18th Feb 2019 10:43
LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Monday.----------FTSE 100 - WINNERS----------Reckitt Benckiser Group said its profit increased in 2018 as a result of receiving a full-year contribution from its infant formula & child nutrition acquisition in the US. Reckitt posted a pretax profit of GBP2.72 billion for 2018, up 8.8% from GBP2.50 billion in 2017, having acquired US baby formula maker Mead Johnson Nutrition in June 2017. This made it the first full year of contribution from Mead Johnson, taking infant formula & child nutrition revenue to GBP2.84 billion from GBP1.56 billion. This was in line with company-compiled market consensus. Group revenue totalled GBP12.60 billion, a 10% rise from GBP11.45 billion the year before and in line with consensus of GBP12.59 billion. Reckitt declared a final dividend of 100.2 pence per share, up 2.6% from 97.7p the year before. This bought its total dividends paid for the year to 170.7p from 164.3p, an increase of 3.9%.----------FTSE 100 - LOSERS----------Centrica, down 0.6%. Berenberg cut the British Gas parent to Hold from Buy. ----------FTSE 250 - WINNERS----------JD Sports Fashion, up 2.3%. The sportswear retailer said has it acquired an 8.3% interest in footwear retailer Footasylum for "investment purposes". The retailer, which bought 8.7 million shares in Footasylum, added that it is prepared to acquire up to an aggregate interest of 29.9% in the company. JD, however, said it does not intend to make an offer for Footasylum. Footasylum was set up by the founders of JD Sports and listed on AIM in 2017. Footasylum shares were up 59%. ----------FTSE 250 - LOSERS----------Plus500, down 2.3% at 900.50p. Canaccord slashed its price target on the contract-for-difference provider to 546p from 1,052p and reiterated its Sell rating on the stock. Last week, Plus500 warned its 2019 earnings would take a hit from tighter European regulations. The stock is down 45% over the past week.----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS----------Realm Therapeutics, up 13%. The biopharmaceutical company said it has agreed to sell a number of significant assets for USD10 million to Urgo US and intends to delist from London's AIM market. Realm will sell certain assets comprising its Vashe wound care royalty stream, as well as as an anti-itch gel which was formerly marketed at Aurstat. Also, included in the sale are Realm's hypochlorous acid related equipment, programme records, intellectual property, and assigned contracts and intellectual property licences. Once it has disposed of its assets, Realm will become an AIM Rule 15 cash shell. However, Realm is seeking shareholder permission to delist from AIM as soon as the disposal is complete. Realm said it is in discussions with interested parties, including those considering making an offer for the business.----------Croma Securities, up 12%. The security services group said it expects to report profit and revenue for the first half of its financial year ahead of company expectations. During the six months to the end of December, Croma's two divisions benefited from a high level of demand from the public and private sectors in the UK. As a result, Croma said expects group earnings before interest, taxes, deprecation and amortisation at no less than the GBP1.2 million in interim Ebitda reported for the same period a year before. Looking ahead, Croma said it plans to further develop its position in the UK security market as demand increases. To capitalise on this, the company will look to develop a national chain of new security centres, which will provide a full range of security solutions.----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS----------Motif Bio, down 42%. The antibiotics-focused biopharmaceutical company said its subsidiary, Motif Biosciences signed an amendment agreement with lender Hercules Capital Inc over a loan agreement in November 2017. The new agreement requires Motif Biosciences to repay some of the loan and means Motif Bio will need to raise equity. Under the amendment, Motif Biosciences will immediately repay USD7 million, and make a further repayment of USD500,000 within 90 days. Motif Bio said it had agreed to the amendment to avoid any action by Hercules based on any position the lender may take that the company is in default. Following the repayment, Motif Bio itself will have USD3 million in cash and USD7.7 million of debt drawn from the Hercules loan facility. The company said it will now need to manage its funds "aggressively" and raise capital in the near term.----------