WINNERS & LOSERS SUMMARY: Ascent Resources Drops As Cadogan Backs Out

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Friday.
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FTSE 100 - WINNERS
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Wolseley, up 0.3%. Societe Generale started coverage on the plumbing and heating goods supplier with a Buy rating.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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J Sainsbury, down 1.6%. The supermarket chain said it agreed a deal to acquire Home Retail Group, ending its long-running pursuit of the Argos owner. Sainsbury's will pay 55.00 pence per share in cash, plus 0.321 Sainsbury's shares to acquire Home Retail, valuing the company at GBP1.2 billion. Including the GBP200.0 million capital return Home Retail shareholders already stood to get from the sale of the Homebase DIY and garden centre business, the deal values Home Retail at GBP1.4 billion. Home Retail was down 0.9%. Shore Capital said the UK Competition & Markets Authority's assessment of the takeover could be a stumbling block for the deal. "Sadly, in the real world that businesses have to operate in, rather than the parallel and largely unaccountable environment of the CMA, we harbour concerns that this deal could yet face timetable challenges from the regulator," the broker said
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Drax Group, up 1.0%. The power generator said it expects to deliver 2016 earnings at the top end of market expectations as it revealed it has been awarded a new contract from National Grid. Drax said earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation are now anticipated to be at the higher end of expectations in 2016 after reviewing its revenue and cost estimates, as well as the recent weakness in commodity markets, it said. Drax said that, based on a range of current market forecasts, Ebitda will be toward the top end of a range between GBP132.0 million to GBP161.0 million. Drax also revealed it has won a 12-month contract from National Grid to supply ancillary services starting this month.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Inchcape, down 3.7%. Berenberg downgraded its rating on the car distributor to Hold from Buy. The German bank raised concerns about Inchcape's Volkswagen exposure in the UK, currency translation issues in Australia, and a slowdown in consumer and business confidence in Hong Kong.

PZ Cussons, down 2.2%. Goldman Sachs downgraded the personal care products group to Neutral from Buy.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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Cyprotex, up 7.3% The pre-clinical contract research organisation said it will undertake a strategic review which may lead to the sale of the business, as its annual loss widened on finance costs. Cyprotex said it would carry out a formal strategic review of the business and will examine all possible options, including a sale of the company or a strategic partnership. The move came as Cyprotex said its pretax loss for the year to the end of December widened to GBP6.5 million from GBP4.0 million in 2014. However, it expects further solid performances in 2016, driven by the creation of its new Biosciences unit, for phenotypic and target-based drug discovery, and investments made in its toxicology assays and ADME assays.

Arrow Global Group, up 7.0%. The debt buyer and manager said it has agreed terms to acquired consumer debt purchasing and collections business InVesting BV for around GBP78.5 million. Arrow will pay the consideration in cash from existing cash resources and a new GBP50.0 million financing facility. Arrow said the acquisition of InVesting, which operates in the Netherlands and Belgium, will create a leading player in the Benelux debt purchasing market, boosted Arrow's existing operations in the UK and Portugal.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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Ascent Resources, off 69%. The oil and gas company said it agrees that its valuation has increased significantly since Cadogan Petroleum made a preliminary approach about combining the two London-listed firms, stating it understands why Cadogan pulled the plug on the deal. Cadogan revealed late Thursday it would not be making an offer for Ascent because Ascent's share price had soared since it made its approach earlier this month. Ascent said it agreed that the value of the company is now "considerably in excess of that contained in the preliminary approach received from Cadogan." As such, Ascent is no longer under an offer period. Cadogan was down 1.3%.

Nakama Group, down 29%. The recruitment company said its revenue for the full year will miss expectations due to weakness in the UK market. Nakama said markets have been "inconsistent" and has seen a softening in the contract recruitment market in the UK. While the company is addressing the issue in the UK, revenue for the year to the end of March will be below its expectations due to the soft trading.

Nighthawk Energy, down 16%. The oil and gas company's shares fell after its lender reduced the amount the company can borrow under its existing credit facilities, which will require the company to repay a large chunk of its outstanding debt. The provider of Nighthawk's reserve-based lending facility, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, has redetermined that Nighthawk should only be able to borrow a maximum of USD13.0 million, reducing the limit from the previous USD23.0 million. Importantly, Nighthawk has already drawn down all USD23.0 million of its facility, meaning it now needs to repay USD10.0 million to its lender in order to be within its new borrowing base.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com; @ArvindBhunjun

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