Westminster Group Share News (WSG)

LONDON (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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Miners - Anglo American, up 4.3%, BHP Billiton, up 3.8%, Glenore, up 3.7%, Rio Tinto, up 2.6%. The resource stocks were up following a surge in crude prices overnight after a fall in US oil inventories on Wednesday. "Energy and mining stocks are topping the FTSE this morning with gains of 2% to 3% after Brent crude broke back above the symbolic USD50 a barrel [reaching] 6-month highs overnight and an easing in US dollar strength benefits the greenback-denominated raw materials space as a whole," said Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets. Brent is quoted at USD49.95 against USD49.17 at the London equities close Wednesday.

Randgold Resources, up 2.2% and Fresnillo, up 1.8%. The stocks were benefiting from a higher spot gold price, quoted at USD1,227.25 compared to USD1,222.95 at the London equities close Wednesday.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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United Utilities Group, down 2.2%. The water and sewage services provider said profit fell in line with its expectations in its recent financial year, as the company accelerated its investment plans. The utility group said its operating profit for the year to the end of March was GBP567.9 million, down 13% from GBP653.3 million. Underlying operating profit was GBP604.1 million, down from GBP664.3 million and in line with the company's expectations. Revenue rose 0.6% to GBP1.73 billion from GBP1.72 billion the year before. United Utilities will pay a total dividend for the year of 38.45 pence, compared to 37.70p a year earlier.

Carnival, down 2.2%. The stock went ex-dividend meaning new buyers no longer qualify for the latest dividend payout.

Insurers - RSA Insurance Group, down 1.3%, Aviva, down 1.1%, and Legal & General Group, down 0.7%. The UK Financial Conduct Authority tabled plans to cap early-exit charges for consumers exiting pension plans at 1.0% of the value of their pot, while banning such charges entirely for new pension contracts. The City regulator said the cap will apply to existing contract-based personal pensions, including workplace personal pensions. Firms will not be able to apply any exit charge for personal pensions contracts entered after the proposed rules come into force.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Pets at Home Group, up 3.1%. The retailer for pets and veterinary services operator reported growth in profit in its recently-ended financial year as revenue grew in both the merchandise and services divisions, and it said trading is in line with expectations in the first quarter of the new year. The company said its pretax profit in the year ended March 31 grew to GBP92.1 million from GBP87.0 million the year before, as revenue rose to GBP793.1 million from GBP729.1 million. Pets at Home will pay a total dividend for the year of 7.5 pence, a 39% increase on the prior year.

B&M European Value Retail, up 2.3%. The discount retailer reported growth in profit in its recently-ended financial year as sales grew on the back of new store openings and it announced payment of a special dividend. The group said its pretax profit in the year ended March 26 more than doubled to GBP154.5 million from GBP61.7 million the year before, as revenue grew to GBP2.04 billion from GBP1.65 billion. B&M said revenue was driven by new store openings. B&M will pay a total dividend of 4.8 pence, which is up on the 3.4p it paid the year before, as well as a special dividend of 10p.

Tate & Lyle, up 1.6%. The food and beverage ingredients manufacturer reported growth in profit in its recently ended financial year on lower exceptional costs, while revenue rose slightly as it works on its 2020 Ambition plan. The company said its pretax profit in the year ended March 31 multiplied to GBP126.0 million from GBP25.0 million the year before, as revenue rose slightly to GBP2.36 billion from GBP2.34 billion. Profit was boosted by a drop in exceptional charges to GBP50 million from GBP142 million.

