WINNERS & LOSERS SUMMARY: Premier Veterinary Jumps 34% On US Deal

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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Legal & General Group, up 8.2%. The life insurer and investment manager said it has appointed Whitehall veteran John Kingman as its new chairman. Kingman's appointment has been approved by UK financial industry regulators the Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority, L&G said. He will take over from Rudy Markham, who has been interim chairman since John Stewart stepped down on June 1. Kingman is the former Second Permanent Secretary of HM Treasury and is the former chief executive of UK Financial Investments, the body managing the UK government's stakes in Royal Bank of Scotland Group and Lloyds Banking Group.

Associated British Foods, up 7.3%. The food, ingredients and retail group was upgraded to Buy from Hold by Berenberg. The German bank said the recent sell-off provides an attractive entry point. "There is some uncertainty to near-term Primark trading as well as a de-rating of the retail sector generally. However 20 times calendar 2017 price-to-earnings ratio is the cheapest that the stock has traded at in nearly three years."

Lloyds Banking Group, up 6.1%. The financial services stock was rebounding, having closed down 10% on Monday. Banks were among the worst hit sectors in the aftermath of the Brexit. Royal Bank of Scotland shares were up 3.6% and Barclays shares up 4.6%.

Capita, up 4.6%. The outsourcing company said it has signed a five-year strategic partnership for customer management services with telecommunications company Tesco Mobile, which is part of supermarket Tesco. Under the terms of the partnership, Capita will enhance Tesco Mobile's customer service propositions using technology and service design methods. The deal is worth GBP140 million over the five-year term and is due to commence on August 1. Capita was also upgraded to Neutral from Underperform by Exane BNP.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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Fresnillo, down 4.6%, Randgold Resources, down 2.0%. After rising strongly in recent sessions, the gold miners were tracking a lower gold price, quoted at USD1,314.07 an ounce, compared to USD1,320.10 late Monday. Mid-cap peer Centamin was down 5.8%, with Acacia Mining down 5.0% and Polymetal International down 1.1%.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Ocado Group, up 9.9%. The online grocery retailer reported growth in profit in the first half of its financial year as sales grew on the back of a rise in active customer numbers and order volumes, although the average basket value declined in a deflationary food market. The company said its pretax profit in the 24 weeks ended May 15 grew to GBP8.5 million from GBP7.2 million in the same period the year before, as revenue rose to GBP584.2 million from GBP507.7 million. Ocado said the number of active customers increased by 15% to 541,000 from 471,000, and order volumes grew by 18% to an average of 225,000 orders per week from 191,000, although the average basket value declined by 2.2% to GBP110.10 from GBP112.59 due to price deflation in the market.

G4S, up 8.8%. Credit Suisse upgraded the outsourcer to Outperform from Neutral.

Countryside Properties was up 7.7%, having closed down 22% on Monday.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Shawbrook Group, down 6.9%. The lender said trading has been in line with its expectations in 2016 so far, but it will book an impairment charge due to irregularities uncovered in its Asset Finance unit. The bank said loan originations in the second quarter of 2016 were flat against the first quarter and were up 35% year-on-year, in line with its guidance. But it will book a GBP9.0 million impairment charge in the second quarter on the Asset Finance unit of its Business Finance arm, due to irregularities found in one office. Shawbrook also said it had accepted the resignation of Tom Wood as its chief financial officer. Dylan Minto, currently director of strategy, will step in as interim CFO.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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Premier Veterinary Group, up 34%. The veterinary practices operator said its Premier Vet Alliance unit has signed a further agreement in the US for its Premier Pet Care Plan. The new agreement has been signed with Merritt Veterinary Supplies, a veterinary supplies distributor operating in the south east of the US. It is based in Columbia, South Carolina. The initial five-year deal will see Premier Pet Care Plan, a preventative healthcare programme for pets, introduced into Merritt's 9,000 member hospitals, primarily located in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana. No financial details on the agreement were disclosed.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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Carpetright, down 20%. The carpet and floor covering retailer reported growth in profit in its recently-ended financial year due to lower property costs as it repositions its UK store portfolio, although store closures did have a knock-on effect on revenue, and the retailer said it is cautious going forward of the impact from last week's Brexit vote. The carpet and floor coverings retailer said its pretax profit in the year ended April 30 grew to GBP12.8 million from GBP6.6 million the year before, although revenue declined to GBP456.8 million from GBP469.8 million. "The outlook has been further complicated by the outcome of last week's referendum, and we are cautious about the impact the associated uncertainty will have on consumer confidence," Chief Executive Wilf Walsh said.

Fastjet, down 14%. The low-cost airline said the trading environment in which it operates in Africa remains challenging, with lower-than-expected passenger numbers and a decline in load factor in the first half of 2016. Fastjet said while the yield per passenger continues to improve from its low point last October, passenger numbers numbers remain lower than expected. Domestic routes within Tanzania are showing signs of recovery, but international services remain difficult, fastjet said. Some 390,000 passengers are forecast to have travelled with fastjet in the six months ending June 30, up from 363,726 in the first half of 2015, but load factor declined to 47% from 70%, which fastjet said reflects the increase in its available capacity over the past year.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com; @ArvindBhunjun

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