WINNERS & LOSERS SUMMARY: Crest Nicholson Woes Topple Housebuilders

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Tuesday.----------FTSE 100 - WINNERS----------Centrica, up 2.1%. Jefferies raised the energy services company to a Buy rating from Hold and also increased its target price to 165 pence from 140p.----------Reckitt Benckiser, up 1.6%. Credit Suisse upped the health and hygiene products manufacturer to 5,500 pence from 5,450p, retaining its Underperform rating.----------FTSE 100 - LOSERS----------Barratt Developments, down 2.2%, Berkeley Group Holdings, down 2.1%, Persimmon, down 1.4% and Taylor Wimpey, down 1.4%. Blue chip housebuilders fell to the bottom of the index after FTSE 250-listed Crest Nicholson reported drop in first half margins and warned annual margins will be at the bottom end of its guidance range.----------FTSE 250 - WINNERS----------IMI, up 2.5%. Morgan Stanley upped the engineering firm to an Overweight rating from Equal Weight, and raised its price target to 1,410 pence from 1,180p.----------Greencore Group, up 0.8%. Numis raised the sandwich maker to an Add rating from Hold, along with the price target to 210 pence from 138p.----------Fidelity China Special Situations, up 1.2%. Although the China-focused investment trust had a net asset value total return of 22.2%, underperforming the MSCI China Index which returned 23.6% for the year to the end of March, Fidelity reported a substantial rise in net asset value per share at 272.55 pence as at March 31, up from 225.36p on the same date the year before. In addition, the trust declared a final dividend of 3.50 pence, up 40% from 2.50p the year before.----------FTSE 250 - LOSERS----------Crest Nicholson Holdings, down 5.9%. The housebuilder reported a 2% drop in pretax profit for the six months ended April 30 to GBP74.8 million from GBP76.2 million year-on-year. Headline gross margins for the period were at 23.6%, down from 26.3% the prior year due to flat pricing amid a backdrop of build cost inflation at 3% to 4%. Crest Nicholson said it expects operating margins for the full year at around 18%, lower compared to last year at 20.3%. This is at the bottom range of Crest Nicholson's guidance range of 18% to 20%.----------Domino's Pizza Group, down 5.5%. The pizza retailer reported the resignation of Chief Financial Officer and board member Rachel Osborne and said that it has commenced a search for her successor. Osborne's resignation was effective from Monday and the company did not give any specific details regarding her departure. The pizza retailer also reiterated its earnings outlook given in March and remains confidence regarding its performance in 2018 and beyond.----------Ted Baker, down 3.6%. The lifestyle group for the 19-week period from January 28 to June 9 reported revenue increase by 4.2% compared with the same period a year ago. "This performance was achieved despite the impact of unseasonal weather across Europe and the East Coast of America in the early part of the period and, as previously reported, external trading conditions remaining challenging across many of our global markets," the company said. Total retail sales for the period increased by 0.7%, with e-commerce sales up 34%.----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS----------Clear Leisure, up 11%. The leisure sector investment company reached a settlement agreement with Peter McBride regarding an interest on a loan the company owed him. The settlement is in regard to an amount of GBP91,722 relating to interest accrued on a loan of GBP250,000 made by Square One Ltd to Clear Leisure in March 2015. Settlement will be reached through the issue and allotment of 8.3 million shares at 1.11 pence each. Square One assigned the benefit of the interest to McBride in February.----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS----------Stratex International, down 16%. The gold exploration company said it entered a conditional option agreement with Bureau d'Etudes et d'Investigations Geologico-minieres, Geotechniques et Geophysiques SARL, for its two early stage projects Bibemi and Wapouze in north Cameroon. Stratex will manage the project, while Bureau provides consulting and operational support. In addition, to support the placing, Stratex intends to raise GBP1 million through a placing of shares at the expected price of 0.5 pence per share. ----------IXICO, down 10%. The clinical trial data management services provider announced the cessation of a trial of an Alzheimer's disease treatment. IXICO didn't state whether or not the treatment in question was AstraZeneca's lanabecestat, for which the phase three trials have been discontinued. IXICO was providing specialist imaging clinical trial services for the trial. The USD7.7 million contract for the clinical trial was secured in September 2017 by IXICO and was scheduled to end in 2024. Over the past three years, IXICO recognised USD2.0 million from the contract. The termination of the trial is not expected to materially impact the company's performance and IXICO remains on track to generating revenue in excess of GBP4.5 million and meet market expectations for the current financial year.----------