WINNERS & LOSERS SUMMARY: RSA Insurance Makes Good Start To 2019

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Thursday.----------FTSE 100 - WINNERS----------RSA Insurance, up 2.0%. The insurer said its first quarter was in line with its own expectations, but it is still seeing "competitive" market pricing. In the three months to March 31, RSA recorded net written premiums of GBP1.57 billion, 3% higher that the year before. Taking into account planned exits, foreign exchange movements and reinsurance charges, written premiums were flat. RSA's group operating profit in the first quarter was "in line on a reported basis", on an improved combined ratio offset by "slightly" lower investment income. RSA's large loss ratio improved to 8.5%, from 9.7% last year, which was driven by better results in the UK. "The relative benign start to the year, compared to the Beast from the East last year, was a welcome boost but also totally outside the group's control. General insurers are always hostages to fortune to some extent, but good cost control is a more replicable positive. After a challenging 2018, it looks like this year is getting off to a good start," Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Nick Hyett said. ----------Ocado Group, up 1.8%. The online grocer said it signed a further agreement with Sobeys Inc to build a second automated warehouse in Pointe-Claire, a suburb of Montreal in Quebec, Canada. Ocado is currently in the process of building a customer fullfillment centre for Sobeys in Ontario, under a previous deal between the two companies. Ocado entered an exclusive partnership with Sobeys in 2018 to help the grocer, Canada's largest, improve the online shopping experience for shoppers. Earlier Thursday, Ocado said it had agreed to loosen the exclusivity of its partnership with Wm Morrison Supermarkets in the UK. Shares in Morrisons were down 0.5%.----------Barratt Developments, up 1.7%. The housebuilder said its full-year outlook is currently "modestly above" the board's previous expectations as forward sales to date rose 2.4% on a year before. For the period between January 1 and May 5, the group's forward sales rose to GBP3.36 billion, equating to 14,181 units, compared to GBP3.28 billion a year ago. Barratt's net private reservation rate for the period since the start of the year was strong at 0.79 per active outlet per average week, marginally below 0.80 in the same period a year ago. The company launched 47 new developments since January. ----------FTSE 100 - LOSERS----------Centrica, down 8.2%, Admiral Group, down 3.3%, Hiscox, down 2.5%. The stocks went ex-dividend meaning new buyers no longer qualify for the latest payout. ----------FTSE 250 - WINNERS----------Acacia Mining, up 4.0%. The gold miner said its gold production improved significantly since the start of the second quarter due to the successful implementation of a revised mining plan at the North Mara mine in Tanzania. Acacia's gold production in April was 47,805, representing a 37% increase from the monthly average during the first quarter of 2019. This was on the back of improved performance at North Mara with April gold production of 33,941 ounces, 54% above the monthly average production in the previous three-month period. The production rebound left the company confident in delivering against full-year production guidance of 500,000 to 550,000 ounces. With regards to its running dispute with the government of Tanzania, Acacia said a "negotiated resolution" remains its preferred outcome. ----------FTSE 250 - LOSERS----------IMI, down 4.5%. The engineer said it expects its annual results in 2019 to be in line with expectations despite first-quarter trading continuing to face mixed conditions for its various units, ahead of the new boss taking the helm. For the three months ended March, organic revenue was 2% lower than the year prior. On an adjusted basis, revenue was 1% higher, helped by a "modest exchange rate tailwind". In the first quarter, Critical Engineering unit saw revenue 12% lower on an organic and 11% lower on an adjusted basis. IMI said prospects across some of the major markets for Critical Engineering "continue to be varied" with "structural uncertainty" in the Fossil Power market offset by opportunities in the Oil & Gas, Petrochemical and Marine markets. ----------Card Factory, down 4.1%, Ibstock, down 3.0%. The stocks went ex-dividend. ----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS----------Findel, up 4.1%. The home furnishing retailer and education business said it expects its annual profit to clock in "slightly above" market forecasts. Currently the market sees Findel's pretax profit for the year ended March 29 between GBP27 million and GBP28 million. A year ago, Findel's profit came in at GBP22.1 million. The company said that its Studio division saw "good trading" in the seasonally quieter fourth quarter, with garden ranges benefitting from the warmer weather in early February and homeware ranges trading well. Education saw an acceleration of its customer recruitment during the last quarter of the year and a further increase in online ordering levels, Findel added.----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS----------Tyman, down 7.0%.The window components supplier said its annual expectations remain unchanged after reporting a 15% revenue jump for the four months to April 30. In its annual general meeting statement, the company said on a like-for-like basis revenue for the four-month period was flat versus 2018, with the difference mainly reflecting the contributions from acquisitions completed in 2018. "During the period, activity levels have generally been slightly below the board's expectations although the first four months of the year typically see lower absolute levels than the rest of the year," Tyman explained.----------