Last checked at LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are amongst the biggest risers and fallers within the main London indices midday Thursday.
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FTSE 100 WINNERS
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Burberry Group, up 3.4% at 1,803 pence. JP Morgan has raised the luxury fashion retailer price target to 1,560p from 1,470p, keeping its Neutral stance. The bank raised its forecasts for Burberry Group's financial years 2016 and 2017 due to the sterling cost benefit of the luxury fashion retailer's sourcing in euros. The retailer is due to report full-year results on April 15, and JP Morgan expects a sustained tough environment in Hong Kong and Macau, with strength in Europe and the US.
InterContinental Hotels Group, up 1.7% at 2,719.75p. Jefferies has upgraded the company to Hold from Underperform, lifting its price target to 2,400p from 2,000p. "[The upgrade] is based purely on our belief that as the US cycle peaks M&A activity is becoming likely and that IHG looks to be the most vulnerable of the majors to a bid," said Jefferies analyst Ian Rennardson. The analyst notes that IHG has underperformed its US peers in terms of revenue per available room growth over the course of the cyclical recovery.
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FTSE 100 LOSERS
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Anglo American, down 1.8% at 1,009.5p, BHP Billiton, down 1.4% at 1,448p, and Rio Tinto, down 0.8% at 2,829p. The three miners are dragging on the blue-chip index after Credit Suisse cut its ratings and price targets. Anglo American was downgraded to Neutral from Outperform, with its price target cut to 1,400p from 1,600p. BHP Billiton was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral and its price target cut to 1,400p from 1,850p. Meanwhile, Rio Tinto stance was kept at Neutral, but its price target was cut to 2,800p from 3,400p.
Lloyds Banking Group, down 0.6% to 79.24p. Investec has downgraded the bank to Hold from Buy, cutting its price target to 84p from 85p.
BG Group, down 0.4%. Shares in the oil and gas company are down slightly Thursday after surging 27% on Wednesday, by far the biggest FTSE 100 gainer, on its agreement to be bought by Royal Dutch Shell for around GBP47 billion in cash and shares, the biggest UK-to-UK acquisition ever.
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FTSE 250 WINNERS
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Premier Oil, up 3.7%. The oil company's partners Rockhopper Exploration, down 1.8%, and Falkland Oil & Gas, down 5.6%, have announced drilling has started at the Isobel Deep well, in which Premier has a 36% stake. "Isobel is arguably the highest potential prospect in Premier's four-well campaign in the North Falkland Basin. The well is testing the southern extent of the basin and success could establish a second, discreet hub, potentially equivalent in size to Sea Lion to the north," said Deustche Bank analyst Lucas Hermann.
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AIM ALL-SHARE WINNERS
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UK Oil & Gas Investments, up 212%, Alba Mineral Resources, up 174%, Doriemus, up 80%, Stellar Resources, up 72%, Solo Oil, up 27% and Evocutis up 23%. The companies involved in the Horse Hill prospect in Surrey, England said the Horse Hill 1 well in the Weald basin has total oil in place of 158.0 million barrels of oil per square mile.
Transence Technology, up 33%. The transportation sensor systems provider said its Translogik division has won a deal to supply its iTrack mining tyre monitoring systems for the entire fleet of large haul trucks at the Spence copper mine in Chile, owned by FTSE 100-listed miner BHP Billiton. Under the deal, Translogik will get ongoing monthly payments per vehicle fitted with the iTrack technology. No further financial details were provided on the deal.
Wildhorse Energy, up 20%. The energy company said it has agreed to fully acquire Australia Salt Lake Potash, an Australian company that owns two large salt lake brine projects in the west of the country in an all-share deal. In return, Wildhorse will issue Australia Salt Lake with 15.0 million Wildhorse shares, issued at the mid-market price when the market closes on the day prior to issue, as well as a series of performance based convertible shares.
Clean Air Power, up 11%. The company said it has signed a deal with TEC Equipment, a Volvo and Mack truck dealership based in the west of the US, operating in California, Oregon, Nevada and Washington, to offer full sales, installation and support services for the Genesis-EDGE Dual-Fuel system made by Clean Air. Clean Air Power also said the California Air Resources Board has approved certification for the Genesis EDGE Dual-Fuel product, meaning it is now eligible for sale and distribution in all 50 states.
Alexander Mining, up 10%. The miner said its MetaLeach subsidiary has been granted patents in Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe for a zinc extraction method. Alexander Mining said the patents have been granted for the company's Method for Extracting Zinc from Aqueous Ammoniacal Solutions.
Castleton Technology, up 10%. The software support services company said the recently-acquired Keylogic is trading ahead of expectations with more than GBP1 million in bookings delivered last month, a 40% year-on-year rise. It added the business is still performing ahead of expectations and is delivering strong organic growth. Castleton also said it has appointed Davinder Sanghera as its chief operating officer with immediate effect. He joined the company in November last year following the acquisition of Documotive.
By Daniel Ruiz; danielruiz@alliancenews.com
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