UK WINNERS & LOSERS: Low Sugar Prices Leave A Sour Taste For AB Foods

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices midday Monday.
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FTSE 100 WINNERS
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Tesco, up 0.4%. The supermarket has been raised by Bernstein to Market-Perform from Underperform with a price target of 235 pence. The company is currently trading at 229.7p.
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FTSE 100 LOSERS
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Associated British Foods, down 5%. The group leads the blue-chip losers as investors express concern over the ongoing challenges the group faces due to weaker global sugar prices. It reported that revenue and operating profit in its sugar business are set to be substantially lower year-on-year on the back of falling European sugar prices, lower volumes from north China, and a currency translation impact on the unit's operating profit to the tune of around GBP20 million. It said the global sugar price is continuing to sit at an "unsustainably low" level of an average of 17 cents, well below the average cost of production. The group did, however, report a solid performance from its Primark and Grocery arms.

Royal Bank of Scotland, down 3.4%, Lloyds Banking Group, down 3.1%, and Aberdeen Asset Management, down 1.1%. UK stocks most exposed to Scottish independence are dragging on the London market after a weekend poll of Scottish voters put those planning to vote "Yes" for independence ahead of the "Better Together" camp for the first time.

Wm Morrison, down 2.3%. Bernstrin has cut the supermarket's rating to Underperform from Market-Perform and a price target cut to 140p from 180p. The company's shares trade at 169.4p.

Hargreaves Lansdown, down 2%. HSBC has cut the company's price target to 850p from 950p with an Underweight recommendation. The stock trades at 1,039.64p.
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FTSE 250 WINNERS
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De La Rue, up 3.5%. The company has been chosen by the Bank of England as its preferred bidder in the tender for its banknote printing contract. In a statement, the Bank of England said it expects to sign the contract in October, subject to completion of assurance activities in relation to De La Rue's bid, finalisation of the contract, and the final award decision by the Court of the Bank of England.

Dechra Pharmaceuticals, up 1.7%. The veterinary pharmaceutical business expressed confidence in its future prospects and hiked its total dividend for the year to end-June, as it saw pretax profit rise. It posted a pretax profit of GBP21.4 million, up from GBP12.5 million, as it saw revenue rise to GBP193.6 million from GBP189.2 million. Dechra also cut its cost of sales to GBP85.9 million from GBP88.5 million, and it posted lower exceptional costs. The company proposed a total dividend of 15.40 pence, up 10% from 14.00 pence in the previous year.
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FTSE 250 LOSERS
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Synergy Health, down 3.5%. Citigroup has lowered the company's rating to Neutral from Buy with a price target increase to 1.500p from 1,145p. The company trades at 1,450p.

Afren, down 3%. Deutsche Bank has cut the company's price target to 130p from 175p with a Hold rating. The stock trades at 94.26p.
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AIM ALL-SHARE WINNERS
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Orogen Gold, up 26%. The company said the new phase of drilling at its Mutsk project, in southern Armenia, has confirmed discovery of wide zones of gold mineralisation. Orogen said as drilling has focused along the main Mutsk corridor, step-out holes sited to the west of the north-south Mutsk structure have confirmed the company's interpretation from 2013 of much more widespread hydrothermal alteration, pyrite and gold mineralisation. Intercepts up to 60 metres at 1.21 grammes per tonne of gold, including 10 metres at 3.11 grammes per tonne of gold have been reported, it said.

GETECH Group, up 22%. The company said it has won a new USD5 million proprietary services contract with the Angolan National Oil Company, Sonangol, giving it confidence of meeting current year market forecasts. In a statement, Getech said it expects that most of the income from the contract will be recognised in the current financial year.

Seeing Machines, up 8.5%. The sensing technologies company said it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Samsung Electro-Mechanics Corporation, or SEMCo. The MoU with SEMCo, a subsidiary of South Korea's Samsung Group, will see the pair collaborate on the development of face- and eye-tracking technology for the consumer electronics industry.

Somero Enterprise, up 8.1%. The company expressed confidence of seeing "another strong year of growth ahead of current market expectations," as it saw its pretax profit rise in the half-year to the end of June. It posted a pretax profit of USD6.4 million, up from USD1.9 million, as revenue rose to USD29.5 million from USD21.0 million and a proposed interim dividend of USD1.5 cents per share.
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AIM ALL-SHARE LOSERS
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Roxi Petroleum, off 17%. The Kazakhstan focused oil and gas company said it expects its new deep well, Airshagyl 6, in the BNG contract area in the west of Kazakhstan, to be spudded by the end of 2014, and will be located 2,000 metres from deep well A5. It said it will look to enter into a fixed price turn-key drilling contract with a Kazakh drilling company following completion of a tender process.

Kea Petroleum, down 14%. The company said it looks to evaluate the suspended Douglas-1 well at its Tikorangi site. Kea and partner MEO Australia are evaluating the suspended Douglas-1 well in New Zealand, for recoverable resources. The well was suspended in October 2012, with both parties now agreeing to "commence some initially limited sampling and pressure testing of the Douglas well," said the company. In addition, Kea have said that its Puka-1 and Puka-2 wells have continued to produce steadily

Sierra Rutile, down 11%. The company, said it is assessing the extent of the impact on its operations from the government of Sierra Leone's four-day lockdown to contain the Ebola virus outbreak. It said it will outline contingency plans that will be implemented to mitigate, as best as possible, disruptions to its operations one the government gives full details of the restrictions. Sierra Rutile said there have been no reported or suspected cases of Ebola at its operations. It added that it continues to have in place precautionary measures to minimise the risks posed to its employees, contractors and visitors.
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By Neil Thakrar; neilthakrar@alliancenews.com

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