Last checked at LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Wednesday.
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FTSE 100 - WINNERS
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Admiral Group, up 5.5%. The insurer lifted its interim dividend by more than expected after reserve releases for prior year claims in its UK car insurance business helped drive its overall profit performance, pushing its dividend and earnings per share for the half ahead of analyst expectations. Admiral said it made a GBP181.7 million pretax profit in the six months to the end of June, slightly down on the GBP183.3 million reported in the corresponding period the prior year. Outgoing Chief Executive Henry Engelhardt said: "A good start to a challenging year. Profits are up, customer numbers are up, earnings per share is up, the dividend is up...you might say it was a pretty 'up' first half!"
Hikma Pharmaceuticals, up 4.4%. The generics and injectables company reiterated its revenue guidance for 2015, although it reported a fall in pretax profit for its first half as revenue was hit by the strength of the dollar and a good performance in Hikma's Branded and Injectibles segments was offset by a decline in its Generics segment. Additionally, the company said Wednesday it has inked a licensing and distribution deal with UK nutraceutical and vitamin company Vitabiotics Ltd, giving it the exclusive rights to register, market, distribute and sell five of Vitabiotics' products in 15 of its Middle East and North Africa markets.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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Glencore, down 6.7% at record lows. The multi-commodities miner and trader posted a substantial fall in earnings, as expected, in the first half of the year, due to weaker commodities and oil prices and following the company's mixed production results earlier this month. Glencore reported a pretax loss of USD527.0 million in the first half of 2015, swinging from a USD2.49 billion profit a year before, as revenue dropped to USD85.70 billion from USD114.06 billion. However, Glencore maintained its interim dividend at 6.0 cents per share.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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KAZ Minerals, up 9.4%. The miner was trading higher as the gold price improved, and as KAZ shares recovered ground lost in recent days due to the downward pressure exerted on its shares by the falling copper price.
Pets at Home, up 2.6%. The pet products and services retailer saw its price target upgraded by HSBC to 360 pence from 320 pence, with the bank reiterating its Buy recommendation on the stock.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Ophir Energy, down 6.5%, Premier Oil, down 3.6%, Hunting, down 2.9%, Tullow Oil, down 2.6%, John Wood Group, down 2.4%. Oil and oil-services companies were taking a hit from ongoing concern about oversupply in the market and falling demand in Asia and the US, despite the oil price having stabilised following declines earlier in the week.
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AIM ALL-SHARE - WINNERS
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Sunrise Resources, up 39%. The miner said it has signed a contract with Boart Longyear for a drilling programme at the Bay State silver project in Nevada. Sunrise said the drill and associated crew will mobilise to the site on August 24 for an immediate drill start. The first phase will comprise of around 500 metres of diamond drilling and is expected to last around two weeks, with analytical results to be made available in around eight weeks.
Jelf Group, up 14%. The insurance broker said it is in talks over a potential takeover by Marsh Ltd. "Discussions, which are ongoing, are at an early stage and there can be no certainty that any offer will ultimately be made for Jelf or as to the terms of any such offer," Jelf said in a statement. Marsh is a subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies, the US professional services company.
SKIL Ports & Logistics, up 9.0%. The company said the remobilisation of the contractor workforce at the Navi Mumbai facility in India has started. In late July, SKIL had said activity at the port was restarting but said the port will not be operational until 2016. The contractor's workforce had left the site following certain local community issues, which SKIL did not disclose
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AIM ALL-SHARE - LOSERS
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Legendary Investments, down 5.4%. The investment company said it swung to a loss before and after tax in its last financial year. The investment company made a GBP470,000 loss in the year ended March 31, compared with a profit before and after tax of GBP901,000 in the prior financial year. Earnings were driven by a net loss of GBP235,000 on investments, against a GBP1.1 million net gain previously.
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By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
Copyright 2015 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
1 Nov 2023 10:45
IN BRIEF: John Wood Group hires Rolls-Royce executive as new CFO
John Wood Group PLC - Aberdeen, Scotland-based engineering and consulting - Hires Arvind Balan as its new chief financial officer, starting April 15 next year. Balan has been CFO of the Civil Aerospace division of jet engine maker Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC for the past two years. Before that, he worked for oil major Shell PLC for 14 years in the UK, Singapore and China. At John Wood, Balan replaces David Kemp, whose retirement was announced back in August, having worked at John Wood for a decade. "Wood has always stood out for me as a company with unique potential," incoming CFO Balan says.
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