Stm Grp. Share News (STM)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Tuesday.
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FTSE 100 - WINNERS
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London Stock Exchange Group, up 7.6%. Intercontinental Exchange, the owner of the New York Stock Exchange, said it may enter the bidding for London Stock Exchange Group, offering an alternative to an all-share merger with Deutsche Boerse already being discussed. No approach has been made to the board of the LSE, according to US-based ICE, which confirmed a report by Bloomberg News that it was exploring a bid. According to that report, CME Group Inc also is assessing whether it could provide competition to Deutsche Boerse. LSE confirmed it has received no takeover proposal from ICE, adding that discussions over a "merger of equals" with Deutsche Boerse "continue to progress".

Anglo American, 5.0%. The miner said the positive trend experienced in its rough diamond sales has continued, reporting a rise in sales value of its most recent sales cycle. Anglo American conducts its diamond business through its investment in De Beers, in which it holds an 85% stake. Anglo said De Beers' second sales cycle of 2016 had a sales value of USD610.0 million, which can be compared to the first sales cycle of 2016 which yielded a value of only USD545.0 million.

Direct Line Insurance Group, up 3.6%. The insurer lifted its total annual dividend and reported higher pretax profit in 2015, helped by higher than expected reserve releases. Pretax profit rose to GBP507.5 million in 2015, up from GBP456.8 million the prior year, ahead of analyst expectations of a GBP451.0 million pretax profit. The group lifted its total dividend for 2015 to 50.1 pence per share, which included a previously declared 27.5p special payment following the sale of its international operations, up from 27.2p the prior year. Analysts had expected a 48.4p dividend.

Rio Tinto, up 2.8%. The miner was upgraded to Sector Perform From Underperform by RBC Capital.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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Ashtead Group, down 15%. The equipment rental company said reported a marginal slowdown in revenue growth in the third quarter, though pretax profit remained much higher year-on-year. The group said its pretax profit for the three months to the end of January was GBP139.1 million, up 17% year-on-year from the GBP113.9 million it posted in 2014. For the first nine months of the financial year, pretax profit grew 20% to GBP481.8 million from GBP379.4 million, indicating a slowdown in growth in the third quarter, driven by weakening orders from the oil and gas industry. In line with other suppliers to oil and gas companies, Ashtead is seeing orders soften as energy operators trim spending and suspend projects to cope with the current low oil price environment.

Barclays, down 10%. The bank confirmed it will sell down its 62.3% stake in its African subsidiary, amid a broader strategic update that will see the payment of a reduced dividend in 2016 and 2017 to help boost its financial strength. Jes Staley, the bank's new chief executive, said there is more work to do to restructure the bank in 2016. He set out plans to focus the group on two "sibling" divisions, which he identified as Barclays UK and Barclays Corporate & International. The update came as Barclays said its pretax profit fell to GBP2.07 billion in 2015, from GBP2.26 billion the prior year. Its net loss widened to GBP394.0 million from GBP174.0 million. Barclays maintained its dividend for 2015 at 6.5 pence per share, but said it will cut the payment to 3.0p in 2016 and 2017.

Glencore, down 4.8%. The miner and commodities trading house accelerated its debt reduction plans once again, aiming to sell more assets than previously thought, as the company reported results that either met or beat expectations in 2015 despite substantial declines in earnings. Glencore reported net income before exceptional items of USD1.34 billion in 2015, a 69% drop from USD4.28 billion in 2014, but slightly higher than analysts expectations of only USD1.16 billion. Glencore accelerated its net debt target, saying it hopes to have net debt down to USD17.00 to USD18.00 billion by the end of 2016, compared to its previous target of USD18.00 to USD19.00 billion.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Rotork, up 15%. The actuators manufacturer expressed confidence in its medium-term outlook and its cost-cutting measures, as it delivered an expected fall in pretax profit and revenue for 2015, hit by its exposure to the struggling oil and gas industry. The group said its pretax profit for the year to the end of December fell 28% to GBP101.9 million from GBP141.2 million in 2014, while revenue dropped to GBP546.5 million from GBP157.2 million, a 21% fall. Rotork will pay a final dividend of 3.1 pence per share, taking its total dividend to 5.05p, a 0.8% rise on the 5.01p paid a year earlier.

