WINNERS & LOSERS SUMMARY: Mixed Fortunes For Morrisons And Ocado

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Monday.
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FTSE 100 - WINNERS
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Gold miners Randgold Resources, up 3.4%, and Fresnillo, up 2.2%. The two stocks were up amid a higher gold price. The metal was quoted at USD1,233.80 an ounce Monday, above its level at the London equities close on Friday of USD1,216.65.

Intu Properties, up 2.0%. The shopping mall owner was upgraded to Buy from Neutral by Merrill Lynch.

Sky, up 0.6%. The pay TV company was upgraded to Buy from Neutral by Goldman Sachs.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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HSBC Holdings, down 2.9%. The bank was cut to Underperform from Market Perform by Bernstein.

Centrica, down 2.6%. The British Gas parent was downgraded to Reduce from Hold by Kepler Cheuvreux.

ITV, down 1.7%. The broadcaster was cut to Neutral from Buy by Goldman Sachs.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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WM Morrison Supermarkets, up 3.5%. The supermarket chain said it has entered a new supply agreement with US online retail giant Amazon.com and has agreed new terms in principle with online grocery delivery company Ocado Group. Morrisons said it has struck a new supply agreement with Amazon, through which its products will be made available to Amazon Prime and Amazon Pantry, Amazon's food service, customers. Morrisons will provide a wholesale supply services to Amazon, allowing customers of Amazon to access a wide range of Morrisons ambient, fresh and frozen products. Morrisons has also been in talks with Ocado to grow its Morrisons.com online grocery business and the pair have now reached an agreement in principle under which Morrisons will take space at Ocado's new Customer Fulfilment Centre in Erith and Ocado will deliver a "stock pick" service to Morrisons. Ocado was down 7.4%, the biggest faller in the midcap index. Shore Capital analyst Clive Black said "there is strategic merit [for Morrisons] in exploring a commercial tie-up with Amazon". But for Ocado, Black said the market may take a "dim view of the re-negotiation" with Morrisons.

Vedanta Resources, up 3.0%. The India-focused miner won India's first-ever auction of a gold mine, as the nation opens up the mining sector to foreign companies, reported Reuters on Saturday. Vedanta Ltd, a unit of Vendanta Resources, has been awarded the Baghmara gold mine in Chhattisgarh after outbidding three other bidders, Reena Kangale, the head of the state's Directorate of Geology and Mining told Reuters.

Keller Group, up 2.3%. The engineering contractor said it has increased its dividend after reporting a substantial rise in profit in 2015, and said its order book at the end of the year is considerably higher than at the end of 2014. The ground engineering firm said its pretax profit in 2015 rose to GBP56.3 million from GBP28.2 million in 2014, with profit before exceptional items also experiencing a lift to GBP95.7 million from GBP85.1 million. Keller increased its dividend for the year by 7.5% to 27.1 pence per share from the 25.2 pence per share paid in 2014.

Go-Ahead Group, up 2.6%. Jefferies upgraded the public transport company to Buy from Hold.

Challenger banks Aldermore Group, up 3.0%, and Shawbrook Group, up 2.1%. Peel Hunt initiated the two stocks with Buy ratings.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Hiscox, down 4.7%. The insurer said said it will look to retain more of its earnings to fund growth, as it reduced its special dividend and reported lower annual pretax profit. Hiscox said it made a GBP216.1 million pretax profit in 2015, down from GBP231.1 million the prior year, coming a touch above company-compiled consensus forecasts of a GBP214.2 million pretax profit. The insurer lifted its ordinary dividend per share to 24.0 pence from 22.5p, and lowered its special dividend to 16.0p from 45.0p the prior year, taking the total payment to 40.0p. That was above analyst expectations for a 38.5p total dividend for the year.

Senior, down 2.8%. The engineer said pretax profit sank in 2015 due to mixed aerospace market conditions, though revenue increased and the group pushed up its dividend payout. The company said pretax profit fell 21% to GBP63.8 million in 2015 from GBP80.6 million the prior year, as margins were hit in its aerospace operations by maturing, older jet programmes and volume reductions. Senior said the near-term outlook for the company looks challenging, but said it remains confident on its medium-term prospects. It will pay a final dividend of 4.36 pence per share, taking its total dividend up to 6.20p, a 10% rise year-on-year.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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Tangent Communications, up 24%. The printing and digital marketing company said it has withdrawn its recommendation for the bid made for the business by its management team after it agreed a deal with media and marketing investor Writtle Holdings. Under the terms of the Writtle deal, Tangent shareholders will get 3.0 pence per share in cash, valuing the company at around GBP8.7 million in total and a 33% premium on the 2.25p per share offer made by the management team's Tangent Holdings UK Ltd vehicle. Tangent said the new offer from Writtle will provide the most value for Tangent shareholders and withdrew its recommendation for the rival bid.

Amara Mining, up 20%. The miner said it plans to merge with Perseus Mining to create a mid-tier gold producing company focused on West Africa. The pair have agreed terms of the potential deal, which will see Perseus acquire Amara in return for new shares and warrants in Perseus being issued to Amara shareholders. Under the terms, Amara shareholders would hold 35.1% of the issued share capital of the combined entity, which will retain the Perseus name. Amara shareholders would receive 0.68 Perseus shares and 0.34 warrants over Perseus shares for each Amara share they hold. Each warrant can be exercised into a new Perseus share at a price of AUD0.44 within 36 months of being issued.

88 Energy, up 16%. The oil and gas explore said the ongoing analysis at the Icewine-1 well indicates there is a potential "world class" resource at the project that is consistent with the company's pre-drill estimates.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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DX Group, down 15%. The delivery company swung to a big pretax loss for the first half, it said on Monday, in line with its revised expectations. DX said it made a pretax loss of GBP88.4 million in the half to the end of December, compared to a GBP9.9 million profit a year earlier, due to a GBP88.4 million goodwill impairment charge it booked in the period due to challenging conditions in the industry. Revenue fell to GBP141.6 million from GBP147.6 million.

Genel Energy, down 30%. The oil and gas explorer said it expects to book a USD1.00 billion impairment in its 2015 financial results against the Taq Taq field in Iraq and said the reserves within the field have fallen substantially following an internal review. Genel said last month it was conducting a review of its reservoir model at Taq Taq following declines in production from the field during 2015. The review is being carried out by McDaniel & Associates, which is almost complete. McDaniel & Associates is the same company that carried out the previous audit of the Taq Taq reserves back in 2011, which stated the field was capable of potentially producing 683 million barrels of oil over its lifetime. However, the latest audit now suggests the field will only produce 356 million barrels of oil over its lifetime - almost half the previous estimate.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com; @ArvindBhunjun

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