WINNERS & LOSERS SUMMARY: Imperial Brands Rises On Share Buyback Plans

(Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Monday.----------FTSE 100 - WINNERS----------Imperial Brands, up 2.8%. The tobacco company launched a GBP200 million share buyback programme, as part of a revised shareholders distributions and capital allocation policy. The maker of Davidoff and Gauloises Blondes cigarettes said the new policy will recognise the importance of growing dividends while providing greater flexibility in capital allocation. Imperial Brands reaffirmed plans for 10% final dividend growth for the financial year ending September 30 and said dividends thereafter will be progressive, growing annually from the current level while considering underlying business performance. Imperial Brands said its GBP2 billion divestment programme remains on track to complete before May 2020. The company plans to assess the most appropriate use of proceeds at the time including debt reduction and share buybacks. Peer British American Tobacco was up 2.0%.----------FTSE 100 - LOSERS----------Schroders, down 2.5%. The wealth manager was cut to Hold from Buy by Jefferies and to Equal Weight from Overweight by Barclays.----------Severn Trent, down 1.8%. The water company was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral by JPMorgan. ----------International Consolidated Airlines, down 1.0%. The airline operator said it was disappointed that UK regulators had slapped a GBP183.4 million fine on British Airways following a data breach, with the firm eyeing a potential appeal. In late 2018, IAG reported that 244,000 British Airways customers had been affected by the data breach which saw data including name, billing address, email address and card details stolen. On Monday, IAG said the UK Information Commissioner's Office had informed the airline group - which also owns Aer Lingus in Ireland and Iberia and Vueling in Spain - intends to issue British Airways with a GBP183.4 million fine. This is equivalent to 1.5% of the 2017 turnover at BA. In response, IAG Chief Executive Officer Willie Walsh said the company intends to take all appropriate steps to defend its position, including making any necessary appeals. "Given that airlines' profits are particularly exposed to a disorderly Brexit, a repeat simply can't be tolerated. With that in mind, investors will be grateful to see the ICO confirm IAG has already tightened up its security arrangements," said Hargreaves Lansdown's Nick Hyett. ----------FTSE 250 - WINNERS----------Acacia Mining, up 1.5%. The gold miner said it was confident of achieving its 2019 gold production targets after a strong second quarter which saw its Tanzanian North Mara mine output surge. For the three months ended June, gold production jumped 19% to 158,774 ounces from 133,778 ounces the year prior. This was primarily due to a 39% surge in production from its North Mara operations to 119,113 ounces, partially offset by production falls at Buzwagi and Bulyanhulu also in Tanzania. Second-quarter production was 51% higher than the 104,899 ounces produced in the first quarter of 2019. The second quarter also saw Acacia's Gokana underground mine begin ore development in the higher-grade GB2 area. Gold sales rose 6.9% to 143,325 ounces from 134,090 the year before. Sales were 10% below production in the second quarter due to the timing of gold shipments from North Mara, which were weighted towards the end of June.----------FTSE 250 - LOSERS----------Inchcape, down 5.0%. JPMorgan cut the car dealer to Neutral from Overweight. ----------Jupiter Fund Management, down 2.5%. Jefferies downgraded the asset manager to Underperform from Hold. ----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS----------Xaar, up 5.5%. The industrial inkjet printer firm said interim trading was in line with expectations after its printhead business saw a stabilisation in performance alongside growth elsewhere. For the six months ended June, Xaar expects revenue of GBP23 million down 35% from GBP35.3 million a year prior. Revenue performance was held back by a GBP4 million revenue reversal related to its Xaar 1201 inventory being returned to the firm, this inventory is expected to be sold in the second half of 2019. As well, 2018 interim results were dressed by a GBP10 million one-time royalty boost. Adjusted revenue - excluding the revenue reversal and royalty boost - grew 8% on a year prior. Turning to divisional performance, Xaar explained its Printhead business had stabilised following the decline in 2018. Within its Product Print Systems business, revenue grew 41% following growth from its inkjet and pad printing equipment as well as consumables.----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS----------Trakm8 Holdings, down 22%. The fleet tracking services provider sunk to a pretax loss for financial 2019 due to a sharp drop in revenue. In the 12 months to March 31, Trakm8 recorded a pretax loss of GBP3.6 million compared with GBP500,000 profit the year before. Trakm8's revenue fell 35% year-on-year to GBP19.1 million from GBP29.4 million. The company blamed "sales related challenges" and contract delays for "significantly" hurting revenue. Chair John Watkins said the company expected the volume from new insurance customers to make a "material difference" to its second half, but delays in their programmes "significantly" hit revenue. Looking forward, Trakm8 said it is being "prudent" with its outlook. The company pointed to market expectations of a "relatively modest recovery" of about low double digit growth in revenue with a "small" adjusted profit.----------