LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers on the main London indices Thursday morning.
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FTSE 100 - Winners
Persimmon, up 4.2%, is building on the strong gains made Wednesday after Goldman Sachs increased its price target for the housebuilder to 1854 pence from 1811p, amid a broader re-rating of the sector.
Whitbread rises 3.6% following several weeks of poor performance due to lacklustre results and poor trading updates. The company has still been trading well during this period, says UK equity fund manager Daniel Monks. "Mid-cap growth has been out of favour last month, today is a day for mean reversion". Meaning on a day when most stocks are gaining on the back of potentially positive political news from the US over the ongoing government shutdown, stocks that have been under-performing will outperform.
GKN, up 3.2%, is one of the biggest gainers on the blue-chip index. The engineering company said Finance Director William Seeger intends to step down from his position next February and retire from the board in August, and will be replaced by Adam Walker, who will join from publishing and events company Informa. Walker will join GKN's board January 1 as finance director designate and succeed Seeger February 26.
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FTSE 100 - Losers
G4S falls 0.9%. South African authorities have taken over the management of a maximum security prison run by G4S after the private security contractor "lost effective control of the facility," The Guardian reports quoting the country's prison service. The South African department of correctional services said on Wednesday that it was taking over Mangaung correctional centre outside Bloemfontein because of a "worrying deterioration of safety and security at the centre", the paper said.
Vedanta, down 0.4%, continues to fall, albeit at a slower rate. The company released mixed results Wednesday, reporting an increase in the production of oil and some metals, but a decrease in the sales of surplus electrical power and the production of copper. Vedanta's target price Wednesday was cut by 4.5% to 1,050p from 1,100p by Deutsche Bank. Deutsche is concerned by various risks, including "metal price variation from expectation, volatility in the Rupee, timing and price paid for minorities, higher import duties, execution of projects and the receipt of government permits for the alternative bauxite mines in Orissa and the Lanjigarh refinery expansion programme".
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FTSE 250 - Winners
WH Smith, up 6.4%, is one of the biggest risers on the FTSE 250. The retailer reported a slight dip in sales for the year ended August 31, but rising profits, due to tight cost savings and business wins in the UK and internationally. It declared a final dividend of 21.3p, up 15% on the previous year, bringing the full year dividend to 30.7p per share, a 14% rise. The company's full-year pretax profit rose by 6% to GBP108 million from GBP102 million a year earlier, boosted by a strong performance from its travel division and new store openings.
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FTSE 250 - Losers
Informa, down 1.9%, is one of the biggest fallers on the FTSE 250 after the news that CFO Adam Walker will leave to join GKN on January 1. Walker has held the position at the company since 2008 and his departure means Informa is undergoing a complete change of top management. Chief Executive Designate Stephen Carter will work with an executive search firm to find a replacement for Walker.
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AIM - Winners
Leni Gas & Oil, up 17%. The company has reached a significant milestone by achieving net oil production of over 500 barrels per day from its combined operations. Leni, with operations in Spain and Trinidad, said the majority of its production increase has come from the company's assets in Trinidad where ongoing improvements and well re-activations are currently taking place. The company said that its Goudron Field in Eastern Trinidad increased production to 260 barrels from 105 barrels a day, and it hopes to reach daily production of 400 barrels of oil from the Goudron field by the end of 2013. It also reported that its post-tax profit from operations now exceeds USD300,000 per month and the company believes it is now in a sustainable and positive financial position to move forward.
Kedco is up 10% after it said it has chosen a preferred contractor to build its Enfield Biomass plant and a preferred partner to buy the electricity the plant will produce, while its Pluckanes wind turbine project had started exporting electricity to the grid. The renewable energy developer said it has chosen MWH Global Inc as preferred construction contractor on the 12 megawatt Enfield plant while Statkraft Markets GmBH is its preferred partner for the purchase of all the electricity generated by the plant. Kedco also reported that it is continuing to work with the Foresight Group on financing for the project and due diligence has commenced. It hopes to reach financial close during the fourth quarter and start construction immediately afterwards. The company's 800 kilowatt Pluckanes wind-farm has been energised and is now exporting to the national grid, it said in a statement.
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AIM - Losers
Sula Iron & Gold, down 25%, is the biggest faller on the AIM All-Share index after it raised GBP800,000 in a placing of 40 million shares. It will use the funds to prove up iron and gold mineralisation at its Ferensola Project, as well for general working capital purposes. The placing cash will also go towards tests of the direct shipping ore potential of the site.
Image Scan Holdings drop 20% after it issued a profit warning. The 3D and 2D X-ray imaging company said that it anticipates full-year revenues of GBP2.5 million, down from GBP4.3 million in the previous year. It said that the receipt of a large one-off contract in the nuclear sector in 2011, and the timing of a security contract prior to the end of 2011 had boosted revenue in 2012. Comparatively, 2013 opened with a much smaller order book, but the company had secured more new orders during the year. However, the timing of these orders has caused most of these sales to fall into the first quarter of 2014.
Minera IRL, down 11%. Shore Capital Stockbrokers is unsurprised that, following a loss of USD600,000 in market cap since October 3, LionGold has decided to call off any discussions with regards to a potential acquisition of the company.
Victoria Oil & Gas is down 10%. The company, with operations in Cameroon, said its gas pipeline through Cameroon, which was scheduled to pass under the Wouri River in the fourth quarter this year, has been held back as the company has experienced delays in the approval of its Environmental Impact Assessment. The company also said a developing cement plant which will use 10MW of power is being held back due to the pipeline delay and is now expected to be operational in the second quarter 2014.
Northcote Energy, down 8.7%, is continuing to fall after it raised GBP1.8 million through a placing organised by Share Capital Stockbrokers Wednesday. The onshore US oil and gas exploration and production company said the funding, which was achieved via new and existing shareholders, will be used to advance its production and reserves in Oklahoma.
Petards Group, down 7.7%. The company is retracing from Wednesdays highs. Petards jumped Wednesday after it said it had won a contract worth over GBP1.75 million to provide on-board digital CCTV systems for Electrostar trains being made by Bombardier for Southern Railway. Deliveries are expected to commence and be completed in 2014.
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By James Kemp; jameskemp@alliancenews.com; @jamespkemp
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