WINNERS & LOSERS SUMMARY: Persimmon Shares Off Despite Profit Surge

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Tuesday.
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FTSE 100 - WINNERS
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Shire, up 1.3%. The pharmaceutical company is in the midst of a hostile takeover attempt for US group Baxalta Inc, after the Baxalta board rejected Shire's unsolicited all-share offer earlier this month. Over the weekend, the Financial Times reported Shire Chief Executive Flemming Ornskov has been pressing Shire's case for much of the past fortnight and thinks Baxalta shareholders are open to a deal, citing people close to Shire.

Inmarsat, 0.8%. Shares in the satellite communications company are still benefiting from its announcement on Monday that its third Global Xpress satellite is set to be launched on August 28. Delays to the programme had depressed Inmarsat shares in recent months.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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Persimmon, down 1.9%. The housebuilder said its pretax profit surged in the first half as it boosted margins, sold more homes and did so at higher prices, all while saying that its performance thus far in the traditionally slower summer selling season still looks robust. But shares were trading lower after multiple analysts said Persimmon's valuation looks stretched. The group said its pretax profit for the six months to the end of June was GBP272.8 million, up from GBP208.9 million a year earlier, as the group's total revenue rose to GBP1.33 billion from GBP1.20 billion and its underlying operating margin rose to 20.5%, a 280 basis point rise year-on-year from 17.7%.

Antofagasta, down 3.0%, BHP Billiton, down 2.8%, Anglo American, down 2.6%, Rio Tinto, down 2.1%. Miners were depressed as the copper price continued to trade near six-year lows.

Weir Group, down 1.9%, Royal Dutch Shell 'A', down 1.8%, Shell 'B', down 1.7%, BP, down 1.3%. Oil companies also were trading lower after the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate oil price fell to a new six-and-a-half year low at USD41.41 a barrel. Brent oil trades at USD48.49 a barrel, down 0.1%.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Aldermore, up 2.2%. RBC Capital Markets said it expects "material growth" to be demonstrated by Aldermore's upcoming first-half results, with a 50% rise in net interest income and a more than doubling of the company's adjusted pretax profit year-on-year in the period forecast by RBC.

William Hill, up 1.5%. Numis raised its recommendation on the high-street bookmaker to Buy from Hold, saying it is a "soundly-financed market leader well-placed to weather competition and regulation". "We believe that William Hill is currently in a trough period for financial results as a result of multiple trading and regulatory pressures. But we also believe that earnings momentum and business mix will look more attractive in the first half of 2016," said analyst Ivor Jones.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Cairn Energy, down 5.0%. The oil producer said its pretax loss significantly widened in the first half of 2015 as it prepares to spend big in the second half on developing its assets in Senegal and the North Sea. The group posted a pretax loss of USD234.7 million in the first half of 2015, widening from a USD62.1 million loss a year earlier after the company booked an USD177.1 million impairment against its remaining investment in Cairn India, which faces a large Indian tax bill.

John Wood Group, down 2.4%. The oil services company reported a fall in profit in the first half of 2015 as expected, but the company reaffirmed its commitment to grow its dividend and reiterated its full-year outlook remains unchanged. The group posted an expected fall in profit before tax and exceptional items to USD156.3 million in the first half of 2015, compared to a USD182.4 million profit a year earlier as revenue dropped to USD3.06 billion from USD3.80 billion.
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AIM ALL-SHARE - WINNERS
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Mariana Resources, up 17%. The miner said it has secured a maiden resource estimate for the Hot Maden project in Turkey and said there is no doubt this will increase in the future. The gold and copper project has a total mineral resource estimate of 3.0 million ounces of gold equivalent, comprised of 2.0 million ounces at the indicated level and the remaining balance made up of inferred resources.

ITM Power, up 9.8%. The energy storage and clean fuel company said it has officially launched the RWE gas-to-power plant in Germany it has supplied for RWE Deutschland. "The state-of-the-art plant is part of a new system that, for the first time ever, links together the supply of local electricity, natural gas and district heating," ITM said.
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AIM ALL-SHARE - LOSERS
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Akers Biosciences, down 18%. The medical devices company posted a widened pretax loss for the first half of 2015, mostly as a result of lower revenue and increased investment in its sales and marketing. For the half year to end-June, the company posted a pretax loss of USD3.4 million, widened from a loss of USD1.1 million a year before, as a result of a fall in revenue to USD1.5 million from USD2.5 million, and a rise in sales and marketing expenses.

APC Technology Group, down 26%. The electronic components supplier said that whilst it expects to meet market expectations for its full-year revenue, its underlying operating profit for the year to end-August will fall below market expectations. APC said that following a detailed project profit margin analysis in its three main operating divisions, it has become clear that margins achieved by its Minimise Energy business have been hit by excessive freight charges and other costs it incurred to meet delivery times on a number of contracts.
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By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance

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