(Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Thursday.
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FTSE 100 - WINNERS
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RELX, up 3.4%. The business publisher and analytics firm reaffirmed 2019 guidance after a solid first nine months of the year. RELX delivered 4% underlying revenue growth for the first nine months of 2019, with all four business areas delivering an improvement year-on-year. "The full-year outlook is unchanged. As we enter the final quarter of 2019 key business trends are in line with the full year 2018. We remain confident that, by continuing to execute on our strategy, we will deliver another year of underlying growth in revenue and in adjusted operating profit, together with growth in adjusted earnings per share on a constant currency basis in 2019," said RELX.
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AstraZeneca, up 3.2%. The pharma giant posted a dip in third-quarter profit as a result of research & development expenses, but did upgrade annual sales guidance. For the three months ended September, pretax profit was USD409 million, down 14%. This reduction was the result of a 32% rise in selling, general & administrative costs, on top of a 5.5% jump in research & development expense. Total revenue rose 20%, reaching USD6.41 billion thanks both to a 16% rise in product sales and to a more than trebling of collaboration revenue. Astra has upgraded product sales guidance for 2019 and is now expecting a low to mid-teens percentage rise, having previously expected a low double-digit percentage increase. Astra also reiterated guidance for core earnings per share of between USD3.50 and USD3.70 for 2019 as a whole.
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AVEVA Group, up 2.2%. The engineering and industrial software firm said strong sales execution has led to solid revenue growth. AVEVA achieved low double-digit revenue growth on a proforma constant-currency basis in the financial first half ended September. On a reported basis, revenue benefited from foreign exchange movements, the company said. The revenue mix was "positive", said AVEVA, with every region delivering growth. Rental & Subscription was "very strong", partly offset by expected lower revenue in the Initial & Perpetual Licences and Services units.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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Royal Bank of Scotland, down 2.2%. In the three months to September 30, RBS recorded an operating pretax loss of GBP8 million compared to a GBP961 million profit a year before. The loss was attributed to a GBP900 million PPI provision. The bank's loss attributable to shareholders totalled GBP315 million, compared to a GBP448 million profit in the third quarter last year and a GBP1.33 billion profit in the second quarter of this year. Net interest income declined 6.5% to GBP2.01 billion from GBP2.15 billion. RBS said its group was hurt from a "particularly challenging" quarter from investment bank NatWest Markets.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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KAZ Minerals, up 6.2%. The miner expects to beat gold guidance for 2019 after a "record" third quarter of the year. KAZ has previously guided for 2019 gold production between 170,000 ounces and 185,000 ounces. However, it now expects to beat the top end of that range by 5%. This comes after third-quarter gold production of 58,500 ounces for the three months to September, 32% higher than the quarter before. Copper production was 82,900 tonnes, 6.8% higher than the prior three months. KAZ said the rises in production came after strong performances from the Aktogay mine in eastern Kazakhstan and the Bozshakol mine in the north of the country.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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RHI Magnesita, down 4.4%. The refractory products firm warned a continued deterioration in steel-sector sales volumes are hurting earnings. As a result, RHI Magnesita is predicting 2019 adjusted earnings before interest, tax, and amortisation to be between EUR400 million and EUR410 million, down from the EUR428.1 million recorded in 2018. The Vienna, Austria-headquartered company said Steel revenue for the three months to September 30 has fallen 14% year-on-year and a materially lower contribution from the Steel unit in the second half against the first half is now expected. The global steel market has weakened further and, as a result, customers have significantly reduced their refractory products inventories, RHI Magnesita explained.
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OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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Woodford Patient Capital Trust, up 30%. The firm has appointed Schroder Investment Management as its new portfolio manager, following the exit of star fund manager Neil Woodford last week. Schroder Investment Management, part of FTSE 100 listed asset manager Schroders, will take over as portfolio manager by the end of 2019, when the trust will be renamed Schroder UK Public Private Trust.
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Petro Matad, up 76%. The Mongolian oil explorer reported positive results from testing of the Heron-1 well. A first test was performed over a three metre zone at 2,872 metres and indicated an oil column height of at least 70 metres in the Heron-1 well. The second drill stem test was performed over a 12 metre interval from 2,834 metres, with oil and some associated gas flowing to surface without the need for any artificial lift. The peak production recorded during the test was 821 barrels of oil per day and, for the main flow period, the well flowed at an average rate of 200 barrels a day. The company said the Heron-1 flow rate was very encouraging and could indicate a "too conservative" recovery estimate for the Heron structure, however more wells would be required to prove the total volumes in the structure.
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Motif Bio, up 23%. The biopharmaceutical firm is to team up with a US Army-funded research institute to evaluate the use of iclaprim in administering antibiotics.
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Eurasia Mining, up 32%. The firm said two of the largest investment banks in Russia and China have expressed interest in the company's assets, with talks over their future ongoing.
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OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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C4X Discovery, down 57%. The firm is to raise GBP5.5 million by placing shares at 15 pence each, and also offer 1 share per 9 existing in an open offer to raise a further GBP1.0 million. C4X will use the funds to strengthen the balance sheet and expands the portfolio.
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Mobile Streams, down 31%. The firm continues to seek a new nominated advisor, but will not make the October 28 deadline when shares will be suspended if it has not done so. After that, it has a month to get a new nomad, or it will be removed from the London Stock Exchange.
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Distil, down 20%. The alcoholic drinks maker swung to a loss in the first half with the company citing tough conditions in the UK unflavoured gin market. The company, which owns the RedLeg rum brand, Blackwood's gin and Blavod vodka, swung to a first half pretax loss of GBP1,000 in the six months to September 30. Last year, it made a GBP101,000 pretax profit. Revenue fell by 29% year-on-year to GBP824,000 from GBP1.2 million. For the full-year Distil expects revenue to lag behind market forecasts, though the company expects operating profit to be in line due to cost control measures.
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By George Collard; georgecollard@alliancenews.com
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