Vodafone Share News (VOD)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are amongst the biggest risers and fallers within the main London indices midday Friday.
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FTSE 100 WINNERS
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Vodafone Group, up 5%. The mobile communications company is the biggest riser in the blue-chip index on continued speculation surrounding a potential takeover by Liberty Global and a break-up of its operations. In a note on Thursday, Nomura upgraded Vodafone to Neutral from Reduce, saying the company's mediocre performance may influence the board to consider alternative routes for value creation, especially after comments from Liberty Global Chairman John Malone about a potential combination.

BHP Billiton, up 1.7%, and Rio Tinto, up 1.1%. The Australian government has backed away from an inquiry into the iron ore sector in the country, handing a victory to Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton in their public dispute with smaller rival Fortescue Metals Group, the Financial Times reported on Thursday. Fortescue had been lobbying the government for an investigation into the iron ore market and Prime Minister Tony Abbott last week appeared to have backed the calls. However, on Thursday, Treasurer Joe Hockey said the government has decided not to launch an investigation, following talks held with regulators and stakeholders in the country's resources sector.

Travis Perkins, up 1.2%. Shares in the company have risen after Jefferies upgraded it to Buy from Underperform, lifting its price tarket to 600.00 pence from 380.00p, saying that it is a well-managed business and is rightly regarded as the best-in-class operator over the past decade. "The group has consistently delivered market-leading operating margins, around 200bps higher than its rivals, and negotiated the economic downturn much better than the other merchants under coverage," Jefferies analyst Sam Cullen says. Liberum Capital, which has a Buy rating on the company, has increased its price target to 2,500.00p from 2,300.00p, saying that Travis Perkins' shares can continue to outperform as self-improvement drives sales outperformance and rising returns.

GlaxoSmithKline, up 1.1%. The pharmaceutical company said it has submitted a regulatory application to the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for mepolizumab as an add-on maintenance treatment for severe eosinophilic asthma, for patients who experience exacerbations on standard treatment.

Royal Mail, up 0.9%. Panmure Gordon has raised its price target on Royal Mail Group to 480 pence from 440p, following the release of the company's full-year results on Thursday, saying that it expects the company's dividend yield to support the current share price levels. On Thursday, the UK's legacy postal operator, which was privatised in a controversial initial public offering in 2013 but still has an obligation to deliver post to every address in the country, reported higher profits for its last financial year as a better-than-expected performance in reducing costs in the UK offset lower-than-expected revenue in its parcels business. It also said it will step up its transformation plan in the face of a challenging trading environment. It raised its full-year dividend to 21.0 pence from 20.0 pence.

Imperial Tobacco Group, up 0.6%. The Daily Telegraph has reported that tobacco companies are set to launch what may be one of the largest ever legal claims against the British government on Friday for losses resulting from the introduction of plain packaging for cigarettes. The companies are expected to start lodging papers at the High Court as early as Friday, seeking compensation for being stripped of the right to use their brands which may be as high as GBP11 billion, the paper said.
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FTSE 100 LOSERS
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Severn Trent, down 1.7%. The water company's shares have fallen after it said its pretax profit more than halved in the last financial year due to losses on financial instruments. It said its pretax profit for the year ended March 31 more than halved to GBP148.2 million from GBP318.9 million a year earlier. However, excluding exceptional items and losses on financial instruments, profit rose to GBP300.4 million from GBP276.1 million as revenue climbed to GBP1.80 billion from GBP1.75 billion. Revenue missed analyst expectations by around GBP80 million whilst pretax profit excluding exceptional items beat expectations of GBP285.0 million.

Whitbread, down 0.8%. The owner of the Premier Inn and Costa Coffee chains said Lloyds Banking Group executive Alison Brittain will be its next chief executive, becoming the sixth female CEO of a FTSE 100 company. Whitbread said Brittain will join the company on January 4, 2016, and will succeed Andy Harrison who is retiring from full-time executive life at the end of February, 2016.
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FTSE 250 WINNERS
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Howden Joinery, up 1.8%. Jefferies has raised the company to Buy from Underperform, lifting its price target by more than 50% to 600.00 pence from 380.00p, saying that it believes the UK building materials industry remains attractive on a fundamental basis.

