WINNERS & LOSERS SUMMARY: Data Breach Slams TalkTalk Shares

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Friday.
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FTSE 100 - WINNERS
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Travis Perkins, up 2.8%. Shares in the builders' merchant staged a partial recovery having dropped 6.0% on Thursday after the company warned its earnings before interest and taxation will be at the low end of market expectations due to weaker-than-expected third quarter activity in the repair, maintenance and improvement market in the UK. The shares were helped higher by Citigroup upgrading its rating on Travis to Buy from Neutral, which made up for price target cuts on the stock by Liberum, Numis, JPMorgan Cazenove, UBS and Barclays.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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Pearson, down 4.6%. Having already fallen heavily this week following the profit warning it issued on Wednesday, the education and publishing group was in the doldrums again following a ratings downgrade and price target cut by two banks. Exane BNP Paribas cut Pearson to Neutral from Outperform and slashed its target price to 1,000 pence from 1,650p. In addition, Berenberg cut its target price to 800p from 1,100p and reiterated its Sell rating. Pearson shares were trading at 906.00 pence Friday morning.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Cable & Wireless Communications, up 9.2%. On Thursday, the telecommunications company confirmed it is in talks with US cable company Liberty Global regarding a possible shares and cash takeover offer for C&W. C&W said shareholders are advised to take no action, and added there can be no certainty any firm offer will be made, or the terms on which any offer may be made.

AA, up 6.4%. Berenberg initiated the roadside assistance and insurance company with a Buy rating and 350 pence price target. AA shares were up to 279.4 pence Friday morning. The bank said the company has suffered from a "chronic" lack of investment in marketing and service quality but, with a new strategy in place, should return to growth in its personal breakdown cover business and achieve more cross-selling, which will drive significant deleveraging of the business in combination with strong cash conversion.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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TalkTalk Telecom Group, down 7.5%. The telecommunications company confirmed that a criminal investigation has been launched by the Metropolitan Police's Cyber Crime Unit following a "significant and sustained" cyber attack on the company's website on Wednesday. TalkTalk said the investigation by the Met is ongoing but said that the data compromised in the hack may have included names, addresses, dates of birth, phone numbers and email addresses. More importantly, it said the details at risk also included TalkTalk account information and credit card or bank details of its customers. TalkTalk has around 4.0 million subscribers, all of which have been informed about the breach as a "precaution".

William Hill, down 6.0%. The bookmaker reported a drop in net revenue and operating profit in the third quarter of 2015 and said it now expects full-year operating profit to be around the bottom of the analyst consensus range. William Hill said net revenue in the 13 weeks ended September 30 fell 9% on the same period the year before, as operating profit dropped 39%. As a result, the company now expects operating profit for the full year to be around the lower end of the GBP290.9 million to GBP312.1 million analyst consensus range. That would be down from the GBP372.2 million operating profit that William Hill achieved in 2014.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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Cyprotex, up 11%. The preclinical discovery and development contract research organisation said trading has been ahead of its expectations in the first nine months of 2015, and it anticipates its results for the year will exceed the current market view. The firm said its financial performance in the first nine months of 2015 has outpaced its own expectations, driven by a strong performance in the UK, though challenges have remained for its US operations. Still, the US operations have improved year-on-year, and it now foresees both its overall revenue and earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation for 2015 will be ahead of market expectations.

Hutchison China MediTech, up 9.8%. The pharmaceuticals company said its Hutchison MediPharma unit is set to receive a USD10.0 million milestone payment in the fourth quarter from US partner Eli Lilly. The milestone has been triggered for the unit, Hutchison's research and development subsidiary, after a positive proof-of-concept study published on the fruquintinib drug in the treatment of patients with advanced non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer in China. Including the USD10.0 million payment, Hutchison has been paid USD31.7 million in total from Eli Lilly so far this year.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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Holders Technology, down 33%. The company, which supplies materials for printed circuit board manufacturing and LED products, warned it expects to post an operating loss for its current financial year on a fall in revenue, due to a fire at a major customers premises, reduced demand for a number of its product lines, and the strengthening of sterling. Additionally, the company said it faces an unforeseen taxation liability of between GBP65,000 and GBP200,000, in relation to EU Cross Border Group Relief claims related to its former Swedish and Dutch divisions.
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By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance

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