ValiRx Share News (VAL)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Monday.----------FTSE 100 - WINNERS----------NMC Health, up 1.3%. The UAE-based private healthcare operator reiterated its previous annual earnings guidance, citing supportive industry dynamics and continued positive operational developments. For 2018, NMC Health said it expects to record 24% year-on-year growth in total revenue, with organic revenue growth of 15%. Total revenue in 2017 stood at USD1.60 billion, with organic growth have contributed roughly 16% that year. A 24% increase suggests 2018 revenue will be just short of USD2 billion. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for 2018 is predicted to total USD480 million, up 36% from USD353.4 million a year ago. NMC also said it has secured a contract to manage a hospital in Seychelles.----------Informa, up 1.1%. JPMorgan upgraded the exhibitions and business information group to Overweight from Neutral.----------FTSE 100 - LOSERS----------SSE, down 3.0%. Deutsche Bank downgraded the energy supplier to Hold from Buy.----------Barratt Developments, down 1.9%, Taylor Wimpey, down 1.2%, Berkeley Group, down 0.7%. Peel Hunt downgraded Barratt and Berkeley to Add from Buy and cut Taylor Wimpey to Hold from Add. ----------FTSE 250 - WINNERS----------Just Group, up 23%. The life insurer said the UK Prudential Regulation Authority's policy statement on equity release mortgages being held to back annuity liabilities will not affect its business pricing. Just Group said it has already aligned its new business pricing with the expected capital requirements from the PRA's consultation paper. Monday's policy statement follows a three-month consultation following the release of the regulator's consultation paper on equity release mortgages. Just Group, in particular, said it "welcomes" the confirmation that transitional relief will remain available for pre-2016 business. Just Group said that, following the release of the policy statement, the minimum deferment rate for allowing no negative equity risks will be 1% with a 13% property volatility rate - which is towards the lower end of the range considered in the consultation paper. The financial services regulator confirmed it has no plans to apply effective value tests to other assets.----------Spire Healthcare, up 9.5%. Morgan Stanley raised the private healthcare company to Overweight from Equal Weight. ----------FTSE 250 - LOSERS----------Thomas Cook, down 8.7% at 28.20p. UBS cut its price target on the travel agent to 34p from 60p and reiterated its Neutral rating on the stock. Thomas Cook will be demoted from the FTSE 250 as part of the FTSE Russell quarterly review changes that come into effect later this month. ----------Crest Nicholson, down 6.0%. Peel Hunt downgraded the housebuilder to Reduce from Hold. ----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS----------ValiRX, up 27%. The biotechnology firm said an independent analysis of VAL201 showed a positive effect on patients with hormone-sensitive and hormone-resistant prostate cancer. The study was undertaken using a non-parametric approach - both the well-established Friedman test and the most up-to-date statistical method, repeated measures multiple correlation analysis. This analysis revealed that volunteers treated with VAL201 displayed a "statistically significant" correlation for reductions over time in the amount of testosterone and prostate specific antigen, which stimulate the progression of prostate cancer.----------Hollywood Bowl, up 7.5%. The ten-pin bowling operator announced a special dividend for the second straight year as it reported a double-digit rise in annual profit. In the financial year ended September 30, the ten-pin bowling centre operator increased its pretax profit 13% to GBP23.9 million from GBP21.1 million last year. Revenue increased 5.7% to GBP120.5 million from GB114.0 million the year before. Hollywood Bowl reported a like-for-like revenue increase of 1.8% in the period. The company hiked its total dividend by 17% to 10.59 pence from 9.08p paid out last year. Hollywood Bowl's higher total dividend included a 30% increase in special dividend to 4.33p from 3.33p. The company opened two new centres during the period, in Dagenham and Yeovil, while closing one in Gravesend, taking its total to 58.----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS----------Interserve, down 51%. The outsourcer said it secured GBP25 million contract from Cwm Taf University Health Board with works commencing in December, providing some positive news a day after it admitted shareholders face "material dilution" from refinancing plan being discussed with creditors. On Saturday, The Financial Times said Interserve's shareholders could lose everything under the terms of a rescue finance plan being discussed between Interserve and creditors. Under the terms of the proposed plan, banks and other debt holders would take a significant loss as part of a debt-for-equity swap, while public shareholders would be virtually wiped out, the newspaper said. On Sunday, Interserve confirmed its lenders are engaged in constructive discussions regarding the agreement and implementation of a deleveraging plan, which it said would deliver a strong balance sheet.----------Photo-Me International, down 10%. The photo booth operator said its profit dropped in the first half of its current financial year due to the lower machine sales in the UK. Photo-Me said pretax profit declined 13% to GBP26.0 million in the six months to the end of October from GBP32.9 million reported for the same period a year earlier, as revenue slipped to GBP119.8 million from GBP122.2 million. The company said revenue was hurt by restructuring in Photo-Me Retail, which resulted in GBP5.3 million reduction in revenue. Excluding that, underlying revenue was up 2.5%. The company said pretax profit took a hit from lower B2B revenue and machine sales activity, especially in the UK, Photo-Me noted. Photo-Me declared an interim dividend of 3.71 pence a share, unchanged year-on-year. ----------