UK WINNERS & LOSERS: Domino Printing Jumps 31% On Deal To Be Acquired

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are amongst the biggest risers and fallers within the main London indices midday Wednesday.
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FTSE 100 WINNERS
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Prudential, up 1.7% at 1,639.25 pence. SocGen has raised the life insurer's price target to 1,951p from 1,530p, reiterating its Buy rating. The change in the price target comes after the company on Tuesday announced that Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam will leave to become the new CEO of Swiss bank Credit Suisse. Also Tuesday, Prudential posted a a big increase in profit for 2014, helped by growth in its key Asian markets, the UK and the US.

Schroders, up 1% at 3,093p. Barclays has increased the asset manager's price target to 3,580p from 3,250p, retaining its Overweight recommendation. On Tuesday, Numis had upgraded the company's rating to Add from Hold, raising its price target to 3,405p from 2,955p.
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FTSE 100 LOSERS
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Tullow Oil, down 0.9%. The oil company said it has plugged and abandoned an exploration well in an onshore block in Kenya after failing to find any significant oil or gas. Tullow Oil said it had drilled the Engomo-1 exploration well on Block 10BA in Kenya down to a total depth of 2,353 metres, but failed to find any significant oil or gas shows. Tullow Oil shares will be demoted from the FTSE 100 to the FTSE 230 on March 23, replaced by Hikma Pharmaceuticals.
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FTSE 250 WINNERS
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Domino Printing Sciences, up 31%. The inket and laser printer maker said its has reached a deal to be acquired by Japanese electronics company Brother Industries for GBP1.03 billion. The offer is at 915 pence in cash per Domino share, which it said its a premium of around 26.9% to its closing price of 721.0 pence Tuesday. The stock currently trades at 951.00 pence.

Domino's Pizza Group, up 6% at 774,42p. Barclays upgraded the pizza delivery company to Overweight from Equal Weight, raising its price target to 850p from 760p. The bank believes the Domino's Pizza can build on its competitive edge over its peers.

BWIN.Party Digital Entertainment, up 1.8%. The online gaming company shares are up despite saying it swung to a loss in 2014 of EUR97.9 million for 2014 compared with a EUR44.9 million profit in 2013, hit by a writedown on its poker operations as that business suffered a 29% decline in revenue due to the loss of its Greek market and challenging conditions in several other markets. The company's shares had faced strong selling prior to Wednesday's earnings announcement, falling 31% in the year to date.

FirstGroup, up 1.5%. The rail and bus operator said it has appointed Wolfhart Hauser as its new chairman to replace John McFarlane. Hauser join the board as a non-executive director on May 18 and will take up the role of chairman on July 16 when McFarlane will retire from the board. Hauser is currently the chief executive of FTSE 100 inspection and testing company Intertek and will step down from that role when he joins the board of FirstGroup. Intertek shares are down 0.8%.
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FTSE 250 LOSERS
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Cairn Energy, down 22%. The oil company said late Tuesday that it is disputing a draft assessment order from the Indian Income Tax Department calling for it to pay USD1.6 billion plus interest and any penalties for the fiscal year 2006-7 in an effort to "protect its legal position and shareholder interests".

N Brown Group, down 14%. The online, catalogue and stores retailer warned that pretax profit from continuing operations will be below its guidance and current market expectations of GBP88 million in the recently-ended financial year, after it further reduced prices in the fiscal fourth quarter to clear stock and compete in the fashion sector.

Hikma Pharmaceuticals, down 4%. The pharmaceutical company posted a rise in pretax profit for 2014, as strong growth in its injectibles business helped offset declines in its branded and generics businesses, and it forecast revenue growth of 6% at constant currency for 2015. But shares in the company are suffering Wednesday from the strong dollar, "which the company says could dent 2015 revenues by around 3%," says Accendo research analyst Augustin Eden.
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AIM ALL-SHARE WINNERS
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Ormonde Mining, up 57%. Canada-based Almonty Industries announced it has approached Ormonde with a indicative, non-binding takeover proposal. No financial details of the offer were disclosed, and Almonty noted that there can be no certainty a formal offer will be made or on what terms. Ormonde said it will respond to Almonty and provide a further update on the offer in due course. It said it strongly advises shareholders to take no action over the offer in the interim.

Formation Group, up 21%. The construction management services and property development firm said it has received the final GBP2.8 million it was due from JV Finance Ventures in relation to the Aldgate East Property development, and plans to use these funds to fund its participate in, or buy, development properties.

Oracle Coalfields, up 18%. The miner said it has received confirmation that its Thar desert project in Pakistan has been included in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has been created in order to improve economic ties between China and Pakistan. Under the agreement, Chinese banks and the country's government will finance Chinese companies investing in approved projects under the agreement. Oracle said the total financing is expected to be around USD45.6 billion.
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AIM ALL-SHARE LOSERS
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Lombard Risk Management, off 22%. The company, which is comprised of a risk management division and regulatory compliance division, said it expects its earnings and revenue for the year to the end of March to miss market expectations due to delays experienced on contracts and alliance partnerships. Lombard said it expects its revenue to fall "slightly short" of current market expectations for the year, attributing the problems to regulatory delays which have led to the deferral of the signing of certain contracts and delays in achieving revenue from some of its alliance partnerships.

Modern Water, down 14%. The company, which owns technology for producing fresh water and monitoring water quality and is in the early stages of rolling out its products commercially, reported a much wider loss for 2014 as it booked a big impairment in its membrane division and said both of its units had been hit by a slowdown in China. Modern Water posted a pretax loss of GBP17.7 million for 2014, compared with the GBP4.8 million loss it reported in 2013.
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By Daniel Ruiz; danielruiz@alliancenews.com

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