WINNERS & LOSERS SUMMARY: Paris Attacks Weigh On Travel Companies

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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Taylor Wimpey, up 1.2%. The housebuilder continued the string of good news from the UK sector as it said the market has continued to be very positive and its sales rate has increased in the second half. Taylor said high levels of customer confidence and demand have been converted into increased sales and healthy sales price growth, boosted by a wide range of mortgage products currently available and tighter lending requirements, keeping monthly payments sustainable and affordable. Thanks to the robust market and its strong performance, Taylor Wimpey said it expects its operating profit margin to improve by 200 basis points in 2015.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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TUI, down 4.9%, International Consolidated Airlines Group, down 2.8%, Carnival, down 2.5%, InterContinental Hotels Group, down 2.2%, easyJet, down 1.3%. Travel company shares were suffering following the terrorist attack in Paris late Friday, in which 129 people were killed. Responsibility for the attack has been claimed by the Islamic State, the extremist organisation, and France has responded by intensifying airstrikes in Syria and Iraq. Shares in Thomas Cook Group, the mid-cap travel operator, were down 3.9%.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Diploma, up 11%. The technical products and services company said its pretax profit and revenue edged higher in its recently-ended financial year, albeit as sales were held back in the second half by softer industrial markets and cost-cutting in the healthcare sector. Diploma said its pretax profit for the year to the end of September was GBP51.8 million, compared to GBP49.8 million a year earlier, as revenue rose to GBP333.8 million from GBP305.8 million. The group will pay a final dividend of 12.4 pence per share, up 7.0% year-on-year, bringing its total dividend up to 18.2p from 17.0p.

SIG, up 5.8%. The building products company said trading improved in October, following the profit warning it issued last month as it was hit by sluggish conditions in its key markets. The group had downgraded its underlying operating profit guidance for all of 2015 to GBP85.0 million to GBP90.0 million, down from the GBP98.1 million it made a year earlier. On Monday, the group said trading had improved in October and affirmed that reduced full-year guidance.

Keller Group, up 5.8%. The ground engineering company said it is on track to meet market expectations for 2015 after an in-line second half so far. The company, which provides engineering services for ground structures, primarily for construction projects but also for underground structures, said said overall trading in the four months to the end of October had been in line with its expectations. Keller said its order book at the end of October was around 20% higher year-on-year, or up 15% on a like-for-like basis.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Restaurant Group, down 4.2%. Nomura downgraded its rating on the company to Reduce from Neutral, arguing markets are failing to appreciate the threat the restaurant operator faces from the introduction of the National Living Wage in the UK. Nomura analysts Tim Barrett and Richard Stuber said in a labour-intensive sector such as restaurants, the National Living Wage represents an unprecedented cost headwind and threat to margins.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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Eden Research, up 26%. The company said its Kenyan partner, Lachlan Kenya, has received approval to begin sales of Eden's fungicide 3AEY, to be sold under the trade name Hawk. Under Eden's licence agreement with Lachlan, it is now due a milestone payment and will receive royalties based on the net sales of 3AEY. It will supply Lachlan from the UK and has received an initial order to provide enough 3AEY to treat an area of around 1,667 hectares. "This is the first commercial order for 3AEY which will generate product sales revenue and royalties. We expect this to be the first of many such orders not only from Kenya, but also from our other partners in Europe in due course," Chief Executive Sean Smith said.

Safeland, up 8.1%. The property company said pretax profit surged in the first half thanks to higher revenue, driven by the completion of some key developments. Safeland said its pretax profit for the half to the end of September was GBP4.3 million, up from GBP2.2 million a year earlier, as revenue rose to GBP12.5 million from GBP7.8 million. The company said its results were boosted by the completion of a number of property developments, including two phases of its project in Wimbledon in south west London. Safeland did note the results were in part the result of the timing of completions and therefore do not necessarily provide a guide for the second half.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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Juridica Investments, down 19%. The corporate legal claims advisor said it will see a return of USD2.0 million in relation to a recently completed legal case, below its original investment of USD3.5 million. A recent case, 5009-S, which involved a theft of trade secret dispute brought by a smaller plaintiff against a much larger company, has been completed. Although there was a full win on liability, the jury only awarded an amount that will result in Juridica receiving USD2.0 million. This falls below the USD3.5 million it had invested originally in the case, and a valuation of USD9.4 million related to the case in its net asset value as at the end of June.
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By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance

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