WINNERS & LOSERS SUMMARY: Cobham Surges 35% After Takeover Deal

(Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Thursday.----------FTSE 100 - WINNERS----------AstraZeneca, up 5.4%. The drugmaker upgraded its product sales guidance following growth in the first half of 2019. In the six months to June 30, the company's product sales totalled USD11.18 billion, a 12% hike, contributing to a 9% revenue rise to USD11.31 billion. At the end of June 2018, product sales totaled USD10.02 billion, with revenue of USD10.33 billion. AstraZeneca now expects product sales for 2019 to increase by a low double-digit percentage. It previously anticipated high single-digit growth. Pretax profit for the half was USD899.0 million, up from USD786.0 million.----------Compass, up 3.8%. The contract caterer said it expects to report mid single-digit revenue growth in its current financial year following a strong performance in the third quarter. The foodservice company said it continued to to perform well in the three months to the end of June, driven by the strong performance in North America. The company's North American business reported organic revenue growth of 8.5% in the third quarter and 8.1% in the nine months to June 30. As a result, the FTSE 100-listed firm now expects to deliver annual organic revenue growth at the top of its 4% to 6% guidance range, with its margin now expected to be flat compared to the prior year's 7.4%.----------Anglo American, up 1.6%. The miner hiked its interim payout on Thursday after strong earnings growth and has also declared a bonus return to shareholders via a buyback. Anglo American has boosted its interim dividend for the six months to June by 27% on the year before, reaching 62 US cents per share. Anglo American's buyback will be made in two USD500 million tranches, starting immediately, and finishing by the end of March 2020. Underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation for the period rose 19% to USD5.45 billion, with revenue climbing 8% to USD14.77 billion. Attributable free cash flow, however, dipped 17% to USD1.33 billion. This compares to analyst consensus of Ebitda of USD5.16 billion and revenue of USD14.65 billion. ----------FTSE 100 - LOSERS----------Sage, down 12%. The accounting software firm said it expects recurring revenue in the current financial year to slightly exceed guidance. However, the combined decline in software and software related services and processing revenue will be slightly sharper than that seen in the first nine months. In the nine months to June 30, the company posted organic revenue of GBP1.42 billion, up 5.9% year-on-year. In the third quarter alone, it had organic revenue of GBP476.0 million, representing a 5.3% rise year-on-year. Sage said recurring revenue grew 11% in the nine-month stretch, to GBP405.0 million, and the company attributed this to a weak comparison and favourable UK digital tax submission regulations attracting new customers. The software & software-related services portion of the business declined by 16% to GBP195.0 million. Sage put this down to a focus on "driving high-quality subscription revenue" as well as underperformance in X3 licences and services. When combined with processing revenue, software & software-related services had a revenue fall of 13% in the first nine months. ----------RELX, down 4.9%. The scientific, technical, and medical material publisher lifted its dividend after reporting earnings growth in the first half of 2019. Pretax profit for the six months to the end of June climbed 15% to GBP1.00 billion from GBP872 million reported a year ago. RELX reported revenue growth of 6% in the first half of 2019 to GBP3.89 billion. On an underlying basis, revenue advanced by 3%. The underlying growth rate reflected good growth in electronic and face-to-face revenue, and the further development of RELX analytics and decision tools, RELX said, partially offset by continued print revenue declines. RELX increased its interim payout by 10% to 13.6 pence. The company deployed GBP400 million on share buybacks in the first half, and intend to pay a further GBP200 million in the second half, bringing the full-year total to GBP600 million. ----------Diageo, down 2.5%. The distiller said new product innovation helped it to grow profit ahead of market expectations in its most recently ended financial year. The FTSE 100-listed company also said that it will return further GBP4.5 billion to shareholders. The alcoholic beverages company reported pretax profit of GBP4.24 billion for the year to the end of June compared to GBP3.74 billion a year prior, as sales rose to GBP19.29 billion from GBP18.43 billion. Net sales were 6% higher at GBP12.87 billion, in line with analysts' expectations. The market expected Diageo to post organic operating profit growth for financial 2019 of 8.7%. On Thursday, the company beat the consensus after reporting organic operating