UK WINNERS & LOSERS: Diageo Continues To Lead Blue-Chip Fallers

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices midday Friday.

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FTSE 100 - WINNERS

Imperial Tobacco Group, up 2.5%. The tobacco giant is the leading gainer in the FTSE 100 after Goldman Sachs raised it to Conviction Buy, from Neutral, with a target price of 2,840.00 pence.

BT Group, up 2.4%. The company raised its full-year expectations for EBITDA, as it saw revenue and pretax profit rise in its third quarter. Revenue rose 2% to GBP4.60 billion in the quarter ended December 31, up from GBP4.38 billion in the previous year, boosted by growth in its BT Sport service. Third-quarter pretax profit rose to GBP617 million, up 6% from GBP583 million in the previous year. BT now expects full-year EBITDA to meet the upper end of the GBP6.0 billion to GBP6.1 billion range.

British American Tobacco, up 0.8%. The tobacco company's share price has risen like its rival, with Goldman cutting its price target but keeping it at Buy.

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FTSE 100 - LOSERS

Diageo, down 2.9%. The company continues to fall, having closed down 4.7% Thursday, after it reported that it was hit by a steeper-than-expected decline in emerging markets. Further weighing on the stock, Goldman Sachs has downgraded it to Neutral from Conviction Buy, Barclays has cut its price target to 2,000.00p from 2175.00p, Nomura has lowered it to 2,050.00p from 2,200.00p, JPMorgan to 1,840.00p from 1,970.00p, Exane BNP to 1,900.00p from 2,170.00p, and Numis reduces it to 1,900.00p from 2,200.00p.

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FTSE 250 - WINNERS

Paragon Group of Companies, up 5%. The company said trading in the first quarter of its financial year was in line with its expectations, as it unveiled plans to launch a UK retail deposit-taking banking subsidiary before the end of the second-half. The group's pretax profit increased 14% to GBP26.9 million for the three months to end-December. This was ahead of Shore Capital's GBP25 million to GBP26 million forecast range.

Domino's Pizza Group, up 3.2%. The company said David Wild, a senior non-executive director, will be appointed interim chief executive with immediate effect while it looks for a permanent CEO. He'll continue for two months after the new CEO is appointed to assure a smooth handover. Moreover, Credit Suisse has upgraded its recommendation to Outperform from Neutral.

Dairy Crest, up 1.3%. The dairy foods company said it expects full-year profit to be ahead of expectations after it sold its Nine Elms milk depot in London for GBP17.6 million. It expects profit from the sale of properties to be around GBP18 million this year, GBP10 million ahead of previous expectations, boosting group profit. Furthermore, despite challenging conditions, the firm said third quarter trading was broadly in line with expectations. In light of this, Jefferies has raised its full-year 2014 earnings per share forecast by 7.2% to 40.2p, and its price target to 575.00p from 485.00p, with a Buy recommendation.

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FTSE 250 - LOSERS

Premier Farnell, down 7.7%. Although the company said group sales per day for the full year ending February 2 are expected to have grown 2.6% on the year, it warned its profit margins were under pressure. Despite higher-than-expected revenue growth, the group has guided that full year pretax earnings are expected to be "broadly in line with the first half", as operational leverage has been offset by a weaker-than-expected gross margin.

Vedanta Resources, down 3.2%. The company reported a 5% drop in revenues to USD546.6 million in the three months to end-December, from USD574.8 million. Mined metal production was also down 5% in the third quarter, although it was still up 11% in the first nine months of the financial year.

De La Rue, down 2.8%. Although the bank note printer reaffirmed its expectations for full-year operating profit, it cautioned that competition in banknote printing has been pushing prices down.

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AIM - WINNERS

China Rerun Chemical Group, up 20%. The lubricants company reported a big increase in revenues and profits, driven by a 15% rise in like-for-like sales volumes and the introduction of new lubricant oils. It said pretax profit rose to CNY45.0 million in the year to August 31, 2013, from CNY26.9 million a year earlier, as revenues rose to CNY273.3 million, from CNY226.1 million.

Ferrum Crescent, up 10%. The company has confirmed that it expects to receive the initial payment of its USD13.5 million investment by Oman-based Anvwar Asian Investment at the end of February. Alliance News first reported the news January 15.

Top Level Domain Holdings, up 9.8%. The company said it had raised GBP21 million in a placing of 175 million shares at a placing of 12 pence per share. It said it will use proceeds from the placing to develop its domain name registry and registrar operations, as well as providing additional funding for the auction rounds of its 43 contested generic top-level domain applications. The company is buying up domain names ahead of changes to rules governing domain names that will allow far more names than has been allowed up to now. ICANN has only allowed a relatively small number of domains until now, such as .com, .org and .gov.

Altona Energy, up 8.9%. The company said it would press ahead with its Arckaringa coal-to-liquids project in Australia alone for now after ending its joint venture with China National Offshore Oil Company, although it has started talks with potential new partners. "It is as economically, environmentally and socially viable as it always has been, we are fully funded through the current licence period, and with the restraints removed, we can now move forward with real purpose once again," Chief Executive Chris Lambert said.

Wildhorse Energy, up 7.3%. The coal gasification and uranium development company said its sights remain firmly fixed on advancing discussions over underground coal gasification operations in Hungary. It said it continues to progress its strategic partner selection process for the development of its Hungarian assets. Once the partner is secured, Wildhorse plans to recommence a bankable feasibility study and a further drilling programme to upgrade selected areas of its current JORC compliant inferred resource at the Mecsek Hills UCG Project.

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AIM - LOSERS

Max Petroleum, off 18%. The company said it has started implementing a significant cost cutting drive that will last throughout 2014 and beyond as it shifts to being a producer rather than explorer, as it also said it will only report a modest reserve increase at one of its key assets. It said that it expects to report a modest reserve increase at its Sagiz West field in early February, following the drilling of the most recent wells at the site. It warned that it now sees few opportunities to increase reserves at the site, and no longer intends to continue drilling there at a level its current cost structure is intended to support.

TEG Group, down 14%. The organic composting developer said it has a disappointing second half due to a delay in closing the Gaydon project, and a corresponding delay in revenues. The board had hoped to reach "financial close" with the project's funders before the end of 2013, which would have contributed to revenue in that year, but the delay into 2014 means that revenue should now be recognised during 2014 and 2015.

2ergo, down 11%. The company said its losses for its last financial year narrowed, but only when including last year's heavy impairment charges. It made a GBP5.1 million pretax loss for the year ended August 31, compared with GBP16.2 million the year before. However, the company's statement showed that last year's losses were inflated by a GBP12.3 million impairment charge. Without the impairment charge, 2ergo's pretax loss would actually have widened to GBP5.1 million from GBP3.9 million.

Rose Petroleum, down 9.1%. The company has been granted a new hydrocarbon exploration concession in Bavaria, Germany. Rose said it is obligated to carry out a programme of works over the three years, including 2D seismic studies and geophysical measurements at an estimated cost of roughly EUR900,000.

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By James Kemp; jameskemp@alliancenews.com; @jamespkemp

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