GFS.L Share News (GFS)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Wednesday.----------FTSE 100 - WINNERS----------easyJet, up 1.9%. The airline was extending Tuesday's gains after backing its annual guidance and posting a 14% rise in first quarter revenue to GBP1.30 billion.----------FTSE 100 - LOSERS----------Ferguson, down 2.2%. Exane BNP cut its rating on the plumbing firm to Underperform from Neutral.----------Burberry, down 0.9%. The fashion house reported a slight dip in its third quarter retail revenue, as it prepares to launch its new collection under the direction of recently installed Chief Creative Officer Riccardo Tisci next month. For the three months to the end of December, including the key Black Friday and Christmas periods, the upmarket fashion retailer suffered a 1.0% decline in total retail revenue to GBP711 million from GBP719 million a year ago. Comparable sales stores were up 1% in the period with "consistent performance across regions", the retailer added. Asia Pacific sales were aided by a good performance in China, which reported sales growth by mid-single digits.----------FTSE 250 - WINNERS----------RPC Group, up 4.6% at 767.40 pence. The plastic products maker was higher after agreeing to be taken over in a deal worth GBP3.3 billion. Under the terms of the agreement, RPC shareholders will receive 782.00 pence in cash per share from Apollo Management IX. They also will be entitled to the previously declared 8.1p dividend to be paid on Friday. The offer price, together with the dividend, represents a 16% premium to RPC's closing price on September 7, the date before the first approach fro the company's takeover was made. The deadline for the takeover offer, which was lastly set for Wednesday, has been extended five times before the proposal was agreed by the two companies. RPC directors unanimously recommended shareholders to accept the terms of the offer which they consider to be "fair and reasonable". ----------Computacenter, up 4.1%. The IT infrastructure services provider said it "materially performed" its annual expectations, achieving "record revenue and profitability". For 2018, the company expects revenue to rise 8% on the prior year, excluding acquisitions made during the year. At constant currency revenue is expected to rise 7%. Pretax profit for the recently ended financial year is seen "marginally ahead" of the company's expectations. For 2017, the FTSE 250-listed firm posted revenue of GBP3.79 billion and pretax profit of GBP111.7 million. Looking ahead at 2019, Computacenter said it expects further financial progress driven by "customers' appetite to invest in digital technology to enhance their business". ----------FTSE 250 - LOSERS----------Metro Bank, down 29%. The challenger bank said trading in the fourth quarter followed the trends it experienced in the firth three quarters, with loans and deposits seeing a sharp rise. However, its underlying pretax profit for 2018 of GBP50 million, though more than double the GBP21 million achieved last year, came in below consensus forecasts of GBP59 million. Metro ended 2018 with loans of GBP14.2 billion compared to GBP9.6 billion at the end of 2017, a 48% increase. The bank's customer loans increased GBP1.1 billion in the fourth quarter. The challenger bank's deposits increased 34% in 2018 to GBP15.7 billion from GBP11.7 billion. Metro Bank's deposit growth per store per month however slowed to GBP5.9 million from GBP6.3 million.----------Sanne Group, down 13%. The alternative asset and corporate services provider said Chief Executive Dean Godwin has decided to retire from the firm after seven years at its head. Martin Schnaier, previously chief commercial officer, will succeed Godwin as CEO in May. Updating on trading, Sanne said it achieved "record new business with sales wins representing GBP13.0 million of additional annualised revenue". The company expects to report underlying profit before tax for the year to 2018 broadly in line with its expectations. So far in 2019, Sanne is pleased with initial performance and it remains confident in the group's prospects. ----------G4S, down 4.5%. The security services provider has agreed to settle a class action against the firm in California. The action, covering around 13,500 employees' meal and rest breaks between 2001 and 2010, is the third such G4S has faced in recent years in California. It will pay between USD100 million and USD130 million, with a precise amount to be finalised during the settlement administration process. "The company estimates that financial settlement will occur in the second half of 2019. The appropriate provision for the cost of the settlement will be recognised as a specific item in the 2018 full year results," G4S said in a statement.----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS----------EVR Holdings, up 13%. The virtual reality content creator said its subsidiary MelodyVR has signed an addendum to its distribution agreement with Oculus VR, a part of Facebook Technologies. EVR will release a new version of the MelodyVR music platform, with updated features and functionality, for use on a forthcoming Oculus device. Following the launch, the product may also be made available on other platforms. EVR Holdings said it will receive a financial contribution to offset MelodyVR's production and development costs as part of the agreement. ----------Clearstar, up 11%. The background screening software company said it expects to report its highest ever annual revenue in 2018, while also announcing its chief financial officer has decided to step down. The company's financial controller, Jennifer Balleza, has been appointed interim CFO. The firm expects revenue of USD20.1 million for 2018, a 13% increase on the USD17.8 million recorded the year before. ClearStar said its revenue in the second half was 15% higher than the USD9.9 million revenue reported in the first half. ClearStar recorded an adjusted Ebitda loss in 2017, which it now expects to swing to a profit.----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS----------Scancell Holdings, down 15%. The company, which develops immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer, said its Project Blueprint proposal was not selected for the Cancer Research UK Grand Challenge grant. Scancell's Project Blueprint - which was submitted with BioNTech, Genentech and ISA Pharmaceuticals - wanted to investigate the potential of cancer vaccines based on treatment with Modi-3, a Scancell product developed from its Moditope platform. The proposal would also look into vaccines targeting "new mutations within individual patient tumours, for the treatment of virtually all cancers". ----------