SolGold Share News (SOLG)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Wednesday.----------FTSE 100 - WINNERS----------Berkeley Group, up 1.4%. The housebuilder reiterated its profit guidance for the five years from 2016 to 2021, despite operating in a "non-functioning housing market". Berkeley said its current trading and its strong financial position enable it to reaffirm its pretax profit guidance of "at least" GBP3.38 billion for the five-year period to 2021. Berkeley expects GBP1.58 billion to be delivered in the two years to April 2019. The company added that, in the first four months of its financial year to August 31, market conditions in London and the South East, its main areas of operations, have remained consistent.----------FTSE 250 - WINNERS----------Alfa Financial Software, up 7.7%. Shares in the asset management software provider were rebounding after it reported a steep drop in interim profit on Tuesday. The stock closed down 6.6% on Tuesday. ----------William Hill, up 5.7%. The bookmaker said ts US subsidiary has entered into a digital and land-based partnership with US casino operator Eldorado Resorts. NASDAQ-listed Eldorado will receive USD50 million in shares in William Hill, a total of 13.4 million representing about 1.6% of its issued share capital, subject to a three to five year lock up. Eldorado also will receive a 20% stake in William Hill's US business - with gross assets valued at USD68.5 million - and a share of the profits "attributable to its licences". Under the deal, William Hill is set to become Eldorado's exclusive partner in the provision of digital and land-based sports betting services, as well as online gaming. Peel Hunt said the agreement is "a step in the right direction" and a reminder that the UK bookmaker has an "interesting option" in the US.----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS----------SolGold, up 17% at 25.00 pence. The gold miner's shares were higher after Anglo-Australian miner BHP Billiton acquired the entire minority stake in SolGold. SolGold is the majority owner and operator of the Cascabel copper-gold project in Ecuador. BHP will buy all of the 103.1 million SolGold shares, a 6.1% stake, held by Guyana Goldfields at a price of 25.592 pence per share, a 20% premium to SolGold's closing price in London on Tuesday of 21.35p. BHP Chief Executive Officer Andrew Mackenzie explained the deal would see the FTSE 100 miner gain "exposure to a high-quality copper exploration project in Ecuador, which is a highly prospective location for BHP." Shares in BHP were down 0.7%. ----------AFH Financial Group, up 6.8%. The wealth management services firm said it completed the acquisition of Bedfordshire-based firm Ashton House IFA in a deal worth up to GBP2.6 million, depending on the future performance of the business. AFH said the initial consideration for the acquisition is GBP1.1 million in cash, funded from the company's existing resources. Further deferred consideration will be payable in cash over the next 26 months, AFH said. For the twelve months to October 2017, Ashton House made pretax profit of GBP370,000. ----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS----------Anglo African Oil & Gas, down 25%. The oil and gas company said it temporarily suspended drilling at its Tilapia oil field in Congo. Anglo African said that its drilling contractor, SMP, experienced a topside issue that affected the rig at the field. Consequently, the company decided to temporarily suspend drilling at the TLP-103 well while it reviews the "various solutions". "The company is working to determine the optimum solution with a view to restricting any delay to a matter of weeks," Anglo African added.----------