(Correcting Nektan net gaming revenue to comparison with first half.)
LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Friday.
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FTSE 100 - WINNERS
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Fresnillo, up 3.7%, Randgold Resources, up 2.7%. The gold miners were tracking a higher spot gold price. Gold was trading at USD1,333.92 per ounce, up from USD1,318.96 late Thursday in London.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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BHP Billiton, down 1.8%. The miner said Brazilian courts have been told to suspend their decision on whether to ratify the framework agreement that will start to rectify the aftermath of the Samarco dam failure that occurred last year. BHP, alongside its partner Vale, had the framework agreement approved by courts in early May, but said Friday that the Superior Court of Justice in Brazil has now issued an interim order suspending the decision of the Federal Court of Appeal to ratify the agreement. BHP said the effect of the interim order from the Superior Court of Justice is to reinstate a BRL20.00 billion public civil claim made by Brazilian authorities against Samarco, the joint venture company that operates the project, and its 50:50 owners BHP and Vale.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Genus, up 4.6%. The animal genetics company was upgraded to Buy from Hold by Liberum, which argued that while the UK's vote to leave the European Union has hit the company's shares, Genus's business should be "fairly immune" to the challenges. Liberum said only 10% of Genus sales come from the UK and a weaker pound should drive at least at 7.0% translation benefit to profit. In addition, current trading at the company looks solid, with robust hog markets in the US and China offsetting weaker conditions in Latin America and dairy markets.
Dignity, up 4.4%. Berenberg upgraded the funeral services provider to Buy from Hold, saying the "fundamental story" of the company's investment case is not changed by the EU vote. "Despite last week's referendum heralding a period of uncertainty in the UK economy, we believe the fundamental story at Dignity remains unchanged," said Berenberg analyst Sam England. "With strong pricing power, steady, non-cyclical demand and high margins, we believe the business offers investors steadily growing profits with scope for cash returns." The analyst said that while Dignity is "100% exposed to the UK, its end-markets are not cyclical and it imports very little".
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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Stagecoach Group, down 9.3%. The transport operator was downgraded to Underweight from Neutral by JPMorgan Cazenove, which also cut its price target on the stock to 180 pence from 256p. Stagecoach was trading at 208.2p Friday. On Wednesday, Stagecoach reported a decline in annual pretax profit due to higher finance charges and weaker margins, which offset revenue growth, and it announced the sale of the retail operations of its Megabus Europe coach business.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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Eco Animal Health Group, up 9.2%. The animal pharmaceutical products company said its pretax profit and revenue both grew in the year to the end of March, prompting it to hike its dividend by a fifth. Eco Animal Health said pretax profit for the year to March 31 grew 51% to GBP7.7 million from GBP5.1 million for the comparable period a year earlier, helped by a 21% rise in sales to GBP47.1 million from GBP17.5 million. The company said it will pay a second interim dividend of 3.80 pence, up from 3.0p the year before, taking its total payout up to 5.7p from 4.75p, a 20% rise. Executive Chairman Peter Lawrence said the new financial year has started well for the company and added the weakness in sterling since the UK voted to leave the EU could prove beneficial, as most of Eco Animal Health's costs are denominated in dollars, Chinese yuan and or euros.
EnQuest, up 5.6%. The oil and gas producer said the implementation of its 2016 drilling programme in the Central North Sea has been "excellent". It said drilling of the Scolty/Crathes development wells was completed ahead of schedule and under budget, with the Scolty reservoir on prognosis while the Crathes reservoir exceeded expectations, with a small reserves upgrade. EnQuest added that assessment of results at the Eagle exploration well is underway, with preliminary analysts indicating that the Fulmar oil bearing reservoir was encountered with a vertical thickness of 67 feet and excellent reservoir properties.
Trinity Mirror, up 4.6%. The newspaper publisher said it anticipates interim results will meet its expectations and said strong cash generation in the first half should bring net debt down further. Trinity, which owns the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror titles, said revenue in the 27 weeks to July 3 was down 8.0% on a like-for-like basis. Revenue declined 9.0% in the first quarter but this eased to 7.0% in the second quarter. Trinity said publishing revenue was down 8.0% in the first half, with print revenue down 10% and digital revenue rising 14%. Publishing print advertising revenue fell 17% and circulation revenue was down 5.0%.
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MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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Nektan, down 21%. The mobile gaming company said it anticipates revenue for 2016 will be at or around market expectations, but its loss before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation will marginally miss market forecasts. Nektan said it expects to achieve good growth in revenue in the second half of its financial year on the first half. In the half to the end of June, net gaming revenue grew to GBP4.2 million from GBP1.6 million in the first half.
SpaceandPeople, down 14%. The retail, promotional and brand experience specialist said its core operations have been trading in line but it will shut down its S&P+ unit after tough recent trading and amid a weak outlook. S&P+, which operates in a niche sector beyond the company's core retail and promotion businesses, has had medium-term prospects curtailed by delays and cancellations by clients. As a result, SpaceandPeople said it doesn't consider it "prudent" to continue funding the venture and will instead wind it down. Beyond the S&P+ business, SpaceandPeople said its core retail and promotional operations in the UK and Germany have been trading in line, boosted by new contracts and a strong pipeline of pop-up events in the UK.
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By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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