WINNERS & LOSERS SUMMARY: Ocado Surges After Striking Deal With Kroger

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Thursday.----------FTSE 100 - WINNERS----------Experian, up 3.0%. The credit checking agency said due to a change in accounting practices, profit was lower in its recently-ended financial year. The company said pretax profit fell 7% to USD994 million for the year ended March 31, from USD1.07 billion last year, it implemented IFRS 15. IFRS 15 applies to annual reporting after January 2018 and governs the treatment of revenue from contracts with customers, meaning that revenue can only be reported once performance obligations are met and the customer takes control. It affects less than 15% of Experian's group revenue. Experian's revenue was up 7.4% to USD4.66 billion this year from USD4.34 billion last year. The company increased its full-year dividend 8% to 44.75 US cents per share.British Land, up 2.2%. The commercial property company said despite challenging market conditions, annual profit rose substantially amid growing revenue and a swing to profit on property valuation movements. For the year to the end of March, the group reported pretax profit of GBP501 million, more than doubling from GBP195 million the year before. This was after it recorded a GBP202 million gain from the revaluation of properties, swinging from a loss of GBP144 million in the prior year. Revenue grew considerably to GBP639 million from GBP589 million the year before. EPRA net asset value per share rose by 5.7% to 967 pence from 915p the prior year, reflecting a portfolio valuation gain of 2.2% and the impact of British Land's GBP300 million share buyback programme announced in July 2017.----------FTSE 100 - LOSERS----------Royal Mail, down 5.0%. The postal delivery company said despite a "challenging environment", revenue reached a "significant milestone" in its recently completed financial year though profit dipped. For the year ended March 25, Royal Mail said revenue increased 4.0% to GBP10.17 billion from GBP9.78 billion the year before. This was driven by parcel growth from its two core businesses, UKPIL and GLS. Taking into account the differences in UK working days and foreign exchange movements the underlying increase was 2%, Royal Mail said. The group reported a decline in pretax profit to GBP212.0 million from GBP335.0 million the prior year. Royal Mail expects parcel volume and growth to be the same for the 2019 full year, but addressed letter volumes are set to fall 4% to 6%, and due to the general data protection regulation, will be at the higher end of this range. If "business uncertainty" remains, however, it could fall outside guidance.3i Group, down 2.0%. The private equity investor said its Private Equity Portfolio fuelled a net asset value boost in its recently ended financial year, as the company raised its dividend. For the year to the end of March, 3i reported a total return of 24%, or GBP1.42 billion, leaving its net asset value per share at the end of the period at 724 pence, up from 604p the year before. In particular, the Private Equity division contributed a strong gross investment return of 30% , or GBP1.43 billion over the year. Realisations in the year generated GBP1.00 billion, with a further GBP350 million of proceeds expected by the summer of 2018. GBP587 million has been invested in four new portfolio companies. 3i Group declared a final dividend per share of 22.0 pence, bringing its total payout for the year to 30.0p, up from 26.5p the prior year.HSBC Holdings, down 1.9% and Intertek, down 1.6%. The stocks went ex-dividend meaning new buyers no longer qualify for the latest dividend payout. Vodafone, down 1.5%. Citigroup cut the telecommunications company to Neutral from buy. ----------FTSE 250 - WINNERS----------Ocado Group, up 43%. The online grocer announced plans to enter the world's biggest grocery market, the US. Ocado has signed a technology sharing and investment partnership pact with Kroger Co, the second-largest general retailer in the US. The deal gives Kroger exclusivity in groceries for the Ocado technology in the US. As part of the partnership pact, Kroger will invest GBP183 million in the online supermarket and will use Ocado's technology for grocery and other food distribution related activities in the US. It will pay monthly exclusivity and consultancy fees for using Ocado's technology. Kroger is subscribing for around 33.1 million new ordinary shares of Ocado, equivalent to 5% of the company's existing issued share capital. Tullow Oil, up 6.0%. Goldman Sachs upgraded the oil and gas company to Buy from Neutral. ----------FTSE 250 - LOSERS----------Investec, down 4.2%. The Anglo-South African financial services company said annual profit grew marginally amid cost rises and challenging markets, as it prepares to see its long-standing management team hand over the reins. For the financial year that ended in March, pretax profit was broadly flat at GBP637.5 million from GBP637.4 million the year prior. This was despite total operating income growing to GBP2.44 billion from GBP2.29 billion the year before. Profit performance was held back by a rise in operating costs as well as the amortisation of acquired intangibles. Operating costs rose to GBP1.63 billion from GBP1.51 billion the year prior. Acquired intangibles were also amortised to the cost of GBP6.0 million, compared to nothing the year before.Thomas Cook Group, down 3.5%. The travel agent said that a strong performance from the airline division, lower finance costs, and growth in trips to Egypt and long-haul destinations resulted in a narrowed loss and increased revenue generation for the first half of its 2018 financial year. The travel operator posted a pretax loss of GBP303 million for the six months to March-end, compared with a pretax loss of GBP314 million in the year ago period, on a revenue of GBP3.22 billion and GBP2.99 billion, respectively. Finance costs fell to GBP90 million from GBP111 million. Adjusted loss before interest and taxes narrowed to GBP169 million from GBP177 million. Gross margins stood at 20.8% down from 21.1%, in line with company's estimates, as strong performance by the airline performance largely offset margin pressures in the UK business.----------