LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices midday Thursday.
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FTSE 100 - WINNERS
Royal Bank of Scotland Group, up 2.4%. The bank is preparing a dramatic retrenchment that would see it become a much smaller UK retail and commercial bank, a move that is expected to see staff numbers slashed by at least 30,000 in the coming years, the Financial Times has reported, citing people familiar with the bank's plans. In the wake of the news, Shore Capital has reiterated its Buy recommendation, saying that the move is likely to result in a, "smaller but more efficient, higher return and less risky bank."
GlaxoSmithKline, up 0.6%. The pharmaceuticals company said that Incruse, a treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, had been recommended for marketing authorisation by the European Medicines Agency's committee for Medical Products for Human Use, a key step in getting approval for the drug. Anoro, a combination treatment for the disease, is also undergoing regulatory review.
Royal Dutch Shell, up 0.6%. The European oil giant said it has reached a binding agreement to sell its Australia downstream businesses, excluding Aviation, to Dutch-owned oil trader Vitol for a total transaction value of around AUD2.9 billion or USD2.6 billion. The deal is expected to close in 2014.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
Smiths Group, down 2.1%. UBS has downgraded the company to Sell from Neutral, lowering its price target to 1,340.00 pence, from 1,450.00p. UBS analyst Mark Fielding says that the company came out in the "bottom quartile" in its sector quality analysis looking at historical performance and that, a three year earnings per share compound annual growth rate of approximately 5% is at the low-end of the group.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
IP Group, up 9.3%. The firm said that its portfolio company, Xeros Ltd, intends to float on AIM to raise funds to bring its patented polymer bead cleaning system to the laundry market. The funds raised in the AIM initial public offering are expected to support Xeros in rolling out in the commercial laundry market, and to fund the research and development process through to commercialisation in other identified applications, not least in domestic laundry. IP Group has an undiluted beneficial stake of 14.6% in Xeros.
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels, up 4.7%. The firm reported a pretax profit of GBP167.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2013, up from only GBP54.2 million a year earlier, and a pretax profit of GBP263.6 million for the year as a whole, compared with a profit of GBP171.3 million in 2012. Group revenue increased to the record level of GBP1.04 billion in 2013, due to a GBP273.7 million revenue boost from the Glyndebourne development in Singapore. It has sold 147 out of 150 apartments built on the site of the former Copthorne Orchid Hotel in Singapore.
Informa, up 1.5%. The business media and events company pledged to deliver further growth in adjusted earnings per share in 2014, as it reported improved revenue and pretax profit for 2013 in the first set of results under new Chief Executive Stephen Carter. Its pretax profit in 2013 was GBP115.7 billion, up from GBP70.4 billion in 2012, with revenues increasing to GBP1.13 billion, from GBP1.11 billion. It maintained its final dividend at 12.50 pence, bringing its total dividend to 18.90 pence, up from 18.50 pence in the previous year. The new CEO said a key objective for Informa in 2014 will be managing the transition in leadership as smoothly and effectively as possible. He set out two major challenges for Informa: addressing the shift in technology happening in Informa's market, and returning the company's Business Intelligence division to growth.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
Vesuvius, down 2.8%. UBS has initiated the company with a Sell rating and price target of 440.00p. UBS says that while the company is not expensive on headline valuations, in the context of its engineering sector coverage it sees a, "significant sector valuation discount as justified."
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AIM - WINNERS
Churchill Mining, up 35%. The thermal coal producer said it expects to receive a ruling on its international arbitration claim against the Republic of Indonesia on February 24. The company added that a temporary suspension in trading of the Company's shares on AIM will take effect on February 24 and the shares will restart trading following a notification of the ruling.
Planet Payment, up 8.9%. The company's shares have jumped after it said it had applied for 21,892 new shares to be admitted to trading on AIM in accordance with the exercise of warrants. The shares are to be issued to the holder of a warrant issued in 2009, following the exercise of warrants at an exercise price of 45 US cents per share.
Pentagon Protection, up 7.9%. The firm said that it swung to a pretax profit as revenue more than doubled in its last financial year. It reported a pretax profit of GBP391,415 for the year to September 30, 2013, compared with a pretax loss of GBP523,474 a year earlier, as it saw revenue more than double to GBP5.4 million, from GBP2.0 million.
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AIM - LOSERS
The Real Good Food Company, off 28%. The baker and sugar producer has said it is in a pricing dispute with the sugar subsidiary of Associated British Foods. The company said it is unlikely that the pricing dispute with British Sugar will be resolved in the near future, and it will hit earnings both this year and next year. British Sugar is a major supplier to The Real Good Food Company's Napier Brown non-refining sugar distribution business.
Airea, down 27%. The group said that pretax profit and revenues fell during the half-year, as it continues restructuring plans amid ongoing "hostile market conditions." Revenue for the six months to December 31, 2013, fell to GBP11.6 million from GBP13.5 million a year earlier, and operating profit followed suit, coming in at GPB222,000, down from GBP359,000 in 2012. Pretax profit declined to GBP24,000 from GBP270,000 last year and from GBP533,000 in the previous six month period.
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By James Kemp; jameskemp@alliancenews.com; @jamespkemp
Copyright 2014 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Ip Group (IPO)
Smiths Group (SMIN)
Glaxosmithkline (GSK)
AB Foods (ABF)
Informa (INF)
Vesuvius (VSVS)
Cloudified Holdings Limited (CHL)
AIREA (AIEA)