Debenhams, up 1.4%. The department store chain said it has appointed Sergio Bucher as chief executive, replacing Michael Sharp who resigned last year. Bucher will join Debenhams in October from Amazon.com where he has served as vice president of Amazon Fashion Europe since 2013. Prior to this, he was general manager of retail and e-commerce worldwide at sportswear company Puma, and before that held retail roles at sportswear maker Nike and owner of the Zara fashion chain Inditex. Sharp will step down from the board on June 24.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Ibstock, down 10%. The clay bricks manufacturer said it has seen good trading momentum in the first four months of 2016, but said its UK clay business made a slower start to the year than expected. Ibstock said UK brick sales to the new residential sector grew, but the UK clay business was hit by destocking in the builders' merchant supply chain, itself driven by softness in the repair, maintenance and improvement market. This has improved, Ibstock said, but a shift in its sales mix in the first four months will mean overall average pricing will take a hit.

Electra Private Equity, down 2.0%. The private equity investor said Edward Bramson, the activist investor who fought his way onto the board of the company last year, has been appointed interim chief executive. Electra said Bramson will take on the interim CEO role on an unpaid basis and it has started the search for a chief financial officer. The moves come after Electra said it had decided to create an executive function in order to boost its corporate governance structure and provide ongoing support to its board. Electra also said it has terminated its Management & Investment Guideline agreement and limited partnership agreement, under which management of its operations and investments is outsourced to private equity firm Electra Partners LLP.

Melrose Industries, down 1.6%. The manufacturing business buyer was cut to Neutral from Buy by UBS.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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Westminster Group, up 136%. The security services company said it has received a letter of intent from an unnamed Middle East airport authority for a long-term airport security contract. Westminster said the deal would generate GBP30.0 million in revenue per year based on current throughput volumes and the anticipated fee per passenger. "The receipt of this letter of intent is an encouraging step and demonstrates the progress that we have made to date. This, and progress on other long term contract discussions, gives us confidence that our strategy will deliver more positive results in the future," said Chief Executive Peter Fowler.

Sunrise Resources, up 31% at 0.190 pence. The miner said it has raised GBP300,000 to back its US precious metals projects. Sunrise will issue 250.0 million shares at 0.12 pence per share to raise the funds via a placing and subscription. Roger Murphy, a non-executive director of Sunrise, will invest GBP20,000 in the placing. The proceeds will be used for the company's precious metals projects in Nevada in the US.

Marshall Motor Holdings, up 27%. The automotive retail and leasing group said it has bought Ridgeway Garages (Newbury) for GBP106.9 million in cash. The company will fund the acquisition from its existing resources. Ridgeway is a multi-franchise dealer group operating across the southern home counties and Wiltshire and Dorset, representing 12 brands via 30 franchised dealerships. It also operates five own-branded used car centres, two trade parts specialists, two service centres, two standalone body shops and a pre-delivery inspection centre.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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Prospex Oil & Gas, off 24% at 1.04p. The oil and gas company said it has raised GBP1.6 million in a share placing to support the activities of Hutton Poland, in which it holds a large minority stake. Prospex raised GBP1.6 million through the placing of 164.6 million shares at 1 pence each. The company plans to use the funds for its 49% share of Hutton Poland's exploration budget for 2016. Once funding has been made available, Hutton is planning to move to drill a well on its Bolesaw prospect, targeting a well spud date in the fourth quarter of 2016.

Powerflute, down 12%. The Finnish packaging company said trading remained good in the first four months of 2016, with results broadly in line year-on-year despite less favourable markets. Powerflute said its Coreboard and Cores business has been hit by a slowdown in the Chinese market, but its US unit continued to perform well and some underlying improvements were seen in Europe. For Packaging Papers, trading continues to be challenging and margins have come under pressure, it said, amid softer containerboard market demand and capacity increases.

LightwaveRF, down 11%. The company said whilst it recognises this is "more to do", its increased number of sales and distribution outlets positions it well for the months ahead, as it reported a swing to a pretax loss for its first half. LightwaveRF provides an internet-of-things platform and connected devices. For the half year to end-March the company reported a pretax loss of GBP481,264, swung from a pretax profit of GBP44,754 the year before, on revenue of GBP804,455, down from GBP1.5 million the year before.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com; @ArvindBhunjun

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