Vodafone Share News (VOD)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers on the main London indices midday Tuesday.

-------

FTSE 100 - Winners

CRH is up 3.1%. The company said third-quarter like-for-like sales had increased by 2%, rebounding from the 6% reduction reported in its half-year results due to bad weather conditions. CRH said trading conditions improved across its international arms with positive trends in the US and Europe. Including the net impact of acquisitions, divestments and exchange rate movements, overall sales revenue of EUR5.4 billion for the quarter was 2% ahead of last year compared with a restated total of EUR5.3 billion in the 2012 period. Third quarter EBITDA was up 3% on 2012 despite what CRH called "adverse currency translation effects." The company said it expects second half EBITDA to be in line with last year.

Vodafone Group, up 1.5%, confirmed its full-year profit guidance as it said it swung to a pretax profit in the half year ended September 30. The mobile telecommunications giant swung to a pretax profit of GBP1.5 billion in the recent six months from a pretax loss of GBP3.9 billion in the same period the previous year. It posted revenue of GBP19.1 billion, up from GBP18.6 billion in the previous year. The company also raised its interim dividend and set out details for its Project Spring investment programme, originally announced when Vodafone sold its 45% interest in US joint venture Verizon Wireless for USD130 billion in September. Vodafone proposed an interim dividend of 3.53 pence each, up 8.0% from GBP3.37 pence, while stating its intention to pay a full-year dividend of 11 pence provided the disposal of its stake in Verizon Wireless is completed in the first quarter of 2014.

-------

FTSE 100 - Losers

Babcock International Group is down 1.3% despite reporting an increase in first half pretax profits of 32%. The company said its order book is stable and a good proportion of revenue for the next two years has already been contracted. However, the stock price has risen by about 10% over the last month. Investors had been pricing in an upgrade to earnings forecasts and have been disappointed this didn't happen, says Liberum Capital analyst Joe Brent. Moreover, the increase in the company's pension deficit is a negative. The deficit increased to GBP382 million from GBP261 million due to a 14% increase in the defined obligations, Brent explains.

GlaxoSmithKline, down 1%, said investigational heart disease treatment darapladib had not met its primary targets in a Phase III study. The company said the drug had failed to reduce occurrence of any major adverse cardiovascular event like stroke or heart attack in the study.

-------

FTSE 250 - Winners

Oxford Instruments jumps 13% after it said it is in talks to acquire AIM-listed Andor Technology PLC for 500 pence a share in cash, or GBP160 million. Oxford Instruments also reported a marked improvement in trading conditions in the second quarter that it expects to lift second-half results. The company said Andor is considering its offer. The two sides have been in talks since early July and Oxford Instruments has already raised its offer from an original proposal of 420 pence a share, and then a subsequent offer in September of 470 pence a share. Numis has upgraded Oxford Instruments to Buy from Add.

TalkTalk Telecom Group is up 11% after it raised its interim dividend and increased its full-year guidance on rising revenue in the half year ended September 30. The company said it now expects full-year revenue growth of at least 3%, having previously expected 2% growth. TalkTalk also is targeting a 25% earnings EBITDA margin by the full year 2017. The telecoms company proposed an interim dividend of 4.00 pence, up 16% from 3.45 pence in the previous year. The company saw revenue increase 1.8% to GBP843 million in the half, up from GBP828 million in the previous year.

Premier Farnell is up 6% after it said its sales trends improved in the third quarter of the year, driven by a strong performance from Asia Pacific and China, and strong sales growth in its industrial products division. It said that group sales per day rose by 3.3% in the third quarter ended November 3, with most of its divisions reporting improving trends in comparison to the first half of the year. The company said that group sales, excluding sales of Raspberry Pi, rose 2.1% year-on-year in the third quarter, from a 1.4% fall in the first half. Premier Farnell said that Asia Pacific delivered another strong sales performance in the quarter, up 11%, boosted by emerging markets such as China and India.

