(Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Monday.
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FTSE 100 - WINNERS
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Vodafone, up 3.4%. The telecommunications firm noted progress on the merger of Indus Towers and Bharti Infratel following the satisfaction of certain conditions. The merger - first agreed in April 2018 - will see Vodafone merge its Indian mobile tower joint venture with a local rival to create the world's second largest tower mobile company. The company said joint venture Indus Towers will be merged into Bharti Infratel to create a combined company that will be called Indus Towers Ltd and will continue to be listed on the Indian stock exchanges. The FTSE 100-listed telecoms company said the agreement to proceed with the merger was conditional on consent for a security package for the benefit of the combined company from Vodafone's existing lenders for the EUR1.3 billion loan used to fund Vodafone's contribution to the Vodafone Idea rights issue in 2019. On Monday, Vodafone stated that consent has now been received from its lenders, adding that all parties will now approach the National Company Law Tribunal to make the merger scheme effective.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Weir, up 17%. The Glasgow-headquartered engineering firm has agreed to sell its entire Oil & Gas division to US-based Caterpillar for a USD405 million enterprise value. Weir said the decision follows its February announcement that it would seek to maximise value from Oil & Gas as part of its strategic transformation into a premium mining technology pure play. Net proceeds of the sale of Weir Oil & Gas will be used to reduce the company's leverage, with pro forma net debt to earnings before interest, tax, deprecation and amortisation on a pro forma basis of 1.9 times as of June 30. The sale is expected to complete by 2020 end.
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IWG, up 5.1%. HSBC started the office workspace provider with a Buy rating.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Cineworld, down 31%. The cinema chain operator said it will temporarily suspend operations at all its 536 Regal theatres in the US and its 127 Cineworld and Picturehouse theatres in the UK starting Thursday. Cineworld stated that while the decision was not made lightly, the continued closure of major US markets and uncertainty regarding the timing of re-openings has made studios reluctant to release their pipeline of new films. The firm's statement comes just days after the release of the latest James Bond film was pushed back again. Cineworld noted the closures would affect around 45,000 jobs, as it highlighted a focus on cash preservation and cost reduction during a period of reduced customer visits as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. In September, the company said it was assessing several sources of additional liquidity and considering all liquidity raising options.
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Greencore, down 7.0%. The convenience foods manufacturer expects to report a decline in its annual earnings and revenue, despite a gradual improvement in performance throughout the third and fourth quarter of the financial year. For the year ended September 25, the FTSE 250-listed firm has forecast an adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of GBP85 million, down 40% from GBP142.0 million reported the year before. Meanwhile, revenue for the period is expected to be GBP1.27 billion, a 12% decline from GBP1.45 billion the prior year, as UK consumer sentiment and broad economic activity remains "both fragile and subdued". For the fourth quarter of financial 2020, revenue declined by 19%, reflecting an improvement from the 36% drop in the third quarter, supported by a continued increase in demand for food to go categories.
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OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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Mulberry, down 9.0%. The luxury leather goods firm reported revenue of GBP149.3 million for the 52 weeks to March 28, down from GBP166.3 million in the 53 weeks to March 30, 2019. Mulberry's pretax loss widened to GBP47.9 million from GBP5.0 million. The firm took GBP33.7 million in adjusting items for the period, a sharp increase from GBP6.0 million the year before. "Post year end, the group has continued to benefit from its long-term strategic focus with initial sales ahead of our early expectations. However, we cannot escape the reality that British luxury and UK cities face a very uncertain future, hampered by necessary but dramatic social distancing measures and alarmingly low levels of footfall, as well as the pressures of high rents and business rates and the upcoming changes to tax free shopping," said Chief Executive Thierry Andretta.
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By Lucy Heming; lucyheming@alliancenews.com
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IWG (IWG)
Vodafone (VOD)
Weir Group (WEIR)
Greencore (GNC)
Mulberry Group (MUL)