Soco International Share News (SIA)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are amongst the biggest risers and fallers within the main London indices midday Friday.
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FTSE 100 WINNERS
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Whitbread, up 2.0% at 5,365.00p. USB has upgraded the owner of the Costa Coffee and Premier Inn brands to Hold from Sell, lifting its price target to 5,400 pence from 4,700p. Deutsche Bank also upgraded Whitbread to Buy from Hold, raising its price target to 6,000p from 4,600p.

Wolseley, up 1.1% at 4,096.00 pence. Barclays has raised the building products supplier's price target to 4,700p from 4,000p, keeping its Overweight rating.
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FTSE 100 LOSERS
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SSE down 1.8% and Centrica down 1.5%. Labour Party leader Ed Miliband is expected on Friday to outline plans to give energy regulator Ofgem greater powers to force energy companies to cut bills should Labour come to power after the General Election, Sky News reports. Miliband is expected to say that one of his first acts in government would be to push through a bill which gives Ofgem more powers to force the so-called Big Six energy companies - EDF Energy, Centrica-owned British Gas, SSE, Scottish Power, E.ON and Npower - to reduce or freeze prices.

Travis Perkins, down 1.0% at 1,947.00p. Morgan Stanley has downgraded the builders merchant to Underweight from Equal-weight, cutting its price target to 1,775p from 1,800p.
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FTSE 250 WINNERS
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Diploma, up 4.3%. The technical products and services company said it has struck a deal to buy the Kubo Group for up to CHF39.9 million in cash before acquisition costs. Kubo is a seals, O-Rings, gaskets and moulded rubber parts company with operations in Switzerland and Austria, which will be integrated into Diploma's existing seals unit. Diploma expects the deal to immediately add to earnings. Numis raised Diploma to Add from Hold, lifting its price target to 843p from 697p, due to the deal.
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FTSE 250 LOSERS
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Afren, down 29%. The company, which is due to be relegated from the FTSE 250 on March 23, said it has reached an agreement in principle to address its short- and longer-term funding needs and recapitalise its capital structure, but also warned it will be making significant impairments in 2014 followed by significant budget cuts in 2015. A debt-for-equity will dilute existing shareholders to just 11%, but the company warned that without approval of the agreement "existing shareholders would be unlikely to see any return on their current investment".

SOCO International, down 4.8%, is continuing to drop after falling 34% on Thursday. The oil and gas company reported a huge reduction in profit in 2014 and slashed its dividend due to weaker oil prices on Thursday. SOCO also warned that production will fall again in 2015, and it is expecting oil prices throughout the year to be below what it achieved in 2014, suggesting the company will have a difficult year ahead of it.

JD Wetherspoon, down 4.6%. The pub chain reported strong sales growth in the first half of its financial year but a lower operating margin owing to higher rates of pay for pub staff and higher utility costs. The group led by Chairman Tim Martin said revenue was up 9.0% at GBP744.4 million in the 26 weeks to 25 January from GBP683.2 million a year earlier. Like-for-like sales were up 4.5%. However, operating margin narrowed to 7.4% from 8.2%.

Cairn Energy down 5.3% and Vedanta Resources down 1.8%. Vedanta Resources Friday joined Cairn Energy in announcing Cairn India is facing a USD1.6 billion tax order from the Indian Income Tax Department in relation to the fiscal year 2006 to 2007. On Tuesday, Cairn Energy, which holds a 10% stake in Cairn India, said it is disputing a draft assessment order from the Indian government in an effort to "protect its legal position and shareholder interests". Vedanta, which holds a far more significant 59.8% stake in Cairn India, said the subsidiary released a statement on Thursday, which confirmed the order from the Income Tax Department.
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AIM ALL-SHARE WINNERS
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Dart Group, up 17%. The leisure travel and distribution and logistics company said it expects its underlying operating profit for the year to beat market expectations on the back of lower-than-expected losses over the winter. Also Friday, Canaccord has raised Dart Group's price target to 415p from 285p, keeping its Buy recommendation.

Aurasian Minerals, up 12%. The miner's shares are up after it said it has agreed to sell its interest in the Wamum project in Papua New Guinea for USD750,000 to Newcrest Mining Ltd, though it has surrendered its other project in the country to the government after failing to secure an investor.
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AIM ALL-SHARE LOSERS
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Kea Petroleum, down 23%. The oil company said it would relinquish its Mercury permit in New Zealand. Kea said it has presented the prospect to a number of potential farm-in partners but, due to the challenging market conditions arising from the fall in the oil price in recent months and a lack of success for exploration projects offshore New Zealand, Kea said it was not able to reach a satisfactory agreement to commit to drilling an offshore well at the site.

By Daniel Ruiz; danielruiz@alliancenews.com

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