(Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers among London Main Market small-caps on Thursday.
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SMALL-CAP - WINNERS
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Stock Spirits Group PLC, up 44% at 386.31 pence, 12-month range 190.20p-391.05p. Shares hit a fresh 12-month high after the distiller agrees to a takeover deal worth around GBP767 million. Stock Spirits has accepted private equity firm CVC Funds's offer of 377.00p per share, representing a premium of 41% on the stock's 268.00p closing price on Wednesday. The takeover is expected to complete within the next three to six months, CVC says.
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Vitec Group PLC, up 1.5% at 1,502.45p, 12-month range 660.00p-1,585.00p. The photography and video products maker reports continued strong trading driven by a faster-growing market. For six months to June 30, revenue is GBP181.4 million, up 53% from GBP118.9 million, and Vitec swings to a pretax profit GBP15.1 million from a loss of GBP13.8 million last year. Vitec says second half starts well with July and August order intake to be up 20% on 2019.
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SMALL-CAP - LOSERS
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Hostelworld Group PLC, down 4.9% at 90.33p, 12-month range 38.80p-119.80p. Panmure Gordon downgrades the hostel booking platform to Hold from Buy.
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Glanbia PLC, down 1.1% at EUR14.33, 12-month range EUR7.71-EUR15.16. The Irish ingredients and powdered milk producer says it performed ahead of expectations in the first half of 2021, but warns of second-half inflation pressure. Posts pretax profit of EUR93.0 million for the six months that ended July 3, compared to EUR58.4 million for the same period last year. Managing Director Siobhan Talbot says: "While cost inflation will be a headwind for the group in the second half of the year, price increases and margin management are expected to mitigate some of the impact and will also provide the opportunity to increase investment behind brand marketing and [Nutritional Solutions unit] capabilities, to drive long-term sustainable growth."
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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Hostelworld (HSW)
Glanbia (GLB)