WINNERS & LOSERS SUMMARY: Ashtead Falls On US Economic Slowdown Worry

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Wednesday.----------FTSE 100 - WINNERS----------Shire, up 2.7%. Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical said its shareholders approved resolutions related to the proposed acquisition of the Irish drugmaker. The acquisition remains subject to approval by Shire shareholders at a meeting expected to be held later Wednesday, and it is expected that completion of the acquisition will take place on January 8.----------FTSE 100 - LOSERS----------Ashtead Group, down 5.3%. Shares in the equipment rental firm were lower amid fears over the health of the US economy after the yield on two-year notes rose above the yield on five-year notes, which is seen as an indicator of a coming economic slowdown. "The group derives the majority of its revenue in the US, and the fears traders have in relation to the state of the US economy is likely to be a factor in the decline," commented CMC Markets analyst David Madden. In the first quarter of Ashtead's current financial year, its Sunbelt US business contributed 84% of revenue. Ashtead will report half-year results next Tuesday.----------Hargreaves Lansdown, down 3.7%. Morgan Stanley downgraded the fund supermarket to Underweight from Equal Weight.----------GlaxoSmithKline, down 3.1%. Barclays cut the drugmaker to Equal Weight from Overweight. ----------FTSE 250 - WINNERS----------Thomas Cook, up 31% at 29.86 pence. Shares in the troubled travel agent were rebounding after falling to a fresh six-year low of 19.63p on Tuesday. Last week, Thomas Cook warned on profit, cautioned on its outlook and suspended its final dividend. The stock remains 24% lower over the past week. Thomas Cook looks set be demoted from the midcap index when the quarterly FTSE index review changes are announced after the market close Wednesday. ----------Stagecoach, up 12%. The transport operator said adjusted earnings for its half-year were ahead of expectations, due to its Virgin Rail operations and a resolution to its former South West Trains franchise, though the firm swung to a loss on a statutory basis. Revenue for the half-year to October 27 was GBP1.23 billion, down from GBP1.79 billion a year ago, as adjusted pretax profit fell to GBP87.0 million from GBP96.7 million. Adjusted earnings per share came in at 12.9p, down from 13.6p a year before. On a statutory basis, Stagecoach swung to a pretax loss of GBP22.6 million for the half from a GBP96.7 million profit last year. Operating profit for UK Rail was highlighted as being ahead of forecasts, despite profit for the unit falling 47% to GBP11.5 million from GBP21.7 million a year ago. The company said the fall reflected the expiry of the South West Trains franchise. Stagecoach kept its interim dividend unchanged at 3.8 pence per share.----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS----------Faron Pharmaceuticals, up 32%. The clinical stage biopharmaceutical company said it identified an "optimal" subgroup of patients, with a certain genetic mutation, to be treated by its Traumakine treatment. Faron reported that data from its Interest trial showed that Traumakine used on acute respiratory distress syndrome patients carrying a unique polymorphism "showed a substantial reduction in mortality". Across the US and Europe, around one third of ARDS patients carry the mutation, meaning that the "Traumakine treatment could potentially be most effective and life saving", Faron said. ARDS is a life-threatening disease caused by an inflammation of the lungs that usually coincides with illnesses such as pneumonia or severe flu. Faron intends to file the data with regulatory authorities in the first quarter of 2019 to develop Traumakine in the EU and the US for this precision treatment.----------Brave Bison, up 9.4%. The social video company said that its trading in 2018 is ahead of management expectations due to increased advertising and distribution revenue. Brave Bison said it expects to post its first positive full-year adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortization since its 2013 AIM admission. Increased advertising and distribution revenue have placed the firm ahead of management expectations, with revenue in 2018 expected to show double-digit percentage growth year-on-year. As at November 30, Brave Bison's cash and cash equivalents stood at GBP5.1 million and it had no overdraft or other borrowings, it said. Despite strategic initiative investments, Brave Bison nonetheless predicts it will be cash-flow positive for the year.----------Joules Group, up 9.7%. The fashion retailer said it expects revenue for the first half of the financial year to climb, despite the "well-documented" challenges of the UK retail sector. For the six months ended November 25, the fashion and lifestyle brand expects revenue up 18% to GBP113.1 million from GBP96.2 million a year ago. Retail revenue is expected to jump 21% to GBP79.9 million, helped by strong ecommerce sales, now representing almost 50% of all retail sales. Wholesale revenue increased 8.0% to GBP32.5 million on the back of "continued strong growth" in the firm's international markets, the US and Germany. On the back of the revenue increase, Joules said it expects adjusted pretax profit for the half to be "slightly ahead" of its previous views. ----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS----------Image Scan Holdings, down 2.0%. The X-ray scanner maker sunk to an annual loss as revenue fell sharply on the cancellation of a key Asian order and generally lower sales, yet the firm expects to return to growth in new financial year. For the year ended September, the company fell to a GBP154,222 loss from a GBP477,377 profit the year prior. This was after revenue slipped to GBP3.5 million from GBP5.0 million the year before. Performance was hurt by a fall in sales of its portable X-ray orders primarily due to the cancellation of a "substantial" order by an "important" Asian customer as well as lower orders elsewhere. The firm explained it did not see these sales falls as being "symptomatic of any wider decline in this market". In the first two months of the new financial year, Image Scan has secured orders for 20 portable units. ----------