(Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Friday.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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International Consolidated Airlines, down 6.5%. Shares in the British Airways parent were lower after the UK added France to its 14-day quarantine list. People arriving in the UK after 0400 BST on Saturday will be required to spend 14 days in self-isolation due to rising numbers of coronavirus cases in France. The conditions will also apply to travellers returning to the UK from the Netherlands, Monaco, Malta, Turks & Caicos and Aruba. The move, which applies throughout the UK, comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson promised to be "absolutely ruthless" in decisions about imposing quarantine restrictions on countries. "The problem for the airlines is that people's desire for a break in the sun may be outweighed by their fear of the logistical challenges of holing up for two weeks when they get back, with decisions on which countries to add to the quarantine list often coming at short notice. This decision will feel particularly painful as it comes at the height of the UK holiday season and the question now becomes just how long the likes of EasyJet, Ryanair and British Airways-owner IAG can continue under these conditions," AJ Bell's Russ Mould commented.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Rank Group, up 3.5%. Shares in the gambling company were higher ahead of the reopening of casinos in the UK this weekend, as lockdown restrictions ease further. Under social distancing rules, casinos in the UK will reopen on Saturday for the first time since the lockdown was imposed. Rank Group owns Grosvenor Casinos, the largest UK casino operator with 52 casinos nationwide and Mecca Bingo, the UK's leading bingo operator.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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easyJet, down 7.5%, Tui, down 5.8%. The travel stocks were dealt a blow by the UK government decision to add France to the quarantine list. "With France being added to the quarantine list for the UK, travel & leisure is under pressure. Shares in IAG, Ryanair, Tui and EasyJet were all sharply lower as the move will force a large swathe of cancellations right at the peak of the summer holiday season for one of the largest markets for UK tourists. Half a million Brits are thought to be in France right now," said Markets.com analyst Neil Wilson. Elsewhere, Irish carrier Ryanair Holdings was down 4.9% and Dart Group, which owns the Jet2 airline, was down 9.5%.
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WH Smith, down 5.5%. Shares in the books, magazines and confectionery retailer were also lower as part of the UK's new quarantine travel rules. WH Smith generates a substantial amount of its revenue from stores in airports and train stations. "Related stocks were also hit. WH Smith - purveyor of overpriced sweets and Evian - slipped down the board as a result. Apart from the immediate damage this will do at the height of the school holidays and peak summer season, the quarantine decision also underlines the inherent risk you take in booking a holiday abroad right now, which will do nothing for consumer confidence," Wilson added.
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Domino's Pizza, down 5.5%. Citigroup downgraded the pizza delivery chain to Sell from Neutral.
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OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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Verona Pharma, up 28%. The pharmaceutical company said the impact of Covid-19 on clinical trials in the first half has been limited, and the company remains on track to start its Phase 3 clinical trials with Ensifentrine for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease later in 2020. The company also said it has received a notice from US Food & Drug Administration to proceed with a study of Ensifentrine in patients with Covid-19. The company plans to initiate a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot clinical study to evaluate Ensifentrine delivered via pressurized metered-dose inhaler formulation as a treatment for patients hospitalized with Covid-19 at the University of Alabama. The study is expected to start in the third quarter of 2020. Ensifentrine is an investigational inhaled therapy that has been shown to act as both a bronchodilator and an anti-inflammatory agent in one compound.
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Bluejay Mining, up 12%. The miner said it completed a final public consultation meeting as part of its attempts to ink an exploitation licence for a project in Greenland. The public consultation for the Dundas ilmenite project was previously hit with delays. Due to Covid-19 affecting consultation meetings, the government of Greenland extended the consultation period from eight to 10 weeks, Dundas said in June. And in July, Bluejay had agreed an offtake deal with a "multinational commodity trading firm" at Dundas increased. The new agreement increased the amount of ilmenite to between 250,000 and 300,000 tonnes per year, extending agreement by three months to October 31.
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Quiz, up 8.0%. The fashion retailer said it has secured an increase and extension to its existing loan facilities from lender HSBC. The clothing company's total bank facilities has been doubled to GBP3.5 million from GBP1.8 million, comprising an overdraft facility of GBP2.0 million and a working capital facility of GBP1.5 million. The loans will remain in place until the end of October. There are no financial covenants applicable to the facilities. Quiz, which has been hammered by the Covid-19 lockdown, has GBP5.7 million in cash in addition to the loan facilities.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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