WINNERS & LOSERS SUMMARY: BT Surges After First Half Profit Increases

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Thursday.----------FTSE 100 - WINNERS----------BT Group, up 9.5%. The telecommunications firm pushed full-year profit forecasts to the upper end of its range after interim profit rose on lower costs, despite falling revenue. For the six months ended September, pretax profit rose 24% to GBP1.34 billion from GBP1.08 billion a year prior. Revenue fell 1.7% to GBP11.59 billion from GBP11.79 billion a year before. Profit performance was boosted by a reduction in operating costs. These fell to GBP9.90 billion from GBP10.33 billion the year before. In addition, JPMorgan upgraded the stock to Overweight from Neutral. "The real positive for investors is that, after a tough few years, BT is starting to look more stable. The pension deficit is coming down and investment requirements should flatten out from here. That helps shore up cash flows, and diminishes the likelihood of any further amendments to the dividend plans," said Hargreaves Lansdown analyst George Salmon. ----------Smith & Nephew, up 6.5%. The medical devices maker reaffirmed its annual guidance and said revenue increased in the third quarter of the year due to strong performances from its Reconstruction and Sports Medicine franchises. For the three months to September 29, the medical & technology business posted revenue of USD1.17 billion, up from USD1.15 billion the year before. Sports Medicine, Trauma & Other proved Smith & Nephew's leading franchise, with revenue reaching USD476 million from USD462 million. Reconstruction also performed well in the quarter, recording USD374 million in revenue versus USD368 million the year before. For 2018, the company expects underlying revenue growth be in the lower half of the 2% to 3% range and trading profit margin to exceed that of 2017 due to a favourable legal settlement and cost controls. ----------Just Eat, up 4.0%. The online takeaway platform reported double digit revenue growth for the third quarter and said that revenue for 2018 is expected to be at the top end of GBP740 million to GBP770 million guidance range. For the three months to the end of September, the company's reported revenue increased 41% to GBP195.3 million from GBP138.6 million the year before, driven by strong order growth of 27% to 54.7 million from 43.1 million. In the UK, orders increased by 16% to 30.3 million from 26.2 million, while Canadian food delivery business SkipTheDishes saw high growth during the period with the launch of multi-language capabilities and expansion within Canada into Quebec.----------FTSE 100 - LOSERS----------Royal Dutch Shell 'B', down 2.5%, Shell 'A', down 2.0%. The oil major's shares were lower despite enjoying one of its best ever quarters, with earnings soaring on higher oil prices. For the three months to September, Shell's current cost of supplies earnings excluding items rose 38% to USD5.79 billion. CCS earnings attributable to shareholders was up 51% to USD5.57 billion. In addition, the figure excluding exceptional items climbed 37% to USD5.62 billion - although this was shy of analyst consensus of USD5.70 billion. "The trouble with a high bar is that sometimes you can miss it, and this is what has happened again this quarter, coming in short of expectations of USD5.7 billion. This may help explain why the shares have underperformed this year, up around 2%, compared to an oil price that is higher by 10%," noted CMC Markets chief market analyst Michael Hewson. Peer BP, which reported strong third-quarter earnings on Tuesday, was down 2.6%, having closed up 3.9% on Tuesday. Brent oil was quoted USD74.30 a barrel Thursday, down from USD76.02 late Wednesday.----------Unilever, down 1.0%. The stock went ex-dividend meaning new buyers no longer qualify for the latest dividend payout. ----------FTSE 250 - WINNERS----------Ascential, up 6.5%. The business events organiser said it acquired Flywheel Digital for an initial USD60 million in cash plus earn-out payments. Flywheel is a US-based provider of managed services to e-commerce giant Amazon. Ascential is paying the USD60 million out of its existing cash reserves. Further cash-based earn-out payments are also to be paid, based on Flywheel's revenue performance in the three years to 2021, and are likely to fall between USD47 million and USD196 million. The potential consideration, including both earn-out payments and the initial USD60 million, is capped at USD400 million "in the event that extremely stretching revenue levels are reached".----------FTSE 250 - LOSERS----------Centamin, down 1.8%. The gold miner reported an increase in gold production in the third quarter on the second quarter, but a drop on a year-on-year basis, leading to a decrease in its annual production guidance. For the quarter to the end of September, the group reported a pretax profit of USD21.8 million, a 69% drop from USD70.0 million a year before, on revenue that declined by 35% to USD125.1 million, from USD193.1 million. Centamin produced 117,720 ounces of gold in the quarter from its Sukari gold mine in Egypt at a cash cost of production of USD619 per ounce and all-in sustaining costs of USD889 per ounce sold. This was a 27% increase from 92,803 ounces in the second quarter, but a 25% drop from 156,533 ounces for the third quarter the prior year. As a result, Centamin has reduced its production guidance for 2018 to 480,000 ounces, from the range of 505,000 to 515,000 ounces last stated in its interim results. ----------Synthomer, down 1.7%. JPMorgan downgraded the speciality chemicals company to Underweight from Neutral. ----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS----------4imprint, up 17%. The promotional products company said it expects its full year revenue and operating profit to be towards the upper end of current market forecasts. 4imprint said its half-year results, announced July 31, showed "good progress" towards the company's goal of USD1 billion revenue by 2022. That momentum has continued into the second half, with demand consistent with the growth percentages experienced in the first half. 4imprint said there has been a "healthy balance" between new and existing customer orders. As a result, the promotional merchandise company expects its full-year revenue and underlying operating profit will both be towards the upper end of the guidance forecast. 4imprint's revenue for the half-year was USD348.3 million while the firm's underlying operating profit in the first half was USD16.3 million.----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS----------Earthport, down 8.7%. The cross-border payment network provider's shares fell after restating fair value adjustments for prior financial years due to errors made in the treatment of foreign exchange contracts. Following a review into the accounting of foreign exchange translations in subsidiary Earthport FX, several changes have been made to adjustments for the years ended June 30, 2017 and 2016. The fair value loss for the 2017 financial year now stands at GBP5.0 million from GBP4.8 million previously reported, with a reduction in net assets to GBP16.6 million from GBP22.9 million. In addition, net assets for the 2016 financial year have been reduced to GBP24.3 million from GBP30.5 million. This has led to a retained loss for the 2017 financial year of GBP158.3 million, compared to the GBP152.0 million previously reported.----------