Workspace Group climbs 1.3%. The company has reported an increase in pretax profit for the first-half and raised its interim dividend by 10%. The real-estate investment trust also announced a London building acquisition. The company, which recently sold its mixed-use redevelopment in south London dubbed the "Biscuit Factory" for GBP51 million, posted pretax profit of GBP100.8 million for the period ended September 30, up from GBP24.6 million in 2012.

-------

FTSE 250 - Losers

John Menzies, off 7.1%, is the biggest faller on the index. The logistics group has issued a full-year profit warning, lowering its expectations for its struggling magazine and newspaper distribution arm. Distribution trading has remained tough in the third quarter, says Mike Murphy, an analyst at Numis. "Although magazine and newspaper volumes were in line with the decline in the first half, the returns from ancillary revenues and sticker collections was much weaker than expected." Alongside this, weaker-than-expected seasonal sales within the marketing services business also weighed on the company, Murphy adds. Subsequently, Numis has cut John Menzies to Hold from Add, lowering its target price to 774.00p from 834.00p.

Hunting is down 3.4% after it said that although overall trading had improved since the first half of its financial year, some businesses are still reporting mixed trading, with demand in Canada and Europe remaining subdued due to the rescheduling of drilling programmes in these regions.

Balfour Beatty, down 2.7%, has launched a GBP250 million convertible bond offering that it will use to pay off some short-term debt, a move that will further diversify its debt after its dollar-bond placing earlier in the year. The company said the senior, unsecured convertible bond will be due in 2018, and the underlying shares represent about 9.9% of its outstanding share issue. Balfour said it will use the proceeds to repay some of its revolving credit facility as well as for general corporate purposes.

Evraz falls 2.3% after it said it will start the first mass production of head-hardened rail lines in Russia after getting a license to do so. It said it will produce the rails mainly for Russian Railways, but it also expects to export some of the rails. Evraz claims its hardening process improves the durability of the rails substantially and reduces railway maintenance costs, as well as ensuring better safety and speed.

-------

AIM - Winners

Savile Group jumps 102%. Penna Consulting PLC said it has made a recommended GBP1.1 million cash takeover offer for the AIM-listed company, as it reported higher profits for the first half of its financial year despite a slight drop in revenue. In a joint statement, Penna and Savile said they had agreed a deal which will give Savile shareholders seven pence a share in cash, more than double Savile's closing share price of 3.25 pence Monday. Penna said it already has irrevocable undertakings to accept the offer from shareholders with 27.3% of Savile's outstanding shares.

Andor Technology is up 23% on the back of the news that FTSE 250-listed Oxford Instruments is in talks to acquire the company.

Sovereign Mines Of Africa leaps 11% after it said its Sovereign Mines of Guinea unit has won a new exploration concession that borders the south of its Mandiana-Magana gold concession in the country, a win it expects to significantly boost the gold strike at the site. The new concession covers an extension of a gold mineralisation area that forms the main part of its existing gold resource.

GW Pharmaceuticals is up 10% after it commenced a Phase 1b/2a clinical trial for the treatment of recurrent glioblastoma multiforme, meaning tumours that arise from the abnormal growth of the glial tissue of the brain. The company said that recurrent glioblastoma multiforme accounts for around 50% of new cases of brain cancer in the US each year.

Servicepower Technologies is up 6.3%. The company said it has demonstrated investment in its service scheduling product platform through implementation extensions to Germany, Czech Republic and Puerto Rico. It said the extensions support recent customer wins in these regions and expansion with existing customers.

-------

AIM - Losers

Cluff Natural Resources falls 19%. The company said it has conditionally raised GBP2 million in a share placing to develop its UK deep underground coal gasification portfolio. The investment company said it raised the money through a placing of 66.7 million shares at a price of 3.00 pence share, to new and existing institutional investors as well as a number of private investors. The placement will increase Cluff's total shares by 75% from 88.3 million currently.

James Cropper is down 11% after it posted a fall in pretax profit for the full year hit by green levies and input costs. The paper manufacturer said pretax profit declined to GBP216,000 for the period ended September 26, from GBP1.0 million a year earlier due to higher input costs that the firm was unable to pass through to customers and an increase in green levies.

-------

By James Kemp; jameskemp@alliancenews.com; @jamespkemp

Copyright 2013 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.