Kier Share News (KIE)

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Tuesday.----------FTSE 100 - WINNERS----------Rightmove, up 2.9%. Deutsche Bank raised the property portal to Buy from Hold. ----------BT Group, up 1.6%. Goldman Sachs upgraded the telecommunications company to Buy from Neutral. ----------Sage Group, up 1.0%. The accounting software provider has appointed Non-Executive Director Jonathan Howell as chief financial officer, starting on Monday next week. Sage said that Howell will cease to be a non-executive director on commencement of his executive role. Howell has been on Sage board since 2013. Howell most recently was finance director for merchant bank Close Brothers Group for 10 years. He formerly was CFO of London Stock Exchange Group. Donald Brydon is chairman of both Sage and LSE. Howell replaces Steve Hare, who was promoted to chief executive officer back in November.----------FTSE 100 - LOSERS----------BAE Systems, 4.4%. Merill Lynch downgraded the defence contractor to Neutral from Buy late Tuesday.----------Ferguson, down 3.5%. The plumbing and heating products supplier reported a weaker performance in the UK, taking the gloss off a strong showing in the US. Ferguson reported revenue for the three months to the end of October of USD5.55 billion, up 9.0% from USD5.12 billion the year before, with organic growth of 6.7%. At constant exchange rates, US revenue rose by 12%, while Canada revenue increased by 8.9%; however UK revenue fell by 9.5%. US trading profit saw a double-digit rise, up 10%, as did Canada, increasing by 25%; however trading profit in the UK declined by 7.8%. The UK lagged as a result of weak repair, maintenance and improvement markets, as well as closed branches and the exit of low-margin businesses, Ferguson explained. "The stock sold-off heavily in October when firm confirmed that trading in the UK remained 'tough' and the UK division continues to be restructured. There are signs the US housing market is cooling, and is likely to hang over the stock," said David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets.----------FTSE 250 - WINNERS----------Go-Ahead Group, up 2.1%. The transport operator said it reached an agreement with the UK Department for Transport regarding contractual matters in relation to the Govia Thameslink Railway franchise. GTR is a joint venture between public transport firm Keolis, which holds 35% stake, and Go-Ahead, holding the reminder. The company said the deal resolves matters relating to the industry-wide failures concerning the introduction of the May timetable. GTR has provided GBP15 million of funding this year for passenger enhancements. However, the Department of Transport said Tuesday it will oblige GTR to contribute a further GBP15 million towards tangible improvements for passengers. The agreement reduces uncertainty around the future of the GTR franchise and its financial performance, Go-Ahead said. ----------Victrex, up 1.0%. The speciality chemicals company declared a special dividend, along with a final ordinary payout, after posting a rise in annual profit on the back of broad-based volume growth within all its geographic markets. Victrex declared a 82.68 pence per share special divided and a final dividend of 59.56p, giving a total payout for the 2018 financial year of 142.24p, up 17% from 121.80p in total paid a year ago. Pretax profit for the financial year that ended in September was GBP127.5 million, up from GBP111.0 million the year before, on revenue of GBP326.0 million and GBP290.2 million, respectively. Sales volume increased 10% to 4,407 tonnes from 3,992 tonnes the year before. Margins improved to 63.8% from 63.3%.----------FTSE 250 - LOSERS----------Kier Group, down 11%. The construction company was downgraded to Hold from Buy by Canaccord Genuity.----------Capita, down 4.5%. Goldman Sachs resumed coverage on the outsourcer with a Neutral rating. ----------IG Group, down 4.0%. The online spreadbetting firm said its revenue in the half year ended November 30 is expected to be lower than last year after regulatory measures took effect. IG said it expects to report revenue about 6% lower than the first half a year ago. In the six months to the end of November 2017, IG posted record interim revenue of GBP268.4 million, suggesting revenue in the recent year was about GBP252 million. IG said EU financial regulator the European Securities & Markets Authority put in place the prohibition on offering binary options to retail clients at the start of July with restrictions to the provision of contracts for difference to retail clients effective from the start of August. As a result, the company's revenue in the four months since all measures were put into effect is estimated to be about 10% lower than in the same period last year.----------OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS----------Argo Blockchain, up 11%. The cryptocurrency mining services provider said it expected to see a hike in its annualised revenue run-rate for to the period to date since its listing of the London Stock Exchange in August. The total number of sold packages more than doubled to 10,325 from 4,200 as at October 1, due to the sellout of a new batch of mining packages once released to the market, beating its target of packages ahead of schedule, initially targeted for January 2019. As a result, Argo has estimated its annualised revenue run-rate for 2018 to reach USD6.2 million, up significantly from USD260,000 as at its listing. As at the end of November, net cash amounted to GBP15 million.----------