ULS.L Share News (ULS)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are amongst the biggest risers and fallers within the main London indices midday Friday.
-------
FTSE 100 WINNERS
-------
Royal Bank of Scotland Group, up 4.4%. The bank reported a swing to third-quarter pretax profit, but results included hundreds of millions of pounds of litigation and conduct costs, relating to matters such as regulators' probe into the foreign exchange markets and a further charge taken for the payment protection insurance scandal. In a statement, it said it made a GBP1.27 billion pretax profit in the quarter ended September 30, compared with a GBP634 million pretax loss in the corresponding quarter last year. The quarterly performance was supported by net impairment provision releases of GBP801 million, primarily in Ulster Bank and in RBS Capital Resolution, the 'bad bank' it set up to run down capital intensive assets, as RBS benefits from improving economic conditions in the UK and Ireland.

International Consolidated Airlines Group, up 3.8%. The company has posted a rise in third quarter operating profit and revenue on a constant currency basis, with both British Airways and Iberia both performing well in the quarter. Operating profit for the group in the third quarter to September 30 was EUR900 million, up on the EUR690 million a year earlier. British Airways made an operating profit of EUR607 million, up from EUR477 million a year earlier. Iberia's operating profit rose to EUR162 million from EUR74 million. On a constant currency basis, revenue for the group rose 6.9%, but it was up 8.5% on a reported basis to EUR5.9 billion. Passenger unit revenue for the group was down 0.9% on a constant currency basis, with fuel unit costs falling 7.5%.

Intu Properties up 2.5%. The company said it has secured a new corporate GBP600 million revolving credit facility which replaces its existing deal. Intu said the new deal replaces it existing GBP375 million facility, due to expire in November 2018. The margin on the deal has reduced by 25-50 basis points compared to the existing facility, with an initial margin of 140 basis points over Libor. With the lower margin and a lower commitment fee, the new facility will have a lower all-in cost based on expected utilisation levels, Intu said.
-------
FTSE 100 LOSERS
-------
Direct Line Insurance Group, down 2.1%. The company said it is on track to meet its financial targets for the year, despite reporting a fall in third-quarter gross written premium. In a statement, it said gross written premium from ongoing operations fell to GBP819.5 million in the quarter ended September 30, compared with GBP855.2 million in the corresponding period last year, citing falls across its business lines of motor, home, rescue and other personal lines, and commercial.

Randgold Resources, down 2.0%, and Fresnillo, down 1.7%. The miners are trading lower as the price of precious metals fell heavily. Gold fell to a low of USD1,166.92 per ounce, the lowest it has been since July 2010, while silver fell to USD15.956 per ounce, its lowest price since February 2010.

BT Group, down 0.5%. S&P Capital IQ has cut the company's rating to Sell from Hold, with a price target cut to 340.00 pence from 410.00p. The stock currently trades at 366.00p.
-------
FTSE 250 WINNERS
-------
Regus, up 7.2%. The workplace provider said its financial performance remained strong in the third quarter, despite sterling strength impacting its reported figures. The company said revenue in the third quarter to the end of September was GBP413.6 million, up from GBP386.6 million a year earlier, a 7% rise on a reported basis. On a constant currency basis, Regus said revenue rose 13.5%. Revenue for the first nine months was up 15.7% on a constant currency basis but only 7.7% on actual rates, up to GBP1.2 billion against GBP1.1 billion last year.

Elementis, up 3.5%. The specialty chemicals company said it remains confident it will perform well in its core markets over the year and expects full-year earnings per share to be in line with market expectations. The group said Specialty Products sales were up 6% in the third quarter to the end of September, with sales in its coatings, personal care and oil and gas drilling divisions all rising by that percentage. Personal care sales rose 6% in the quarter on the back of new products and a strong performance in emerging markets. Sales growth for the first nine months in the unit is now 16%, Elementis said.

Berendsen, up 3.2%. The textiles company said trading in the third quarter was in line with its expectations, despite its reported revenue for the period falling due to the strength of sterling. Underlying revenue for the company in the three months to the end of September was up 3% year-on-year, it said, but reported revenue was 3% lower due to the strength of sterling. It said it had made an improvement in its underlying profit in the period, adding its pretax profit in the period was flat on the period a year earlier, despite the impact of currency translation.
-------
FTSE 250 LOSERS
-------
SuperGroup, down 8.2%. The retailer said it would downgrade its full-year profit guidance to between GBP60 million and GBP65 million, down from the previous guidance of GBP67.1 million to GBP70.3 million because the continued warm weather in September and October in the UK and Europe has drawn a veil of uncertainty over the performance of autumn/winter ranges. It said that while the majority of its full-year profit comes in the second half of the year, the level of discounting in the clothing sector and the uncertainty caused by the unseasonably warm weather conditions in key markets meant it would have to cut its guidance.

African Barrick Gold, down 3.4%. The shares are being hurt by the lower price of gold.
-------
AIM ALL-SHARE WINNERS
-------
TXO, up 10%. The investment company said Empire Energy Inc, in which TXO owns a 25% stake, has won its case against Smart Win in the US. TXO said a New York judge denied the motion by Smart Win for a summary judgement in the case against Empire Energy.

Range Resources, up 8.4%. The oil and gas explorer said that revenue in the quarter ended September 30 increased by 11% from the previous quarter to USD5.2 million from USD4.7 million, as average oil production in Trinidad increased by 7% on the previous quarter. Meanwhile, the company said its administration costs decreased by 50% from the previous quarter
-------
AIM ALL-SHARE LOSERS
-------
ULS Technology, off 22%. The UK conveyancing and financial intermediary online platform provider said its full-year operating profit will still be below expectations, despite an improvement year-on-year, as it said it expects its first half to be in line. ULS said improved margins should mean the impact of market conditions on its results is less pronounced, but said underlying profit for the year is still expected to fall below expectations, despite year-on-year growth. The company said it has been hit by the impact of the UK's Mortgage Market Review and lower in-take volumes from key partners.
-------
By Neil Thakrar; neilthakrar@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2014 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.