Vodafone Share News (VOD)

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

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FTSE 100 - WINNERS

Severn Trent, up 1.5%, and United Utilities, up 0.9%. The gains follow the proposal from the industry regulator, Ofwat, that the weighed average cost of capital be towards the upper end of its pre-qualification guidance. Ofwat proposed a WACC across the industry of 3.85%. Although this is lower than the 5.1% previously allowed, it is more than many had expected given political pressure to restrict utility company profits.

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FTSE 100 - LOSERS

BG Group, down 15%. The major oil and gas company said it has achieved production in line with estimates but has issued force majeure notices under its liquefied natural gas agreements in Egypt and lowered its guidance for 2014 and 2015. BG Group revised down its 2014 forecast production volumes to be in the range of 590,000 to 630,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2014, and 2015 levels in the range of 710,000 to 750,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, down from the company's 775,000 to 825,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day guidance given in September. The company also said that due to the current political problems in Egypt, it has served force majeure notices under its LNG agreements in Egypt to buyers and lenders.

Vodafone Group, down 5.4%. American telecoms company AT&T Inc. denied it would be making a bid for Vodafone, amid reports that Vodafone is seeking an major acquisition of its own, Spanish cable operator Grupo Corporativo ONO S.A. However, AT&T noted that it reserves the right to announce or participate in an offer or possible offer for Vodafone within six months of the statement, under Rule 2.8 of the UK Takeover Code.

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FTSE 250 - WINNERS

Elementis, up 3.8%. The company has announced that it has appointed Andrew Duff as non-executive deputy chairman and said Duff will become non-executive chairman after the chemical company's April 24 annual general meeting. Duff also is non-executive chairman of FTSE 100 water and waste treatment services company Severn Trent.

IP Group, up 1.7%. IP said it has extended its commercialisation agreement with The University of Manchester to include funding for graphene projects. The extension of the commercialisation agreement means IP Group will identify new potential spin-out companies. In return, it receives an equity stake in the spin-out companies.

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FTSE 250 - LOSERS

Cairn Energy, down 3.6%. The oil and gas exploration company continues to see its share price drop, after falling by 5.6% on Friday, in the wake of the announcement that it had been contacted by the Income Tax Department of India to discuss previous income tax assessments. Alongside this, UBS has lowered Cairn's price target to 250.00 pence from 270.00p.

Carillion, down 3.6%. FTSE 250-constituent HICL Infrastructure Company said it has acquired a 26% interest in Holdfast Training Services Ltd and a 40% interest in the Sheffield BSF Schools project for a combined GBP23.5 million. Holdfast, a PPP joint venture with Babcock International Group PLC was acquired from a subsidiary of Carillion PLC.

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AIM - WINNERS

Nova Resources, up 25%. Nova has announced that Enersty Co Ltd has secured an offtake contract with Hansung Industries Co Ltd. The energy investor said, as part of the deal, Hansung will purchase steam from a renewable energy plant which is to be built, owned and managed by Enerstry Co Ltd. Nova has a 23.72% holding in Enerstry Group, which has a 93.33% holding in Enersty Co Ltd.

Oilex, up 9.1%. The exploration-and-development oil company said all of the drilling services tenders are complete for the Cambay-77H site in India, and successful contractors are preparing to mobilise. The company said the assembly of parts for its Essar LR-4 rig has commenced as components continue to arrive from Mumbai.

Sirius Minerals, up 7.3%. The potash exploration and development company said that it has seen positive results from its POLY4 fertilizer crop studies. POLY4 is the company's Polyhalite product, which is used as a speciality fertiliser as it contains a range of nutrients and is low in chlorine.

ServicePower Technologies, up 6.9%. The company said it has won two contract extensions for a total of USD750,000 with two existing customers. The software systems company said that both contracts were signed at the end of 2013, and revenues would be recognised in the current year and beyond.

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AIM - LOSERS

Albemarle & Bond, off 53%. The struggling pawnbroking business warned its shareholders that there may be little residual value left in its shares, after it terminated its formal sale process, claiming none of the proposals it had received represented a fair value for the company. It said its lenders have extended the deferral of its banking covenants until the end of March while it looks at other options for the business.

Baron Oil, down 14%. The company said terrorist attacks at its Nancy Burdine Maxine Fields in Colombia have affected production. Baron Oil said the Putumayo region was the scene of a series of terrorist attacks at the end of 2013 and the NBM field was attacked by guerrillas, causing both temporary shut down of oil production and damage to equipment.

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

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