WPP Share News (WPP)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Wednesday.----------FTSE 100 - WINNERS----------Rolls-Royce, up 3.0%. The jet engine maker confirmed its annual guidance and said it expects a sharp increase in its engine production and delivery volumes in 2019. Rolls-Royce said it expects its operating profit for 2018 to be in the upper half of its GBP300 million to GBP500 million prior guidance. In 2017, operating profit was GBP321 million. Rolls-Royce said that despite significantly increasing Trent 1000-related maintenance, repair and overhaul capacity over the last twelve months, the number of aircraft on ground remained at a high level. Looking ahead, Rolls Royce expressed confidence that Trent 7000 production and delivery volumes will increase "significantly" in 2019. Meanwhile, the restructuring, announced in mid-June, remains on track, Rolls Royce noted. The company said it focused in 2018 on establishing its new operating model and on delivering the targets. In the next two years, the company expects a 4,600 headcount reduction, with a third of these taking place before the end of 2018. ----------WPP, up 2.8%. Berenberg raised the advertising company to Hold from Sell. WPP on Tuesday closed up 4.8% after it set out a new three-year plan to return to growth. The stock remains down 35% so far in a year in which its founder Martin Sorrell departed.----------British American Tobacco, up 2.0%. The tobacco company reiterated its guidance for 2018 following a good performance in the second half, particularly in the US. There, BAT said it delivered good revenue growth on a constant currency basis. US industry volumes are expected to decline in line with historic ranges, down 4.4% in the year-to-date, and BAT expects to see a decline in the range of 4.0% to 4.5% for 2018. Elsewhere, the Tobacco Heating Products and Vapour product categories are on-track to reach GBP900 million in full-year revenue. In particular, the heating product 'glo' is now in 16 markets, and is continuing to grow its market share in Japan. BAT maintained its expectations for 2018, anticipating an industry volume decline of 3.5% and a rise in adjusted operating profit as well as adjusted revenue. Full-year adjusted earnings per share growth is expected to be hit by currency translation headwinds of around 6% at current exchange rates.----------FTSE 100 - LOSERS----------J Sainsbury, down 4.8%. The supermarket chain, alongside peer Asda, said it will lodge an application with the Competition Appeal Tribunal for a judicial review of the Competition & Markets Authority's phase two investigation into their merger. The two supermarkets will ask for a review of the timetable and process, reflecting both companies' view that there currently is not sufficient time to consider all the evidence given the "unprecedented scale and complexity" of the case. Specifically, Sainsbury's said they will ask the UK anti-monopoly regulator for an additional 11 working days over the Christmas period to be able to respond to a "large amount of material" recently provided to the supermarket. The CMA has since launched an investigation into the merger, which in September was referred for an in-depth phase 2 investigation. The probe will look into whether the merger could lead to a worse outcome for shoppers, through higher prices, poorer shopping experience or reductions in the range or quality of products offered, the CMA said.----------FTSE 250 - WINNERS----------Marshalls, up 6.5%. The concrete block-paving manufacturer said it expects to "exceed" full-year expectations, after revenue growth has accelerated of it, while it also announced the acquisition of brick maker Edenhall Holdings. Marshalls explained the boosted expectations were driven by "better" second half revenue growth which has resulted in "strong" trading. For the 11 months ended November, revenue grew 14% to GBP465 million from GBP407 million the year prior. Marshalls announced it had acquired concrete brick manufacturer Edenhall for up to GBP17.2 million on a debt and cash free basis. Marshalls will pay an initial GBP11.8 million cash consideration as well as a further GBP5.4 million deferred consideration. The initial consideration has been reduced by GBP5.2 million to reflect the net debt balance at Edenhall. ----------FTSE 250 - LOSERS----------Superdry, down 32%. Shares in the fashion retailer lost a third after underlying profit halved amid tough market conditions and internal challenges. For the six months ended October 27, reported pretax profit nearly tripled to GBP26.4 million from GBP9.1 million a year prior. This was as revenue rose 3.1% to GBP414.6 million from GBP402.0 million a year before. On an underlying basis - excluding exceptional costs - pretax profit halved to GBP12.9 million from GBP25.3 million a year before. Superdry said it expects underlying pretax profit in a range of GBP55 million to GBP70 million for the full-year. Peel Hunt was expecting the figure to come in at GBP85.8 million. For the firm's previous financial year, underlying pretax profit came in at GBP97.0 million. The company said said "unseasonably warm weather" that hurt demand for cold-weather clothing continued through November and into December. Compounding its woes, Peel Hunt cut the stock to Hold from Buy. ----------Dixons Carphone, down 7.5%. The mobile phone and electrical goods retailer swung to an interim loss due to impairment charges, but reiterated confidence in its full-year guidance. For the six months to October 27, the electronics retailer posted a GPB440 million pretax loss, compared to a GBP51 million profit a year ago. The firm said it booked non-headline charges of GBP490 million in the period, primarily relating to non-cash impairments, mainly goodwill. Revenue meanwhile, grew marginally to GBP4.89 billion from GBP4.87 billion a year prior. Like-for-like revenue increased 2% in the half, with the second quarter up 4%. Dixons cut its interim dividend by 36% to 2.25p per share compared to its prior year's interim payout of 3.5p. For the half-year, headline pretax profit came in at GBP50 million, down from GBP73 million a year ago.----------Man Group, down 3.5%. JPMorgan downgraded the alternative asset manager to Neutral from Overweight. ----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS----------Fulham Shore, up 16%. The Franco Manca and Real Greek restaurant chains owner said it is considering increasing its future opening programme after posting a positive set of interim results. For the six months to September 23, the company's pretax profit was up 36% to GBP1.5 million from GBP1.1 million a year prior. Revenue increased 20% to GBP33.0 million from GBP27.5 million in the period, driven by openings and increased customer numbers. For the half, Fulham shore opened two new Franco Manca restaurants, with a further one after the six-month-period. It now trades from 43 restaurants, mainly in London. For the financial year ending March 2020, the company is now looking to open more restaurants across both brands than in the current financial year, as it is in negotiations with several landlords. Looking ahead, the company reiterated its confidence for "continued growth and a great future".----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS----------Filtronic, down 54%. The communications equipment company said it expects a swing to loss in its current financial year following a decline in sales in the first half. Filtronic said sales in the six months to the end of November were GBP10.4 million, down from GBP12.8 million reported for the same period a year earlier, due to the lower demand for its Massive MIMO antennas. As a result, Filtronic said it now expects to be loss-making for the current financial year. In financial 2018, the company reported pretax profit of GBP1.2 million. As a consequence of this lower demand and the uncertainty it brings, Filtronic said it has decided to impair fully the net book value of the capitalised development costs of GBP500,000 relating to the development of Massive MIMO in its half-year results.----------