Dairy Crest, up 1.7%. The dairy company's shares have rebounded somewhat after closing down 6% Thursday. Dairy Crest reported a huge fall in profit in its recently-ended financial year Thursday as it booked various costs relating to investments and disposals, and as revenue fell due to further struggles in its Dairies and its Spreads And Butter businesses. Meanwhile, Societe Generale has raised its price target on the company to 490 pence from 470p.
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FTSE 250 LOSERS
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QinetiQ Group, down 1%. The company's shares have given back some of the strong gains registered on Thursday. The defence services company closed up 11% on Thursday after it reported a higher pretax profit for its last financial year after the previous year was hit by a big impairment, while revenue fell as it continued to be hit by the withdrawal of US military from Afghanistan. Investec has cut its recommendation on QinetiQ to Hold from Add as it waits for more clarity on the company's strategy and UK defence budgets.

Booker Group, down 1%. Shares in the food wholesaler have retraced some of the gains posted on Thursday. The company's shares closed up 12% on Thursday after it confirmed it will buy the Londis and Budgens convenience store chains and reported growth in profit in its recently-ended financial year.

Aveva Group, down 0.8%. Berenberg has downgraded the engineering software company to Hold, from Buy, following its recent strong share price run and continued risks in the oil and gas sector. Berenberg analyst Daud Khan says the cyclical downturn in the oil and gas sector, which represents between 45-50% of the company's revenue, means there is probably 10-15% of the renewals base that is at risk of churn, up from the historic average of 5-10%.
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AIM ALL-SHARE WINNERS
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Amur Minerals Corporation, up 91%. The company's shares have sky-rocketed after it said it has finally been awarded its long-awaited production license for the Kun Manie nickel-copper sulphide deposit in the far-east of Russia. The government of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev approved the company's detailed exploration and mine production plan, which in turn led to the Ministry of Natural Resources issuing the production license. Once final documentation has been registered, Amur will have 30 days to pay around USD480,000 to officially seal the deal.

Tungsten Corporation, up 30%. Shares in the company have jumped after it said it has raised GBP17.5 million after conducting two placings of just shy of 21.9 million new shares at 80.0 pence per share due to strong demand from institutional investors, and said its chief executive enlarged his share and remains the company's largest shareholder. The first placing is firm and is for 5.0 million new shares at the placing price, with the remaining 16.9 million shares being issued under a conditional placing to raise a further GBP13.5 million. The conditional placing requires shareholder approval at a general meeting due to be held June 11. Shares in the company are currently quoted at 91.25 pence.

United Carpets, up 16%. The company's shares have risen after it said it will pay a 1 pence per share special dividend. It said it will pay the dividend "in recognition of the support shown by shareholders and the improved financial position of the company".

Stratmin Global Resources, up 6.9%. The graphite producer and explorer said its pretax loss narrowed in 2014 after it began production and revenue increased. It reported a pretax loss of GBP2.4 million for 2014, slightly narrower than the GBP2.5 million loss in 2013 after its finance costs fell to GBP35,000 from GBP351,000, mostly offset by other costs. The company generated GBP153,000 in revenue, up from GBP46,000 a year earlier, but its cost of sales outstripped revenue at GBP185,000 which turned it to a gross loss of GBP32,000.
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AIM ALL-SHARE LOSERS
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Plus500, off 28%. The company's shares have been suspended from trading ahead of an announcement. Prior to the suspension, shares had plummeted by almost 30%.

Mosman Oil and Gas, down 10%. Shares in the company have fallen sharply after it announced that it is evaluating potential acquisition opportunities and said it is talking to a potential farm-in partner for the Taramakau license, adjacent to the Petroleum Creek project which is currently facing issues. The company operating in New Zealand and Australia said it continues to evaluate a number of potential acquisition opportunities, some of which are in a more advanced stage than others, and is discussing financing options to fund any acquisitions it may make.
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By James Kemp; jameskemp@alliancenews.com; @jamespkemp

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