WINNERS & LOSERS: Housebuilders, Banks, Support Services Lead Gainers

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are amongst the biggest risers and fallers within the main London indices midday Friday.
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FTSE 100 WINNERS
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Barratt Developments, up 5.7%, Persimmon, up 5.0%, Taylor Wimpey, up 4.8%. Housebuilders are all amongst the best blue-chip performers following the outcome of the General Election, which gave the Conservative Party a slim outright majority. Shore Capital says a Conservative victory in the UK general election will benefit UK housebuilders, especially those with a London focus. "Under a Tory administration we can now expect the re-rating cycle we have mentioned and this has the scope to raise fair value estimates by 15-20% as we re-base the price to earnings we believe we should apply to projected peak cycle earnings," says analyst Robin Hardy.

Lloyds Banking Group, up 5.9%, Royal Bank of Scotland Group, up 4.6%, Barclays, up 3.7%. Societe Generale analyst James Invine says that a Conservative victory will be supportive of UK banks' shares as Labour had outlined plans to raise an extra GBP1 billion annually from the UK bank levy and a one-off bank bonus tax with an estimated yield of GBP2 billion, which will now not happen. "Beyond specific policies, the Conservatives are generally seen as more business friendly than Labour, particularly if the latter had shared power with the Scottish National Party," the analyst says.

Centrica, up 7.6%, SSE, up 4.9%. Energy company shares are rising following the General Election outcome, putting fears about Labour's proposed energy market reforms aside. The BBC had reported that Labour was aiming to reduce energy prices by 10% in the first year of government if elected. A Conservative majority would allow the party to implement its energy policy, which focuses more on the consumer rather than the reforming the Big Six firms, which will be welcome news to the companies.
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FTSE 250 WINNERS
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Ladbrokes, up 9.8%. The bookmaker's shares are rising as the UK General Election outcome suggest that the Conservatives will return to power alone and regulatory risks posed by Labour proposals have been avoided. “Ladbrokes is certainly “cashing in” as the prospect recedes for levy on fixed odds betting machines in the wake of the election result” London Capital analyst Will Hedden said. Shares in peer William Hill are up 4.8%.

Laird, up 7.3%. The wireless connectivity and radio frequency engineering company said trading was in line with expectations in the first quarter of 2015 and said new product launches in the second half of the year will underpin the company's current full year outlook. It said first quarter revenue rose 24% to GBP149 million from GBP120 million, and in dollar terms it rose to USD226 million from USD199 million. Revenue rose due to increased demand in 2014 that was pushed into 2015.

PayPoint, up 8.2%. The payment services company said Chairman Warren Tucker has stepped down from the company with immediate effect. Nick Wiles, currently a non-executive director, will take over from Tucker.

Stagecoach Group, up 6.7%. The transport operator's shares are higher even though Liberum says it has the most exposure to potential regional bus re-regulation as the Conservatives moves toward victory and potentially more devolution towards regions. Analyst Gelard Khoo says a Conservative-led government "is a more benign" outcome than that predicted by the opinion polls, which reduces, but does not eliminate, political risk for the UK public transport operators.
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FTSE 250 LOSERS
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Just Eat, down 6.3%. The online takeaway operator said it will buy Australian online takeaway company Menulog Group for AUD855 million, a move that expands its reach into both Australia and New Zealand. It said it will be financed from the proceeds of an equity issue. Just Eat said it expects to drive cost and revenue synergies at the acquired company.

Man Group, down 1.7%. The alternative asset manager reported a net outflow in the first quarter of 2015 but said funds under management increased, largely due to positive investment performance and the recent acquisition of Connecticut-based Silvermine. It said it is looking for its next chairman as Jon Aisbitt intends to step down in May 2016. It reported a net outflow of USD1.3 billion as redemptions exceeded sales. Foreign exchange rate movements resulted in a USD2.0 billion hit to funds under management, largely due to the strengthening of the US dollar against the euro and sterling.
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AIM ALL-SHARE WINNERS
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Kalimantan Gold Corporation, up 18%. The company said drilling of the first four holes at the Beruang Kanan Main deposit has been completed and all four holes showed indications of copper mineralisation. The drilling rigs have now been repositioned and will complete current drilling lines before moving south to start infill drilling. Kalimantan said it is planning to rapidly advance the deposit through to a scoping study stage over the course of 2015.

Aeorema Communications, up 11%. The company raised its guidance for the current financial year, saying it expects a strong finish based on recent order intake for events scheduled in May and June. It said it now expects revenue to exceed GBP4.2 million and pretax profit to exceed GBP350,000 in the year that ends June 30.
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AIM ALL-SHARE LOSERS
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Falanx Group, off 28% at 14.45 pence. The security and risk management consultancy said it has raised GBP2.64 million via a placing and subscription and has extended its strategic partnership with cybersecurity company Assuria. It said it has issued 18.9 million shares at 14 pence per share to raise the funds. The company will use GBP500,000 to extend its global licence deal with Assuria to April 2018 and to back the roll-out of the alliance between the two. The other GBP2.14 million will be used to back the development of its own products.

John Lewis of Hungerford, down 14%. The kitchen, bedrooms and furniture retailer reported an operating loss of GBP174,000 in the six months to February 28, compared with a GBP66,000 profit in the same period the year before, which it blamed on investments in the business and a slight drop in revenue following the "unplanned departure" of three of its top-performing sales people. It also warned that it doesn't think it'll be able to make up the shortfall in the traditionally stronger second half of the year and is therefore expecting to report a full-year loss.

China Chaintek Ltd, down 12%. The Chinese consumer goods logistics provider said its revenue was down 21% in the first quarter, exacerbated by a 34% decline during March, as the company was hit by manufacturing reform in China. The company said its inventory services business performed slightly better than its logistics arm. China Chaintek reiterated its expectation that revenue and profit in 2015 will be substantially lower year-on-year.,

Xtract Resources, down 12% at 0.302p. The company said it has completed a GBP3 million fundraising, with the company intending to use the proceeds to pursue acquisition opportunities. Xtract issued 1.2 billion shares at 0.25 pence per share. It intends to use the funding to pursue two significant acquisition opportunities, which it said it will provide further updates on in due course.

By Daniel Ruiz; danielruiz@alliancenews.com

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