12th Sep 2018 10:42
LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Wednesday.----------FTSE 100 - WINNERS----------Taylor Wimpey, up 1.0%. The housebuilder was raised to Overweight from Equal Weight by Barclays. ----------FTSE 100 - LOSERS----------SSE, down 7.7%. The 'Big Six' UK energy supplier warned its interim profit would take a hit amid warm weather, higher gas prices and the UK government's impending energy price cap. In the first five months of SSE's financial year ended August, SSE said its adjusted operating profit was GBP190 million lower compared to the year before. The higher than expected gas prices accounted for "just under half", with the impact of the weather accounting for "most of the remainder". SSE said it expects a "significant reduction" in adjusted operating profit in its Generation division, which posted a profit of GBP160.7 million last year, and an adjusted operating loss of about GBP100 million in its Energy portfolio. The company also said UK gas regulator Ofgem's proposed tariff cap, set to start at the beginning of 2019, could result in its Energy Services division's adjusted operating profit being "significantly lower" than expected. "Coming on top of the recent energy price caps announced by Ofgem the whole sector has sold off as investors project similar sharp falls for its peers," said Michael Hewson of CMC Markets. Fellow energy companies Centrica and National Grid were down 2.3% and 1.4% respectively. ----------FTSE 250 - WINNERS----------Dunelm Group, up 7.1%. The home furnishings company said profit grew slightly in its recently ended financial year, helped by new store openings and the integration of Worldstores. The retailer said pretax profit rose 0.8% in the year to the end of June to GBP93.1 million from GBP92.4 million reported a year ago, as revenue increased 9.9% to GBP1.05 billion from GBP955.6 million. Like-for-like sales were up 4.2% year-on-year, with store like-for-like sales increasing by 1.0%, while like-for-like online sales grew 38%, reflecting Dunelm's increasing focus on this channel as "customer shopping behaviour continues to shift". The company said it opened ten new superstores during the period, taking the total number of stores to 169. Dunelm maintained its interim dividend at 19.5 pence per share, bringing the total payout for the full-year to 26.5p, up 1.9% versus the year prior.----------Galliford Try, up 4.0%. The construction and housebuilding company reported a steep jump in profit and revenue for its recently ended financial year. For the year ended June 30, the company posted pretax profit of GBP143.7 million, multiplied from GBP58.7 million the year prior, reflecting revenue growth and improved pre-exceptional margins across the group, Galliford explained. Meanwhile, revenue, including from joint ventures, increased 11% year-on-year to GBP3.13 billion from GBP2.82 billion. Group revenue, excluding JVs, was up 10% to GBP2.93 billion. Before exceptional costs, pretax profit came in at GBP188.7 million, a 28% increase year-on-year from GBP147.6 million. Galliford added that it is on track to achieve its Group 2021 strategic targets with adjustments to divisional targets.----------Sports Direct International, up 3.2%. The sportswear retailer said that Chairman Keith Hellawell has decided to step down from the company with immediate effect. Hellawell will not stand for re-election at the sportswear retailer's annual general meeting - which will be held later on Wednesday - after having been on the board since 2009. Non-Executive Director David Daly will replace him in the role of chairman. "Having overseen significant improvements in the working practices and corporate governance of the company, which includes a refresh of the board, now is the right time for me to step aside," Hellawell said.----------FTSE 250 - LOSERS----------TI Fluid Systems, down 3.4% at 267.00p. JPMorgan Securities said that BC Omega Holdco sold 60 million TI Fluid shares, an 11.5% stake, to institutional investors. BC Omega, which had appointed JPMorgan Securities and Peel Hunt as lead joint bookrunners to "explore the opportunity" of selling the shares on Tuesday, sold them at 262 pence each raising proceeds of GBP157.2 million. TI Fluid will not receive any proceeds from the sale. Following completion of the sale, BC Omega holds 282.3 million shares in TI Fluid, representing a 54.4% stake. ----------Crest Nicholson Holdings, down 2.2%. Barclays downgraded the housebuilder to Equal Weight from Overweight. ----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS----------M Winkworth, up 17%. The estate agent reported revenue and profit growth in the first half of its financial year and raised its dividend. For the six months to June 30, the company posted pretax profit up to GBP596,000 from GBP540,000 a year prior. This was on the back of a 10% increase in revenue to GBP2.8 million from GBP2.5 million a year ago. Rental income accounted for 49% of the half-year period's revenue, an increase from 45% a year prior. The company upped its proposed interim dividend to 3.7 pence per share from 3.6p year-on-year. Looking ahead, Winkworth said it remains confident in its model and in the services it provides, and expects full-year results to be in line with the board's views. ----------Related Shares:
National GridCrest NicholsonCentricaGalliford TrySSEDunelmM WinkworthTI Fluid SystemsTaylor WimpeySports Direct