(Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Thursday.
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FTSE 100 - WINNERS
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Melrose Industries, up 13%. The industrial turnaround specialist said it has seen positive signs for a recovery as coronavirus lockdown measure ease. For the half year ended June 30, revenue fell 26% to GBP4.12 billion from GBP5.57 billion last year and its pretax loss widened to GBP685 million from GBP109 million a year before. The company has high exposure to the battered aerospace and automotive sectors following its acquisition of GKN in 2018. Melrose said trading over the summer months has been at the higher end of expectations, particularly in automotive and key Nortek markets. Melrose said that organically, it sees some early signs of recovery in certain geographies. "We remain confident in the management's ability to navigate through these difficult times and see the green shoots of recovery as a promising sign with trading in China already ahead of last year and North America improving quickly," said analysts at the Share Centre.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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Admiral Group, down 3.6%, BHP down 2.8%, Polymetal International, down 1.2%. The stocks went ex-dividend, meaning new buyers no longer qualify for the latest payout.
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Next, down 2.1%. Morgan Stanley cut the clothing and homewares retailer to Underweight from Equal Weight.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Capita, up 12%. Shares rose sharply after the Daily Mail reported late Wednesday the outsourcer was subject to bid interest from a private equity firm. According to the Daily Mail, CVC Capital Partners is circling in on Capita with the shares down 80% this year.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Greencoat UK Wind, down 4.1% at 135.60 pence. The renewable infrastructure fund said it has launched a 12-month share issuance programme, with an initial tranche being offered starting Thursday. Under the programme, Greencoat may issue up to a maximum of 750 million new shares over the next 12 months, but will immediately open an initial placing at an issue price of 131p each. The total number of shares offered in the initial tranche was not specified. The net proceeds from the initial tranche, the company said, are expected to be used to repay amounts drawn under the company's facility agreement. The net proceeds from each subsequent tranche will be used to help repay its facility agreement and may be used to make further investments. Greencoat said the share programme is expected to be NAV accretive to existing shareholders.
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Clarkson, down 3.5%. The stock went ex-dividend.
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OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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CMC Markets, 6.5%. The online trading firm said its consistently strong trading performance has continued. CMC said net operating income run-rate for the two months to the end of August was only slightly below the first quarter, and client income has continued to be "in excess" of a year ago. The firm also noted client income retention has remained "particularly strong" and "well in excess of the guidance of above 80%". CMC's stockbroking business also continues to perform "strongly". Net operating income consensus, the firm noted, is around GBP287.6 million, ranging between GBP282.4 million to GBP300.6 million. CMC's update comes after FTSE Russell said late Wednesday that the stock is set for a promotion to the FTSE 250 effective from the market open on Monday, September 21.
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OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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Enquest, down 9.0%. The oil and gas company put its poor financial performance in the first half down to a drop in oil prices this year, though maintained its production guidance. The company swung to a pretax loss for the half year ended June 30 of USD373.4 million from a USD38.7 profit million a year prior. Revenue was down 48% to USD439.4 million from USD815.4 million a year before. The drop in revenue was driven mostly by the reduction in the oil price. The company's revenue is predominantly derived from crude oil sales and for the first half, crude oil sales totaled USD375.5 million compared with USD761.9 million a year prior. Total production was 66,055 barrels of oil equivalent per day, only slightly down from 68,548 barrels of oil equivalent per day a year prior. The full year production guidance of 57,000 to 63,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day was maintained.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Admiral (ADM)
Capita (CPI)
Melrose (MRO)
CMC Markets (CMCX)
Enquest (ENQ)
Next (NXT)
Clarkson (CKN)
BHP Group (BHP)