WINNERS & LOSERS SUMMARY: Brussels Explosions Send Travel Stocks Lower

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Tuesday.
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FTSE 100 - WINNERS
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Gold miners - Fresnillo, up 1.7% and Randgold Resources, up 1.2%. The precious metal was trading higher at USD1,250.60 per ounce compared to USD1,245.30 at the London equities close on Monday.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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International Consolidated Airlines Group, down 3.6%, easyJet, down 3.2%, TUI, down 3.1%, Carnival, down 2.2%. The travel stocks led decliners across the London market after at least 13 people were killed and 35 injured in two explosions that ripped through the departure hall of the airport in the Belgian capital Brussels. The STIB public transport operator reported another explosion at the Brussels subway station Maelbeek, which is located near EU institutions, local media said.

Barclays, down 2.3%. HSBC downgraded the bank to Hold from Buy.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Bellway, up 3.2%. The housebuilder said pretax profit surged in the first half of its financial year, after it saw a rise in both the number of houses the company sold and the price at which these houses were sold at, prompting a hike to its dividend payout. The company said pretax profit was GBP226.6 million in the six months to January 31, up 43% from GBP158.9 million a year earlier, coming from the 12% increase in homes sold, to 4,188 from 3,754, as well as the 17% boost to average selling price of the properties, at GBP257,280 from GBP219,343. Bellway raised its interim dividend payout 36% to 27.90 pence per share from 25.00 pence a year earlier.

SVG Capital, up 2.8%. The private equity investor said its net asset value per share grew in 2015, significantly outperforming the market. SVG said its net asset value per share rose 11% in the year to 654.0 pence, compared to a 5.0% decline for the FTSE 350. It marked the sixth consecutive year of double-digit NAV growth for SVG, the company said. SVG said its saw a 9.0% total return on its investment portfolio in the year, driven by investments made after 2012. Over the course of the year, SVG brought in GBP486.0 million in distributions from its investments.

IG Group Holdings, up 2.2%. The online brokerage and trading platform said revenue grew in the third quarter as it benefited from volatile markets. IG said revenue for the three months to the end of February hit GBP122.0 million, 18% higher year-on-year and a 9.0% increase on the second quarter. IG said the constant flow of macroeconomic news through the quarter created "reasonable" volatility levels in financial markets, creating a range of trading opportunities for IG clients.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Jimmy Choo, down 6.3%. The luxury goods maker said it swung to a profit in 2015 as it booked lower exceptional and financial costs than in 2014, and as revenue grew on strong sales of its shoe lines. The luxury fashion retailer said it made a pretax profit in 2015 of GBP22.1 million, having suffered an GBP8.3 million pretax loss in 2014, as it booked considerably lower financial expenses and exceptional costs, and as revenue rose to GBP317.9 million from GBP299.8 million. Jimmy Choo said the main driver of revenue growth was shoes, which represent over three quarters of sales. 2016 looks to be tough for luxury goods companies amid challenging market conditions, namely due to a slowdown in China.

Thomas Cook Group, down 5.6%. The travel operator said the winter 2015/16 holiday season is closing as expected, but summer bookings so far are lower than this time last year as they continue to be disrupted by a "volatile geopolitical backdrop". Thomas Cook said 90% of the winter season is sold, as expected, with higher pricing in most source markets. Summer 2016 is 40% sold, with bookings below last year. The share price fall was compounded by the explosions in Brussels.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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Johnston Press, up 16%. The newspaper publisher said it swung to a pretax profit in its last financial year thanks to lower financing and operating costs and said it was confident on the prospects for the 'i' newspaper that it recently acquired. The company said its pretax profit for the 52 weeks to January 2 was GBP2.9 million, compared to a GBP23.9 million loss a year earlier, which had been driven by restructuring costs, higher operating expenses, one-off legal costs and title closures.

Cap-XX, up 17%. The super-capacitors developer said it has signed a technology licence agreement with US-based AVX Corp, sending its shares higher. CAP-XX said it will licence its patents on a non-exclusive basis to AVX, an electronic passive components manufacturer. CAP-XX expects to get upfront licence fees over a three-year period, plus a 5.0% royalty for the life of the patents. The initial upfront payments for the first 12 months will be a minimum of GBP1.3 million, CAP-XX said.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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Gfinity, off 9.7%. The eSports company said contract delays will result in its revenue for the full year missing expectations. Gfinity, which stages events at which audiences watch people play video games, said it remains in talks with prospective partners, but it is difficult to quantify when revenue from these talks will flow through to the business. Due to this, while revenue for the full year to end of June will rise significantly, it will miss market expectations, the company said.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com; @ArvindBhunjun

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