the three months to March 31. LGRR, the retail retirement business, delivered individual annuity sales of GBP233.1 million in the quarter, up 4% on a year ago, and lifetime mortgage advances of GBP206.8 million, down 8%. The investment management arm achieved external net flows of GBP10.6 billion and total assets under management are estimated at GBP1.14 trillion. The insurance business achieved total gross written premiums of GBP697.2 million, up 4% on a year ago. Legal & General said its balance sheet remains strong and its solvency ratio "robust". L&G also said it expects to launch a pound-denominated benchmark for tier 2 subordinated debt issuance.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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FirstGroup, up 3.8%. The transport operator said it has raised GBP300 million under the UK government's Covid Corporate Financing Facility, bolstering the company's committed lending headroom and free cash to GBP800 million. FirstGroup also said its US coach unit Greyhound is expected to be a major recipient of the USD326 million in CARES Act funding allocated to US states in support of intercity bus services. Greyhound's revenue has fallen by 80% since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, and the business is operating just over a third of its pre-outbreak timetabled mileage at present. In the UK, the company's First Bus is operating at 40% normal capacity. It has seen a 90% drop in passenger volumes but is providing services for key workers. The First Rail franchises are operating under the Emergency Measures Agreements, under which the government has waived each operator's revenue. FirstGroup has continued to take proactive steps to prioritise cash flow, it said. A substantial proportion of its total workforce in North America and the UK has been placed on furlough, and the company also has made significant reductions in all non-essential operating and capital expenditures.
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OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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Scancell Holdings, up 53%. The cancer immunotherapy treatment firm said it has created a research programme to develop a vaccine for Covid-19. The project will be led by Lindy Durrant, chief scientific officer & professor of Cancer Immunotherapy at the University of Nottingham. Scancell's DNA vaccines target dendritic cells to stimulate high avidity T cells that survey and destroy diseased cells. Scancell's DNA vaccine will target the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein and the key receptor-binding domain of the spike protein to generate both T cell responses and virus neutralising antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes Covid-19.
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By Paul McGowan; paulmcgowan@alliancenews.com
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