WINNERS & LOSERS SUMMARY: Flybe Up After Takeover Block Threat Report

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Monday.----------FTSE 100 - LOSERS----------Rentokil Initial, down 0.8%. Goldman Sachs cut its rating on the pest control and hygiene firm to Neutral from Buy.----------FTSE 250 - WINNERS----------Just Eat, up 1.3%. The takeaway food platform said Chief Executive Officer Peter Plumb is stepping down with immediate effect, and it is expecting significant revenue growth for both 2018 and the year ahead. The firm has promoted Chief Customer Officer Peter Duffy into an interim CEO role while it seeks a permanent replacement. Plumb had came under fire in December from 2% shareholder Cat Rock Capital, which called for the sale of Just Eat's non-core assets and adoption of a three-year financial plan. Just Eat expects to report annual revenue of approximately GBP780 million for 2018, up 43% from GBP546.3 million in 2017. The company is also expecting underlying earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation, and amortization of between GBP172 million and GBP174 million, up from GBP164 million in 2017. Moving forward, Just Eat predicted that its 2019 revenue will be in the GBP1.0 billion to GBP1.1 billion range..----------Babcock International, up 1.3%. Goldman Sachs raised the defence firm to its Conviction Buy List. ----------FTSE 250 - LOSERS----------Hammerson, down 3.7%. JPMorgan downgraded the retail property investor to Neutral from Overweight. ----------William Hill, down 3.2%. The bookmaker said it expects a drop in adjusted operating profit for 2018 due to increased expansion costs and due diligence measures. William Hill said adjusted operating profit for the year is forecast to be around GBP234 million, down 20% from GBP291.3 million reported for 2017. The figure is however in line with guidance, which forecast adjusted operating profit in the range of GBP225 million to GBP245 million. The decline in profit is due to the impact of enhanced customer due diligence measures and costs from the group's expansion in the US, William Hill said. On an underlying basis, operating profit rose by 4% in 2018. In addition, William Hill said it has completed the cash offer Swedish bookmaker Mr Green and now holds 37.6 million shares, 92% of the total.----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS----------Flybe, up 36% at 3.405 pence. The up-for-sale budget airline's largest shareholder could attempt to block a takeover of the company, Sky News reported on Sunday. Sky reported that in a letter to Flybe's directors, Hosking Partners - which holds just under a 19% stake in Flybe - warned it may try to get an injunction against the deal. Hosking Partners is also reported to have claimed Flybe's directors "allowed a false market in the company's shares to develop by failing to update the city on its financial position in a timely fashion". Earlier in January, Flybe agreed to sell its main trading company and online business for GBP2.8 million to Connect Airways, a joint venture between Stobart Group, Virgin Atlantic, and DLP Holdings. Before the deal was announced, Flybe's shares closed at 16.38p each which gave it a GBP35.5 million market capitalisation. Stobart shares were down 1.3%.----------Audioboom, up 19%. The podcast firm said it expects to report a strong performance in 2018, despite challenges created by its aborted Triton Digital acquisition. The company said revenue in the 13 months to the end of December 2018 almost doubled to USD11.7 million from USD6.1 million reported for the 12 months to the end of November 2017. Revenue per 1,000 listens in the US increased to USD25.87 in December 2018, up 36% from USD19.02 in May 2018. Adjusted loss before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization reduced to USD5.2 million from USD5.7 million year-on-year, with a much-improved performance in the final three months of the period, Audioboom highlighted.----------Filtronic, up 13%. The antennas manufacturer said it has appointed Quintel USA Inc as its exclusive distributor in North America to a number of mobile network operators for some antenna products. Filtronic said it also has agreed with Quintel's parent company Cirtek Holdings Philippines Corp to identify additional areas of co-operation, ranging from product co-development through to manufacturing. The products covered by these agreements include Quasi-Omni and Panel antennas developed specifically for the US market.----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS----------Dods Group, down 31%. The business intelligence and publishing firm issued a profit warning after lacklustre December trading and a likely increase in delivery costs for its final quarter. While October and November trading was broadly in line with its expectations, December "closed significantly behind". This was attributed to "unprecedented business uncertainty". Dods also anticipates fourth-quarter revenue will be hindered by increased costs of delivery as a result of long lead time contracts. The combination of these factors means in its year ending March 31 Dods expects to post a loss before tax, excluding non-cash impairments. This compares to a GBP1.3 million pretax profit the year before.----------