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(Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Wednesday.----------FTSE 100 - LOSERS----------Fresnillo, down 2.3%. The Mexican gold miner was down as gold slipped from multi-year highs after the US Federal Reserve on Tuesday said it was in a no hurry to cut interest rates. The precious metal was quoted at USD1,410.55 an ounce, down from USD1,428.08 late Tuesday. Gold had hit a high of USD1,436.43 early Tuesday, its highest level in six years. ----------Bunzl, down 1.3%. The distribution and outsourcing firm said revenue for the six months to the end of June increased by 4% at actual exchange rates. Revenue at constant exchange rates - and also adjusted for the impact of the number of trading days in the period relative to the prior year - is expected to have risen by around 2%. Moreover, underlying revenue growth is expected at 1% in the half-year. In the first half of 2018, the distribution company reported revenue of GBP4.34 billion. Bunzl highlighted that growth through acquisitions is an "important" part of its ongoing strategy, with half of its 2% constant currency revenue growth coming from that source. Total committed spend on acquisitions so far this year of GBP100 million. Bunzl said its financial expectations for 2019 remain unchanged, with overall trading consistent with slowing underlying revenue growth. Back in April, the company warned that the rate of revenue growth slowed due to "mixed macroeconomic and market conditions" across the countries in which it operates.----------FTSE 250 - WINNERS----------John Wood Group, up 5.5%. The oilfield services company said its performance in the first half is ahead of a year prior. John Wood said its revenue in the six months to June 30 is in line with a year before but the company has seen earnings growth and margin improvements. The company said the margin improvement was led by its energy activities within its Asset Solutions unit in Europe, Africa, Asia & Australia. The company's Environment & Infrastructure Solutions unit also saw margin improvements, John Wood said. Excluding the impact of moving to a new accounting method, the company's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization is expected to be about 7% higher than a year before. Operating profit is expected to be about 25% ahead of the prior year period. John Wood expects full year revenue growth of about 5%, weighted towards the second half. Expected cost synergies of about USD60 million will lead to adjusted Ebitda growth, the company said. For 2018, revenue on a statutory basis stood at USD10.01 billion, and including joint ventures revenue was USD11.04 billion. ----------Hochschild Mining, up 3.0%. UBS raised the gold miner to Buy from Neutral. ----------Jupiter Fund Management, up 1.7%. Peel Hunt raised the asset manager to Buy from Hold. ----------FTSE 250 - LOSERS----------Pennon Group, down 1.5%. Jefferies started coverage on the water company with a Hold rating. ----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS----------Prospex Oil & Gas, up 6.1%. The oil and gas company reported that the Bainet-2 well in north east Romania was spudded late Tuesday. Prospex holds a 50% stake in the exploration area of the EIV-1 Suceava concession through its wholly-owned subsidiary PXOG Massey Ltd. Raffles Energy Srl is the operator of Bainet-2 well, which is a part of the EIV-1 Suceava concession. Drilling and testing at Bainet-2 well are expected to take between 15 and 20 days to complete, the AIM-listed firm said.----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS----------RM2 International, down 73%. The pallet manufacturer said there is a strong likelihood that it will be unable to publish its 2018 accounts by the end of June and expects its shares will be temporarily suspended as a result. The company said it has been "seeking near-term funding" but has not yet received a binding offer. As interim funding has yet to be confirmed, RM2 and its auditors have not been able to finalise the audit of its 2018 financial statements. As such, its shares will almost certainly be suspended from AIM on Monday next week until the audited results are published.----------RPS Group, down 37%. The energy and project management consultant said its results in 2019 will be "materially below" management and market expectations. In 2018, RPS posted a GBP41.0 million pretax profit on revenue of GBP637.4 million. RPS considers the market expectations for its fee income to be GBP594.0 million with consensus profit before tax & amortisation seen at GBP49.9 million. RPS blamed the recent trading conditions in the company's Australia Asia Pacific business. According to RPS, Australia is experiencing its slowest growth since 2009. RPS noted the recent state elections in the Australian territories of Victoria and New South Wales resulted in a "hiatus" in infrastructure spending, hurting the company's business. Elsewhere, RPS said its Energy business has seen "good" trading conditions and expects the oil and gas markets to "continue to improve".----------Bonmarche Holdings, down 27% at 11.38 pence. The womenswear retailer said it still believes Spectre's takeover offer undervalues the business, but now recommends shareholders accept the deal. In April, Spectre - a Dubai-registered company 100% owned by Edinburgh Woollen Mill owner Philip Day - approached the fashion retailer with a GBP5.7 million offer. The offer is priced at 11.445 pence per share, which marked a 34% discount to Bonmarche's GBP8.7 million market value the day before the offer was made. The mandatory offer came after Spectre acquired 26.2 million shares, giving it a majority 52% stake in Bonmarche. The firm said it is now of the view, supported by advisor Investec, that the terms of the offer are fair and reasonable, and recommends shareholders take up the deal. Additionally, Bonmarche reported a "poor" performance in the first quarter of the new financial year due to continued weakness in the underlying clothing market and a lack of seasonal weather.----------
17 Apr 2023 11:55