profit growth of 9.0% to GBP4.04 billion. Diageo declared a full-year dividend of 68.6 pence, up 5% from 65.3p paid the year ago. ----------FTSE 250 - WINNERS----------Cobham, up 35% at 165.30 pence. The aerospace and defence firm said it has reached agreement with an indirect subsidiary of funds managed by US private equity firm Advent International Corp over a takeover deal, valuing the London-listed company at GBP4.0 billion. AI Convoy Bidco, the subsidiary in question, has agreed to pay 165 pence in cash per Cobham share. This represents a 34% premium to Cobham's closing price of 123p on Tuesday, and a 50% premium to the three month volume weighted average price of 110p. The company, which makes air refueling and electronic warfare systems, said its directors intend to recommend unanimously that shareholders vote in favour of the deal. The deal was first reported by the Financial Times. Separately, Cobham also released its interim results on Thursday, posting revenue growth but a drop in pretax profit on an absence of divestment gains. For the six months to June 30, the company recorded pretax profit of GBP60.5 million, down from GBP181.0 million recorded in the year ago period. Revenue jumped to GBP1.03 billion from GBP924.5 million.----------Howden Joinery, up 5.6%. The kitchens supplier said group revenue and profit rose in the first half of 2019 but the company remains cautious due to Brexit uncertainty. The group's revenue for the 24-week period until June 15 was GBP652.6 million, up 5.4% year-on-year from GBP619.4 million. Pretax profit rose 14% to GBP78.1 million from GBP68.8 million. The company attributed this to sales growth and improved gross profit margin to 61.9% from 61.3%, partially offset by continued investments. The company said: "We remain cautious given economic uncertainties, particularly the impact that Brexit might have. In preparation for a 'no-deal' Brexit, a number of measures have been taken. Our stocking policy for at-risk items has been adjusted to secure continuity of supply during the transition. As a result, around GBP12 million additional inventory is being held and key suppliers are also making plans to ensure supply."----------Wizz Air, up 3.7%. The low-cost airline confirmed its annual guidance following double-digit revenue and profit growth in the first quarter of its current financial year. Wizz Air said revenue in the three months to the end of June grew by 25% to EUR691.2 million from EUR551.0 million a year earlier, as it carried 20% more passengers, 10.4 million. Load factor also increased to 93.7% from 92.1% year-on-year. Ticket revenue increased 15% to EUR379.3 million, while ancillary revenue increased 41% to EUR311.9 million. Ancillary revenue is generated from non-ticket sources, such as baggage fees and on-board food and services. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization in the first quarter totalled EUR187.2 million, up 22% from EUR153.6 million. Net profit for the period stood at EUR72.4 million, up 42% on prior year. ----------FTSE 250 - LOSERS----------Metro Bank, down 16%. The challenger bank after the market close Wednesday reported a sharp drop in interim pretax profit amid market challenging conditions, as the high street lender embarks on a search to find a new chair. For the six months to June 30, the company reported a rise in total underlying revenue of GBP216.7 million, up 14% from GBP189.8 million the year before. However, statutory pretax profit declined 84% to GBP3.4 million from GBP20.8 million last year and underlying pretax profit fell 44% to GBP13.6 million from GBP24.1 million the year prior. In a separate announcement late Wednesday, the bank said it has started the search to find a new chair to replace US billionaire Vernon Hill, who founded Metro Bank in 2010. Metro Bank did not set a timetable for Hill resigning as chair and said he would remain a non-executive director and president of the bank. The company has been under pressure to reform its governance since it suffered a highly-publicised accounting blunder at the start of the year. ----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS----------Chesterfield Resources, up 14%. The copper and gold explorer said it has identified a new drill target in its Troodos West permit in Cyprus. The target, which the company has named KinValley, is now prepared for drilling. KinVally is in the northern part of the 15 kilometer long Kinousa fault structure and the company said the target is in a favourable area within a "cluster of historically mined volcanogenic massive sulfide ore deposits". Executive Chair: "This is the second major target of our upcoming drill programme at Troodos West. Each of our targets goes through a rigorous development programme of surveying and testing before we commit to the more expensive stage of drill testing. We will keep the market updated as the programme develops further".----------