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LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers on the main London indices midday Wednesday.
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FTSE 100 - Winners
Smiths Group, up 3.2%, is the biggest winner on the blue-chip index after it reported higher profits and revenues for its most recent financial year, as higher sales for its energy and aerospace businesses offset declines at its detection and healthcare units. The company also raised its final dividend and said it would return about GBP118 million more to shareholders through a special dividend, signalling its confidence.
Lloyds is up 1.9% as it bounces from heavy selling Tuesday when the UK government sold off 6% of the bank.
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FTSE 100 - Losers
Barclays, down 6.7%. The bank is the biggest decliner on the FTSE 100 after the shares in the bank's massive GBP5.8 billion rights issue started trading on the London Stock Exchange, diluting the existing share issue.
Serco Group, down 1.3%, continue to fall as a result of Numis on Tuesday cutting the company's rating to Reduce from Hold as the incoming Australian Government looks to take a firm stance on immigration. Serco, which manages and operates adult immigration detention centres in Australia, faces major obstacles into the future. The brokerage is anticipating Serco's revenue to drop dramatically in 2014, potentially being hit by up to 8%.
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FTSE 250 - Winners
Redrow is up 4% after the house-builder reported a 63% increase in pretax profit for the full year, as it said market confidence has returned, assisted by the UK government's mortgage-support schemes, such as Help To Buy, to get first-time buyers into the market. The company posted pretax profit of GBP70.0 million for the period ended 30 June, up from GBP48.0 million a year earlier, while revenue jumped 26% to GBP604.8 million from GBP478.9 million in 2012. Jefferies sees Redrow as attractive, the brokerage reiterates its Buy rating with a price target of 328 pence.
Synthomer climbs 2.2% after Jefferies upgraded the speciality chemicals producer to Buy from Hold and raised its target price for the stock to 305p from 220p. The brokerage believes the shares look cheap, highlighting that Synthomer are one of just 28 FTSE 250 companies trading below 11x 12-month earnings per share forecasts. Demand for Synthomers products from Asian markets continues to grow at an estimated 10-15% per year.
Carillion is up 1.9% following the announcement that the Ministry of Transportation Ontario has selected Carillion Canada as the preferred bidder for a contract that is expected to be worth more than 100 million pounds over 12 years.
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FTSE 250 - Losers
Salamander Energy falls 5.9% despite announcing that an exploration well in Block G4/50, located in the Gulf of Thailand and targeting the Ayutthaya prospect, has been started. Sanjeev Bahl, an analyst for Numis, believes that the stock is simply retracing gains made Tuesday following strong growth on the back of a potential takeover bid for Canadian rival Coastal Energy. Salamander's share price is now back to similar levels as Monday's open.
African Barrick Gold, down 3.5%, Hochschild Mining, down 3.9%, are two of the leading fallers on the FTSE 250 index. The gold mining companies are losing on the back of a lower gold price.
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AIM - Winners
Central Rand Gold, up 63%, is a big winner on its first day of trading on AIM after moving from the London Stock Exchange's main market. The company said it has received the first tranche of its USD7.25 million finance boost, allowing it to progress upgrades to its crushing and milling facilities. It said it had already procured a primary jaw crusher that, once installed, will have a crushing capacity in excess of 30,000 tonnes a month, and is evaluating options for secondary crusher with the same capacity.
Travelzest is up 10%, continuing to trade higher for a fifth consecutive day. However, the company said in a statement Tuesday that it was not aware of any reason for the movement in its share price.
Naibu Global International, up 8%. The Chinese branded-sportswear manufacturer and supplier reported a jump in its first-half profits and revenues, boosted by an increase in both sales volume and unit prices as the company expanded its product range. Naibu said it opened 104 new stores during the period, and made a significant investment in its research and development team. It also said that its plan to improve its production facilities, including an additional shoe production facility in Western China, is progressing well.
Journey Group, up 7.9%. The company has announced an increase in pretax profit and revenue for the first half, reflecting a strong performance across its in-flight catering and products divisions. Journey posted pretax profit of GBP937,000 for the period ended 30 June, up from GBP254,000 a year earlier, while revenue increased slightly to GBP22.1 million from GBP20.1 million in 2012. WH Ireland has re-iterated Journey's Buy recommendation, believing that it has made good progress, upgrading its 2013 full-year forecasts to pretax profit of GBP1.8 million from GBP1.5 million and earnings per share of 8p from 7.3p. Key contracts with Delta and BA have been renewed, and new contracts with Continental and JetBlue have started well.
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AIM - Losers
Invu, down 11%, is retracing massive gains made Tuesday after it had reported higher profits and revenues for the first half of the year. The company closed Tuesday 47% higher than its opening price, and so still has a long way to fall if it is to trade at its price pre-announcement.
Univision Engineering is down 10% as it continues to fall following Tuesday's reported decrease in pretax profit and revenue for the full year, due to results being affected by weak sales amid increased competition in its markets. The Hong Kong-based engineering firm posted pretax profit of GBP241,683 for the period ended March 2013, down from GBP1.8 million a year earlier, while revenue dipped 6% to GBP7.3 million, from GBP7.8 million.
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By James Kemp; jameskemp@alliancenews.com
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