LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Wednesday.----------
FTSE 100 - WINNERS----------
Imperial Brands, up 4.3%. The tobacco company said interim profit fell, though it continues to make "significant progress" in its next generation products and upped its dividend. The company reported a 7.6% decrease in operating profit to GBP833 million for the six months to March 31, compared to GBP902 million last year. Pretax profit fell to GBP600 million from GBP804 million a year before. The company's first half revenue revenue fell 0.1% to GBP14.28 billion from GBP14.30 billion the year before. Imperial said it is increasing its investment in its next generation products this year, including e-vapour and heated nicotine, by GBP150 million. This is to support the launch of new products and "continue the progress we have been making on building our innovation pipeline". Looking forward, the company expects a "considerably stronger" second half. "The company reiterates its guidance for the full year, although this is predicated on a stronger second half, and a pledge to divest up to GBP2 billion worth of assets within the next two years is also likely to have caught investors' attention," said AJ Bell's Russ Mould. Royal Dutch
Shell 'A', up 2.2%, Shell 'B', up 2.1%, BP, up 1.7%. The oil major were tracking oil prices higher quoted at USD76.18 a barrel compared to USD74.15 at the London equities close on Tuesday. Brent hit its highest level since late 2014 of USD77.17 earlier in the session. US President Donald Trump said Tuesday the US will quit the "decaying and rotten" 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, breaking with Washington's closest allies. "President Trump's pledge to impose 'the highest level of economic sanctions' on Iran has led investors to contemplate what this will all mean for the oil supply, something that has only worked in the black stuff's favour," said Speadex analyst Connor Campbell.
Vodafone, up 1.5%. The telecommunications company said it has agreed to acquire Liberty Global's operations in Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania for an enterprise value of EUR18.40 billion. This is expected to comprise EUR10.80 billion in cash paid to Liberty Global and the assumption of EUR7.60 billion in existing Liberty debt, subject to completion adjustments. Unitymedia is the second largest cable operator in Germany, Vodafone said, with 13.0 million homes passed. Of these, 11.0 million are currently marketable, reaching 12 of the largest 20 cities in Germany. Unitymedia provides services to 7.2 million unique customers. ----------
FTSE 100 - LOSERS----------
Burberry Group, down 6.5%. Groupe Bruxelles Lambert said it, and its wholly owned subsidiary GBL Energy, has sold its entire 6.6% stake in the luxury fashion retailer. The sale, first announced after the market close on Tuesday, was conducted via an accelerated bookbuild. Proceeds from the disposal amounted to approximately GBP498 million. "The divestment of this stake is part of GBL's dynamic strategy in terms of portfolio diversification and allows it to realize a capital gain," GBL said.
Compass Group, down 6.4%. The catering company said revenue and profit fell in the first half of its financial year, but the catering firm lifted its dividend nearly 10% nonetheless with its full-year outlook unchanged. Revenue for the six months to March 31 slipped 0.8% to GBP11.4 billion from GBP11.5 billion, while operating profit fell 2.7% to GBP853 million from GBP877 million. On an underlying basis, these two figures were up 4.8% and 4.5% respectively. Pretax profit for the period dipped to GBP792 million from GBP831 million last year.
G4S, down 4.5%. The security services provider said first-quarter organic revenue fell 2% as expected due to mobilisation of a large retail solution contract in North America. G4S, which recorded year-to-date sales of GBP500 million, added that its North American retail cash management business continued to build a large sales pipeline and make significant progress with pilot programmes at major retailers, providing confidence in the business' growth prospects. At Secure Solutions - the company's security business - revenue growth in the first quarter was partially offset by the year-on-year effect of the slowdown in Middle East and India in the second half of 2017. G4S said business in India is now growing and the Middle East business is starting to stabilise.----------
FTSE 250 - WINNERS----------
Renishaw, up 10%. The engineering company said its revenue for the nine months ended March 31 was up 12% as it raised its revenue and profit expectations for the full year. Renishaw's revenue from continuing operations for the first three quarters of the current financial year was up 12% to GBP429.9 million from GBP384.3 million in the same period last year. Its metrology business was the standout performer with revenue growth of 13% to GBP406.6 million from GBP361.4 million. Adjusted pretax profit was GBP97.6 million, a 39% increase from GBP70.1 million in the same period last year. Renishaw is increasing its full-year revenue and profit forecast given in its half-year interim report. It now expects full-year revenue to be in the range of GBP585 million to GBP610 million, up from GBP575 million to GBP605 million.
Provident Financial, up 7.5%. The subprime lender said all three of its businesses performed in line with internal plans during the first quarter of 2018, and the company remains on track to deliver annual results in line with management expectations. The home credit provider also said that central costs for 2018 are expected to increase by GBP5 million due to investments in strengthening the company's governance, oversight and collaboration of among divisions. Provident Financial expects to pay a nominal dividend in respect of 2018 before adopting a progressive dividend policy in line with a dividend cover of 1.4 times from the 2019 financial year. ----------
FTSE 250 - LOSERS----------
Greggs, down 15%. The bakery group said weak customer footfall and severe weather conditions dented sales performance for the first 18 weeks of 2018 and it remains cautious in respect of sales outlook for the remaining part of the year. The company also said that underlying profits for the full-year are likely to be at a similar level to last year due to the more cautious outlook and year-to-date trading conditions. Greggs said average transaction values continued to grow, but like-for-like transaction numbers shrank due to a challenging trading environment throughout March and April. ----------
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