Vodafone Share News (VOD)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Thursday.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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Inmarsat, down 1.9%. The satellite communications firm reiterated its guidance for the full year as it said no material change in its trading environment is expected for the rest of 2015. The company said it expects group revenue for the full year to be USD1.25 billion to USD1.30 billion, including USD70.0 million in revenue from its cooperation agreement with LightSquared. The company is holding a Capital Markets Day on Thursday and said it will discuss its approach to future financial guidance.

BT Group, down 1.1%. Vodafone Group is set to add its voice to the mounting calls for a break-up of BT, separating its Openreach network infrastructure arm, as part of wider market reforms ahead of a regulatory review of the communications industry in the UK, the Financial Times reported. Separately, Sharon White, the chief executive of media and communications regulator Ofcom, raised concerns about price rises by operators in the telecommunications market and expressed wariness about the potential deterioration of competition in the mobile market from the planned wave of consolidation in the sector, including BT's acquisition of EE and Three and O2's merger. Vodafone shares were down 0.8%.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Dunelm Group, up 1.1%. The homewares retailer reported growth in sales in the first quarter of its financial year which it said was due to improved product ranges, seasonal merchandise, and a better shopping experience for customers. Dunelm said total sales in the 13 weeks to October 3 grew 12% to GBP202.3 million from GBP180.6 million the year before, as like-for-like sales rose 5.5% to GBP183.3 million from GBP163.1 million. Dunlem said trading was strong both in-store and online, with all categories showing a robust performance.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Hays, down 5.6%. The recruiter said its net fee income rose in the first quarter from a year before, despite taking a heavy currency translation hit from its Asia Pacific operations, as trading in Europe and in the UK and Ireland remained robust. Hays said its total net fee income in the first quarter to the end of September was up 3.0% from a year earlier, while net fee income increased 8.0% on a like-for-like basis at constant currencies. UK and Ireland net fee income grew 6.0% in the quarter, despite the group coming up against tougher comparables, while its Continental Europe and Rest of the World division delivered an 8.0% increase and an 11% increase on a like-for-like, constant currency basis, as it took a hit from the weak euro. The currency hit was more pronounced in Asia Pacific, where reported net fee income fell by 7.0% in the quarter, while like-for-like income was up by 6.0%. The division was also hit by a downturn in recruitment in the mining and resources sector in Australia, due to the tough conditions in commodities markets.

Weir Group, down 2.9%. The engineering services company was downgraded to Sell from Neutral by Investec. Investec said that while the difficulties of the group's oil and gas division are well understood, its minerals business could be facing more severe profit revisions than currently expected and, though shares in the company have fallen significantly since the start of August, all the bad news may not be priced in.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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Atlantic Coal, up 10%. The coal miner said revenue in the first nine months of 2015 was around 26% higher year-on-year, and the miner said it expects total second half revenue to "at least match" the first. The company said revenue in the first nine months of 2015 totalled around USD17.8 million, rising from USD14.1 million in the same period a year earlier. Those numbers are unaudited, and the company said it plans to release its unaudited revenue figures in its quarterly statements going forward. In addition, the company said it is currently "experiencing a number of positive factors", including continuing high levels of production and sales for both its clean coal and run-of-mine coal and a large inventory of coal as it enters the winter period, which generates more demand due to colder weather.

Sierra Rutile, up 8.4%. The miner said it has achieved its second highest quarter of production ever and should hit the middle to upper range of its full-year production guidance. It said third quarter production totalled 33,960 tonnes of rutile, which was up 13% quarter-on-quarter and 46% year-on-year. The company said it is confident it will hit the middle to upper range of its 120,000 to 130,000 tonne target for the full year. In addition, Sierra Rutile ended the quarter with 2,000 tonnes of heavy mineral concentrate stockpiled, containing approximately 700 tonnes of rutile, which will be processed in the fourth quarter of 2015. Total production of rutile is expected to be higher in the fourth quarter than it was the third.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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City of London Investment Group, down 11%. The emerging markets asset manager said it is hopeful of adding a net USD250 million to its funds under management over the next six to nine months. It said the funds it manages amounted to USD3.6 billion at the end of September, a fall from the USD4.2 billion recorded at the end of June. "Despite the recent market volatility, the board is encouraged by the diversity in the current pipeline of potential mandates, with circa USD750 million spread across EM, Frontier, Developed and Tactical Asset Allocation asset classes," the company said in a statement.
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By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance

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