Greggs, up 15%. The baker said reported growth in profit in its recently-ended financial year as revenue was boosted by an increase in customer visits and average transaction values. The company said its pretax profit in the year ended January 2 grew to GBP73.0 million from GBP49.7 million the prior year, as revenue rose to GBP835.7 million from GBP806.1 million. Greggs said market conditions continued to be favourable during 2015, with low inflation leading to further rises in real disposable consumer income. As a result, the business saw strong growth throughout the year, although customer footfall in some shopping locations was subdued in the final quarter.

Just Eat, up 4.2%. The online takeaway delivery business reported a fall in profit in 2015 as an exceptional gain in the prior year was not repeated, but revenue grew on a rise in active users and order volumes. Just Eat said its pretax profit in 2015 fell to GBP34.6 million from GBP57.4 million in 2014, even though revenue grew by more than half to GBP247.6 million from GBP157.0 million.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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Servelec Group, up 6.9% and Tribal Group up 26%. Servelec said it has agreed to acquire a unit of education support services company Tribal Group and said it has won a slew of new contracts as its profit and revenue grew in 2015. The software company said it has agreed to acquire Tribal's Synergy unit, which provides software to local authorities used in managing children's services, for GBP20.3 million in cash. Synergy is implemented in more than 100 local authorities in the UK, Servelec said. From 2020, legislative changes in children's services in the UK will mean all local authorities will take responsibility for children's community health by 2020 and Servelec said the acquisition will leave it well positioned to benefit from this shift

STM Group, up 17%. The financial services company reported a 59% increase in annual pretax profit, driven by a greater focus on higher margin products, and initiated a progressive dividend policy. STM, which has been growing its pensions and life assurance product offerings, said it made a GBP2.7 million pretax profit in 2015, up from GBP1.7 million the prior year, as revenue increased by 1.9% to GBP16.2 million and administrative expenses fell by 3.7% to GBP13.1 million. The company declared a 0.9 pence dividend for 2015, having made no such payment the prior year, and said future dividends will depend on working capital requirements and planned investment.

Hutchison China MediTech, up 8.9%. The China-based healthcare group said its pretax loss narrowed in 2015 as revenue doubled following the launch of new products. The company said its pretax loss for the year to the end of December was USD10.5 million, compared to a USD20.0 million loss a year earlier. Revenue rose to USD178.2 million from USD87.3 million, primarily due to payments made to the company by its partners, including AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly & Co and Johnson & Johnson Inc-owned Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. Total sales, including joint ventures, grew 11% in the year, helped by prescription drug sales growth which offset weakness in consumer health products.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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Premier African Minerals, off 14% at 0.561p. The West Africa-focused resources development company said it has raised GBP500,000 through a subscription agreement. The company has issued 100.0 million shares at 0.5 pence per share. George Roach, Premier African's chairman and chief executive, said the funding will support ongoing work on the RHA tungsten project in Zimbabwe and will provide funding for the group to pursue any acquisition opportunities which may be presented amid the tough trading environment for the mining industry.

Aquatic Foods Group, down 30%. The marine and seafood company trimmed its expectations for its full-year results due to a tough trading environment. Aquatic Foods said its pretax profit for the year to the end of December will be broadly flat year-on-year, a downgrade on its previous expectation for profit to rise. Revenue for rose in the year, up to CNY978.7 million from CNY856.1 million, but gross margins were squeezed by pricing pressures, weaker demand due to a slowing Chinese economy, and lower average prices per kilo of fish sold.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com; @ArvindBhunjun

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