Star Energy Share News (STAR)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Thursday.
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FTSE 100 - WINNERS
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BAE Systems, up 2.9%. The defence contractor said it will cut jobs in its military arm due to an anticipated reduction in Typhoon production, though it remains confident on it current outlook. BAE said it has continue to achieve solid growth in commercial markets in 2015 and is confident on an uptick in defence spending from both the UK and US governments given recent budget commitments made in the former and the Congressional budget approval secured in the latter. The group said it taking actions to reduce its current production rate of Typhoon fighter jets in order to ensure production continuity at competitive costs over the medium term. As a result, the group will cut 371 jobs in its Military & Air Information business, which will hit its results for 2015.

Burberry Group, up 0.8%. The luxury goods retailer reported a rise in profit in the first half of its financial year but said revenue remained flat as declines in wholesale and licensing sales offset growth in retail sales and it warned the external environment remains uncertain and challenging. The fashion brand said pretax profit in the six months ended September 30 grew 9% to GBP155 million from GBP142 million in the same period the prior year, although revenue remained flat year-on-year at GBP1.10 billion. Burberry will pay an interim dividend of 10.2 pence per share, a 5% increase on the year before.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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Rolls-Royce Holdings, down 20%. The aerospace and defence engineering group affirmed its 2015 guidance but said profit will come in at the low end of expectations and downgraded its expectations for 2016 thanks to revenue mix changes and weaker margins. Rolls-Royce also said it will review its dividend policy in light of the weak expectations for 2016, with any changes to be announced in due course, and said it will undertake a wide-ranging restructuring of the business, with plans to save around GBP150 million to GBP200 million per year. The profit warning was weighing on shares of blue-chip rivals including Meggitt, down 3.0%, and GKN, down 2.6%.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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FirstGroup, up 2.9%. The transport operator said it swung to a pretax loss in the first half due to the impact of the loss of a rail franchise in the period, although its adjusted figures were weaker as well amid mixed trading across its operations. It said its pretax loss for the half to the end of September was GBP7.5 million, swung from a GBP9.9 million profit a year earlier, as revenue in the half fell to GBP2.44 billion from GBP2.94 billion due to the loss of the Capital Connect and ScotRail franchises. FirstGroup said its trading was in line with its expectations in the half, with the rest of the rail portfolio performing well and financial performance at the top end of its forecasts, underpinned by strong passenger volume growth.

WS Atkins, up 1.3%. The design, engineering and project management consultancy said its pretax profit surged in the first half thanks to higher revenue, leaving it in line to meet its expectations for the full year. The company said its pretax profit for the half to the end of September was GBP53.8 million, up 38% from the GBP39.0 million it made a year earlier. Revenue for the group rose to GBP904.6 million from GBP831.4 million. Atkins said it saw significant improvements in trading in the UK and Europe in the half, along with a strong performance for its Middle East operations. The group is making progress in North America, where it is focusing investment to drive growth.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Morgan Advanced Materials, down 13%. The ceramic and carbon products manufacturer said trading conditions have weakened in the second half and its earnings for the full year are set to come in at the low end of market expectations. Morgan said trading conditions in the second half of 2015 have weakened, with deteriorating demand particularly hitting trading in North America and China. Its overall order book has reflected this weakness, it said. Its outstanding order book at the end of October was 5.3% lower year-on-year, a sharp worsening from the 5.7% increase in the order book at the end of June. Given this, Morgan expects its revenue for the second half will be around 7% lower than the first half and its earnings before interest, taxation and amortisation, prior to restructuring and one-offs, will be at the low end of analyst expectations.

Spire Healthcare Group, down 11%. The private hospital operator lowered its guidance for full-year revenue following weak trading in the four months to end-October, particularly in the NHS Local Contract business. Spire said total group revenue in the ten months ended October 31 grew 4.1%, while adjusted group earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation also grew 4%, but that while NHS Choose & Book revenue showed good growth, NHS Local Contract revenue declined 39% in the four months to end-October. As a result, Spire now expects full-year revenue to show growth between 3% and 3.7%, which stands at between GBP882 million and GBP888 million, against its previous growth of between 4% and 6%, representing GBP890 million to GBP907 million.

Halfords Group, down 8.7%. The car parts and bicycles retailer reported a fall in profit in the first half of its financial year and said that profit in its next financial year will be broadly unchanged on the current year, although it expects to achieve growth thereafter. It said pretax profit in the 26 weeks ended October 2 fell 5.9% to GBP46.4 million from GBP49.4 million in the same period the year before, even though revenue rose 1.8% to GBP533.5 million from GBP524.1 million. Halfords said that the motoring side of the business performed well in the period with in-store service sales growing strongly, but that a disappointing cycling performance in the second quarter contributed to a decline in overall profitability.

IMI, down 8.1%. The engineering group said it expects its earnings will be at the low end of market estimates for 2015 as tough conditions continued in its markets in the third quarter. IMI, which makes flow and fluid control products and heating and cooling systems, said organic revenue for the three months to the end of September was down 5.0%, with revenue falling 7.0% on a reported basis due to adverse currency movements, partially offset by acquisition contributions.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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Starcom, up 62%. The wireless monitoring products company said it has agreed a joint venture with US-based data management technology firm Sato Global Solutions. Under the terms of the agreement, Sato will be Starcom's US distribution partner, and the pair will work on combining their respective technologies to develop new products. "Starcom is delighted to have been selected by such a prestigious organisation as Sato to combine our technology with theirs in order to provide a complete service to their customers," said Starcom Chief Executie Avi Hartmann.

Parallel Media Group, up 16%. The marketing and events management agency said its has signed a heads of agreement to secure the underwriting of the 2016 Classic Rock Roll of Honour music event in Tokyo. Parallel has signed a legally-binding agreement with Klab Entertainment and Team Rock. The agreement will mean the firm's Parallel Contemporary Music International subsidiary will receive licence fees, commission and a share of the net profit from the event. As an operating profit from the event is expected, the subsidiary will pass revenue to the Parallel group. No financial details were disclosed.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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Ubisense Group, down 22%. The location intelligence services company said its revenue and profit for the year look at serious risk of falling short of previous guidance after the company was heavily bruised by the emissions-cheating scandal at German car giant Volkswagen. While its Geospatial unit has traded well, Ubisense's real-time location services unit has been materially impacted by the scandal involving Volkswagen cheating emissions tests, which has resulted in downscaling, delays or cancellations to major orders and longer decision-making cycles. As a result, Ubisense expects its revenue and profit for the full year will miss its previous guidance and will make an adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation loss for the full year.

Communisis, down 14%. The customer communication services provider said its adjusted earnings per share for the full year will fall slightly short of previous expectations. Communisis said it expects its adjusted operating profit for 2015 to show double-digit year-on-year growth and improved free cash flow, but adjusted earnings per share, though growing, will be slightly weaker than previous expected. Trading in its Design, Produce and Deploy divisions have been in line with its expectations, but the weakness has come from Life, the shopper marketing agency it bought in January. The Life business is taking longer than anticipated to deliver its projected earnings due to contract delays and deferrals, the company said.
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By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance

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