22nd Apr 2015 10:13
LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are amongst the biggest risers and fallers within the main London indices midday Wednesday.
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FTSE 100 WINNERS
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Rolls Royce Holdings, up 3.2%. The aerospace and engineering group said Chief Executive John Rishton will retire on July 2 and be succeeded by former ARM Holdings CEO Warren East in an unexpected move that's been welcomed by markets. East was CEO of chip designer ARM from 2001 to 2013, and became a non-executive director on the Rolls-Royce board in January 2014.
Travis Perkins, up 1.6%. The building merchant said total sales rose 7.2% and like-for-like sales grew 5.1% in the first quarter of 2015, keeping well ahead of its medium-term like-for-like sales growth target. The company said strong growth in its general merchanting, consumer and contracts businesses more than offset a 3.7% decline in total sales and 6.1% decline in like-for-like sales in its heating and plumbing business.
BHP Billiton, up 1.0%. The miner said production rose across most of its segments in the third quarter and the first nine-months of the year and said it is on track to beat its original production guidance and to achieve group production growth of 16% over a two-year period before the end of 2015.
Tesco, up 0.4%. The supermarket said it swung to a big loss in its recently-ended financial year, after booking a staggering GBP7.0 billion of impairments, writedowns and restructuring charges, as it tried to put a difficult year behind it and get back on track in a revamp that new Chief Executive Dave Lewis admitted is going to take a long time.
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FTSE 100 LOSERS
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Hargreaves Lansdown, down 4.1%. The fund supermarket has been downgraded to Hold from Buy by Jefferies.
Reed Elsevier, down 1.7%. The Anglo-Dutch publisher reiterated its outlook for the full year, and said the simplification of its corporate structure and name change to RELX is on track to complete at the beginning of July subject to approval at its annual general meeting.
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FTSE 250 WINNERS
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Croda International, up 3.0%. The specialty chemicals company said 2015 has started in line with its expectations and it expects growth to continue through the year on the back of strong performances in its Personal Care and Life Sciences businesses. Croda said its revenue in the first quarter was GBP284.9 million, compared to GBP274 million a year earlier, with the 4% growth the same in reported and constant currencies, as currency translation had no impact on its results due to a stronger US dollar offsetting a weaker euro against sterling.
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FTSE 250 LOSERS
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Tate & Lyle, down 3.0%. The sugar and sweeteners company has been cut to Underperform from Neutral by Credit Suisse.
Britvic, down 2.3%. Societe Generale has downgraded the soft drinks maker to Hold from Buy.
Ladbrokes, down 2.2%. The bookmaker said many of its customer metrics improved in the first quarter of 2015 but said betting results have favoured customers and its profits were materially lower. Group net revenue was up 3.3% in the quarter, with UK retail net revenue up 4.3% and digital net revenue up by 9.5%, despite the latter taking a big hit from a sharp fall in revenue from its Sportsbook business which was offset by a good performance in Australia. Still, earnings before interest and tax fell to GBP14.3 million, from GBP18.4 million a year earlier.
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AIM ALL-SHARE WINNERS
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Deltex Medical Group, up 21%. The company said it has established its ninth dedicated trainer account in the US, with an unnamed "highly prestigious teaching hospital" based in Boston, Massachusetts. The hospital has now approved the purchase of at least 500 CardioQ-ODM+ oesophageal Doppler monitoring devices in its 2015-16 budget, which starts in October.
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AIM ALL-SHARE LOSERS
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Eurasia Mining, off 23%. The company said it has completed a strategic share placing to raise GBP515,700 to support its working capital requirements. Eurasia said it has raised the funding by issuing 93.8 million shares at 0.55 pence per share, sending its shares down to 0.6 pence.
Westminster Group, down 13%. The security and defence products and services firm said it has raised GBP2.3 million through the issue of convertible loan notes, which it plans to use to strengthen its balance sheet, and support its ongoing costs, particularly as it expands its Managed Services division.
Phorm Corporation, down 11%. The company said it has raised GBP6.0 million through a placing of 62.5 million new shares and a subscription for 12.5 million shares at a price of 8.0 pence per share, which it plans to use for general working capital. The company currently trades at 7.0p.
Rose Petroleum, down 11%. The company said John Blair, the chief executive of the company's two oil and gas subsidiaries, has resigned with immediate effect and been replaced with the group's current senior vice president of operations. Blair decided to leave and the company wished him every success.
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By Neil Thakrar; [email protected]; @NeilThakrar1
Copyright 2015 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
RosebankTescoBritvicRelxBHP Billiton PLCTate & LyleHargreaves LansdownEurasia MiningTravis PerkinsDeltex MedicalCroda InternationalWestminster GroupRolls-RoyceARM.LLAD.LPHRM.L