UK WINNERS & LOSERS: Rolls Royce Driven Lower By Outlook Downgrade

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are amongst the biggest risers and fallers within the main London indices midday Friday.
-------
FTSE 100 WINNERS
-------
Petrofac, up 5.2%. The company said it has received record awards for its engineering, construction, operations and management activities and it remains on track to hit profit targets for the 2014. The company reported an order intake of USD9.4 billion for the year to date for its engineering, construction, operations and management sector, mainly attributable to increased activity for onshore engineering and construction services in the second half. During the second half of the year, it has sealed new contracts including a USD700 million contract with the Kuwait Oil Co and a USD500 million contract for a subsidiary of Petrnoas in Malaysia. The company expects to secure further contracts for its onshore engineering and construction services before the end of 2014, it said in a statement.

Tullow Oil, up 4.7%. Societe Generale has upgraded Tullow Oil to Buy from Hold but cut its price target to 700.00 pence from 865.00p, saying the company has the ability continue financing high-margin production growth projects in Ghana and West Africa, despite the multi-year low oil price. The stock currently trades at 510.50p.
-------
FTSE 100 LOSERS
-------
Rolls Royce, down 11%. The engineering and aerospace company has cut its outlook for the second time this year, saying it now expects underlying revenue this year to be lower and its outlook for 2015 has become more challenging. The company said it expects underlying revenue for the full year to be 3.5% to 4% lower, compared with previous guidance of flat revenue against the comparable year. This includes adverse foreign exchange translation for the group estimated at GBP500 million, the same as it has previously announced. Due to cost reductions, Rolls-Royce has maintained its guidance for underlying profit in 2014 at flat, with adverse foreign exchange translation now estimated to be slightly lower at GBP60 million from GBP70 million previously. For the medium term, it said its business is well-positioned to achieve growth, though it warned it is difficult to precisely forecast revenue and so did not provide medium-term guidance given the wide range of variables its business units face.

Travis Perkins, down 1.7%. The building merchant said the encouraging momentum in its business reported in its half-year results has continued, with total sales and like-for-like sales growing in the third quarter and trading consistent with that seen in the first half, though shares in the group dropped as the sales growth rate slowed against the first half. The company said total sales increased 6.9% in the quarter to September 30 year-on-year, with like-for-like sales increasing 5.7%. In the first half, sales increased 10.2%.
-------
FTSE 250 WINNERS
-------
MAN Group, up 4.0%. UBS has raised the stock to Buy from Neutral, with a price target increase to 132.00p from 120.00p. UBS says the company's recent purchase of Numeric has a strong upside potential. The stock currently trades at 116.20p.
-------
FTSE 250 LOSERS
-------
Perform Group, down 0.5%. Jefferies has downgraded the company to Hold from Buy with a price target slash to 260.00p from 670.00p. The company trades at 259.80p.

Moneysupermarket.com Group, down 0.2%. The company has been downgraded by Jefferies to Hold from Buy, with a price target cut to 200.00p from 248.00p. The stock currently trades at 185.014p.
-------
AIM ALL-SHARE WINNERS
-------
Range Resources, up 29%. The oil and gas explorer said it has completed its USD15 million loan financing with Lind Asset Management, funds it said it will use to invest in its rig fleet and to accelerate development drilling of its Trinidad portfolio.

Jubilee Platinum, up 10%. The company said it increased revenue and production from its Middelburg smelter and power operations in South Africa in the third quarter of 2014 from the second quarter, but net profit suffered from the strength of the pound against the South African rand. Jubilee said revenue rose in the third quarter ended September 30 to GBP1.2 million, compared to GBP993,705 in the second quarter. Gross profit also was up in the third quarter to GBP466,199, from GBP404,115 in the immediately previous quarter.
-------
AIM ALL-SHARE LOSERS
-------
NetPlay TV, off 22%. The interactive gaming company said a high level of marketing spend will result in its full year results coming in below market expectations. The company said its marketing spend in the year so far has not translated into the targeted number of new customers and net revenue. Due to this, and the impending implementation of the point of consumption tax for the gambling market, it said its full-year results will be materially lower than market forecasts.
-------

By Neil Thakrar; neilthakrar@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2014 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.