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LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices midday Wednesday.
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FTSE 100 - WINNERS
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Travis Perkins, up 1.4%, and Wolseley, up 1.0%. Berenberg has upgraded its rating on Travis Perkins to Buy from Hold, increasing its price target to 2,500 pence from 2,000p, and has retained its Buy recommendation on Wolseley, lifting its price target on the company to 4,600 pence from 4,300p. "We see Wolseley and Travis Perkins as the best-placed UK-listed distributors from a supply chain perspective," the bank said. "We believe their narrower geographic focus on markets where they can extend leadership positions will enable them to deliver further market share gains at the expense of smaller rivals," it added.
Severn Trent, up 0.6%. The UK water and waste-water company said there has been no material change to the business since its last report in May, except it expects its interest charge for the full year to be lower year-on-year. It reiterated its full-year cost guidance and dividend expectations, and said it continues making progress on making efficiency savings across the water division.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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Burberry Group, down 2.4%. The fashion retailer reported a rise in revenue in the first quarter of its financial year and said profit for the year will be GBP20 million higher than the prior year if exchange rates remain at current levels, although it warned that the increase would be offset by "a more adverse geographic mix". It said that retail revenue grew 10% to GBP407 million in the three months to June 30, as it experienced double-digit growth in Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa, high single-digit growth in the Americas, but a low single-digit decline in Asia Pacific, hit by a challenging market in Hong Kong.
EasyJet, down 0.5%. Liberum has cut its price target on the low-cost carrier to 1,875 pence from 2,000p, saying that the closure of its base in Rome damages the company's efforts to target business travellers, especially those usually flying between Milan and Rome.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Lonmin, up 4.1%, and Kaz Minerals, up 3.8%. Barclays has lifted its Kaz Minerals price target to 200 pence from 150p, retaining its Equal Weight recommendation. Goldman Sachs, meanwhile has upgraded Lonmin to Neutral from Sell with a price target of 96 pence.
Intermediate Capital Group, up 2.4%. The asset manager's shares have risen even though it said that the business may be hurt by "economic volatility" and uncertainty as Greece tries to stay in the Eurozone. Positively, however, the group's total assets under management increased by 12% over the three months to the end of June, reaching EUR20.2 billion, as EUR2.8 billion of new third party money was raised and realisations returned to "normal" levels.
Workspace Group, up 2.2%. The property company said its total rent roll increased in the first quarter of its financial year, with its like-for-like rent roll and rent per square foot also both higher, though its occupancy rate fell slightly in the period. It said its total rent roll in the three months to the end of June was up 8.9% to GBP75.6 million. Its like-for-like rent roll increased by 4.5% in the quarter and has increased by 17.7% in the year to the end of June.
Just Eat, up 2.0%. Goldman Sachs has placed Just Eat on its Conviction Buy List after resuming coverage of the company.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Entertainment One, down 9.8%. Marwyn Value Investors has sold a portion of its stake in the media company for GBP87 million via a share placing. Marwyn has sold 26.5 million shares in the company at 330 pence per share. Following the sale, Marwyn's stake in Entertainment One has been reduced to 52.9 million shares, or 17.9% of the company's issued share capital.
JD Wetherspoon, down 6.7%. The pub company reported a rise in revenue in the 50 weeks to July 12 but reaffirmed that pretax profit for the full year is unlikely to be higher than the prior year. The pub company said that total sales increased 6.5% in the 11 weeks to July 12 and 7.6% in the 50 weeks to the same date, growing 2.9% and 3.4% on a like-for-like basis, respectively. Operating margin in the 11 weeks was 7.0%, compared with 8.3% in the same period the year before, and is expected to be around 7.4% for the full year. Wetherspoons confirmed that full-year pretax profit is unlikely to be higher than last year.
Micro Focus International, down 6.4%. Wizard Parent has sold a GBP270 million stake in the software company via a share placing. Wizard sold 20 million Micro Focus shares for 1,350 pence per share. Following the deal, Wizard will own 66.6 million shares in the company, or a 30.7% stake. Micro Focus shares are currently quoted at 1,343.00 pence.
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AIM ALL-SHARE - WINNERS
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Edenville Energy, up 7.4%. The company said it has started the formal review process for the Rukwa Power Plant Feasibility with Tanzania's Ministry of Energy and Minerals and Tanesco, the country's power generation, transmission and distribution body. Edenville said the formal process will review and assess proposed power generation projects in the country. The start of the review will mean Edenville can advanced in talks on power purchase agreement tariffs and plans the integration of its power plant into the Tanzanian grid.
Tower Resources, up 5.8%. The company said it has raised GBP5.2 million via a share placing to back the acquisition of the Thali production sharing contract in Cameroon. Tower has raised the funds via the issue of 2.74 billion shares at 0.19 pence per share. The funding will back Tower's acquisition of a 100% interest in the Thali project and will cover the payments of new regional strategy in Namibia. Shares in the company are currently quoted at 0.201 pence.
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AIM ALL-SHARE - LOSERS
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Falanx Group, off 24%. The group has swung to a pretax loss in its financial year to the end of March as its revenue halved. It said its pretax loss for the year was GBP2.2 million, compared with a GBP9,488 profit it made a year earlier, as revenue fell to GBP1.9 million from GBP4.4 million. The fall was primarily to the loss of a contract for its Falanx Resilience project-based consultancy in the Middle East. The company said it remains hopeful it will secure the work it lost again, but the contract it held in an unnamed Middle Eastern country was put on hold following the death of a leader.
Rurelec, down 23%. The power generation company said its USD12 million bridging loan facility has been suspended. It said the facility has been suspended pending clarification from its lender on the security and repayment of the loan, should it be drawn. Rurelec said the facility has, therefore, not been drawn, but said it has a number of alternative financing options should it not be reinstated.
Roxi Petroleum, down 18%. The company said it will sidetrack the problem-plagued deep well A5 at its flagship BNG contract area in Kazakhstan before it conducts a 90-day well test. It began drilling the well in 2013 when core sampling revealed the existence of a gross oil-bearing interval of at least 105 meters. However the well was set back by a pipe getting stuck at the bottom of the well which the company can not remove. It has therefore decided to side track the well from a depth of 4,000 metres which will take around one month to complete.
Charlemagne Capital, down 8.2%. The company reported a decline in assets under management in the first six months of 2015, a result of net outflows from each of its product ranges. Assets under management fell to USD2.08 billion at the end of June, down from USD2.25 billion at the start of the year. Net management fees for the six months fell to USD10.6 million, compared with USD13.4 million in the corresponding period of the prior year, as a result of lower average levels of assets under management.
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By James Kemp; jameskemp@alliancenews.com; @jamespkemp
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