WINNERS & LOSERS SUMMARY: Greene King Stock In Good Spirits

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Wednesday.
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FTSE 100 - WINNERS
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AstraZeneca, up 2.1%, GlaxoSmithKline, up 1.9%. The pharmaceutical giants were trading higher following a positive note from Morgan Stanley. The bank upgraded AstraZeneca to Overweight from Underweight and hiked its target price to 5,300 pence from 4,300p. AstraZeneca shares were trading at 4,615p. In addition, it hiked its target price on Glaxo to 1,450p from 1,350p, while keeping an Equal Weight stance on the company. Glaxo was quoted at 1,376.53p. Fellow blue-chip drug maker Shire was up 2.75.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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Sage Group, down 4.6%. The enterprise software provider said its pretax profit edged lower in its recently-ended financial year due to restructuring costs, but its organic growth hit its target and the group remains confident on its outlook. Sage said its pretax profit for the year to the end of September was GBP275.8 million, slightly down from the GBP278.7 million it made a year earlier, due to higher one-off selling and administrative costs related to restructuring activity to save costs. Stripping out those one-offs, pretax profit rose to GBP358.5 million from GBP340.9 million. Sage will pay a total dividend for the year of 13.10 pence per share, up from 12.12p. Numis said Sage's results came in line with its forecast but believes the company's accounting policy changes could cause some confusion in the market.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Greene King, up 8.6%. The pub company said its pretax profit and revenue rose in the first half thanks to the integration of the Spirit Pub business, though like-for-like sales growth also was solid and the group hiked its interim dividend. The company said its pretax profit for the 24 weeks to October 18 was GBP84.9 million, up from GBP72.0 million, as revenue surged up to GBP917.7 million from GBP614.9 million. Greene King will pay an interim dividend of 8.45 pence, up from 7.95p. Numis upgraded its earnings forecasts for Greene King following the positive update, while N+1 Singer lifted its recommendation for the stock to Buy from Hold.

Pace, up 6.4%. US broadband network equipment maker Arris Group said the US Department of Justice has closed its investigation into its proposed acquisition of set-top box maker Pace. Arris has already secured clearance for the deal in Colombia, Germany, Portugal and South Africa and is now awaiting regulatory approval in Brazil. Arris agreed to acquire Pace for GBP1.4 billion in cash and shares in April.

Brewin Dolphin Holdings, up 3.7%. The wealth manager reported higher profit and an increase in discretionary funds under management over the course of its last financial year, and said that expansion is now on its agenda. Adjusted pretax profit, which strips out one-off items such as the GBP31.7 million impairment charge taken on the termination of a software project in the previous year, increased to GBP62.2 million in the year ended September 30, from GBP58.4 million the prior year. Without the adjustments, pretax profit increased to GBP61.0 million from GBP6.8 million. Brewin lifted its dividend for the year as a whole to 12.0 pence from 9.9p.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Moneysupermarket.com Group, down 6.5%. The price comparison site said founder Simon Nixon has sold a 5.8% stake in the company through a share placing, almost half of his holding, and the company said he will step down from the board at the end of the year. Nixon placed 32.0 million shares at 305.00 pence per share, raising gross proceeds of GBP98.0 million for Nixon. Shares in Moneysupermarket closed at 328.30p on Tuesday. Following completion of the placing, Nixon will be subject to a lock-up on its remaining shareholding in the company until the announcement of its 2015 results, due in March 2016. His remaining stake in Moneysupermarket.com is around 6.9%.

Saga, down 5.2%. Acromas sold a 13% stake in the over-50s products and services provider to institutional investors, more than had initially been planned and raising GBP290.0 million for the seller. Acromas sold 145.0 million Saga shares at 200.00 pence per share. Saga shares closed at 212.2p on Tuesday. The deal was announced late on Tuesday, but Acromas had initially only intended to sell around 110.0 million shares, or a 10% stake in Saga. Acromas now will hold 32% of Saga following the sale.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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RedT Energy, up 17%. The energy storage technology firm said its first manufactured unit has been approved for connection to the UK power grid and will receive the CE mark, approving them for distribution across the European Union. The 40 kilowatt hour unit, delivered to its Wokingham unit, is now grid tied, charging from and discharging to the national grid. "The approval of grid connection is a major milestone for RedT Energy," said Chief Executive Scott McGregor.

Coral Products, up 10%. The injection-moulded plastic products manufacturer posted a big rise in pretax profit thanks to a significant improvement in gross margins in the first half, despite revenue ticking lower amid tough market conditions. Coral, which makes injection-moulded plastic products, said its pretax profit for the half to the end of October was GBP684,000, up from GBP291,000 a year earlier, as its gross margin improved to 34.5% from 24.6% and operating margins were boosted by reduced costs. That helped the group offset a decline in revenue, down to GBP8.3 million from GBP9.1 million, hit by a decline in media product sales which was only partially offset by better performance in its other divisions.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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Bilby, down 18%. The company, a holding company for gas heating and building services provider P&R Installation, said the integration of the Purdy Contracts business it acquired in July is progressing well and said its existing P&R Installation business has won a new framework deal, though delays on P&R's contract in Greenwich mean P&R will miss expectations for the full year. P&R recently started work on its new contract with Greenwich Council in London, which had been delayed from its original start date in August, though the group said it carried out other, lower-margin work for the council in the interim. However, due to the delays, P&R overall performance for the full year to the end of March 2016 is likely to miss the company's expectations.

Sweett Group, down 10%. The construction and property consultancy said it has admitted to an offence under the UK Bribery Act and expects to pay a fine in the near future, as its pretax loss widened in the first half due to one-off costs related to the ongoing investigation by the Serious Fraud Office into the company. The UK's SFO has been conducting an investigation into the conduct of a former employee of Cyril Sweet International Ltd, a Sweett subsidiary, in the Middle East. Sweett said it has now admitted to an offence under the UK Bribery Act 2010, specifically failing to prevent an associated person bribing another to obtain or retain business for the company. Sweett now expects to face a fine following prosecution by the SFO, though said it would not be able to provide any guidance on the size of the fine it will face. The news came as the group said its pretax loss for the half to the end of September was GBP548,000, compared to a GBP59,000 loss, mainly due to costs related to the SFO investigation. Revenue rose to GBP30.2 million from GBP27.8 million.
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By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance

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