(Alliance News) - The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers within the main London indices on Thursday.
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FTSE 100 - WINNERS
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NMC Health, up 30%. The UAE-focused private healthcare operator proposed a share buyback after reporting interim profit and revenue growth following a "strong" performance. For the six months ended June, pretax profit widened 18% to USD140.6 million from USD118.7 million the year prior. This was after revenue rose 33% to USD1.24 billion from USD932.0 million the year before. In a separate announcement, NMC announced its intention to seek shareholder approval for a share buyback programme worth up to USD200 million in order to "take advantage of exceptional price volatility" at the firm. Earlier on Thursday, Reuters reported two groups were making competing offers to buy a 40% stake in NMC worth up to USD1.9 billion. "Half-year results show that earnings continue to grow, it is getting better at managing working capital and debt pressures are easing. But perhaps the real reason behind today's share price spike is chatter that two groups including one backed by China's Fosun, are fighting to buy a 40% stake in NMC, potentially at a premium to last night's market price," said AJ Bell's Russ Mould.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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Imperial Brands, down 2.5%, Prudential, down 2.1%, Schroders, down 1.9%. The stocks went ex-dividend meaning new buyers no longer qualify for the latest payout.
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Ocado, down 2.0%. The online grocer said its customer fulfilment centre in south-east London had experienced a small fire outside the building, which has now been extinguished. The grocery delivery firm said a "small fire" in a hopper containing waste packaging outside the building was reported at its operations in Erith. The London Fire Brigade have since put the fire out. Ocado emphasised that no part of the material handling equipment at the site was involved in the fire. In February, the company's customer fulfilment centre in Andover, England, was burned down following a fire caused by an electrical fault which resulted in one of its grocery-carrying robots going up in flames.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Premier Oil, up 5.5%. The oil and gas company said it swung to profit in the first half of 2019 after delivering double-digit uplift in output. The company said it saw "record" production in the six months to the end of June, totalling 84,100 barrels of oil equivalent a day, up 10% from 76,200 barrels of oil equivalent daily reported a year prior. As a result, Premier's sales revenue jumped to USD871.3 million from USD625.0 million the year before, helping it to swing to profit of USD112.4 million from a loss of USD24.7 million. Looking ahead, Premier maintained its 2019 production guidance of between 75,000 and 80,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day and expenditure of USD12 per barrel of oil equivalent.
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GVC Holdings, up 4.3%. The gambling company said Chief Executive Kenneth Alexander purchased GBP5 million in shares, expressing his confidence in "strong" long-term returns. Alexander acquired 833,334 shares in the FTSE 250-listed gambling company at a price of 588.17 pence each, totalling GBP4.9 million. Following this deal, which was completed on Wednesday, Alexander holds 2.5 million shares in GVC. In addition, four independent directors bought shares on the same day, while Chief Financial Officer Robert Wood acquired stock on Tuesday. Wood purchased 18,000 shares at 578p each, totalling GBP104,040. Jane Anscombe and Pierre Bouchut bought 12,000 and 9,000 shares, respectively, at a price of 588.17p each, worth GBP70,580 and GBP52,935, respectively. Peter Isola and Virginia McDowell, meanwhile, acquired 16,800 and 8,000 shares, respectively, at the same price, totalling GBP98,813 and GBP47,054, respectively.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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John Laing, down 8.5%. The infrastructure company reported a fall in first half profit amid challenges in Europe and Australia. The company said pretax profit for the six months to the end of June declined to GBP35 million from GBP175 million a year earlier due to a sharp fall in operating income to GBP76 million from GBP213 million. Net asset value stood at GBP1.60 billion, or 325 pence per share, as at June 30 versus GBP1.59 billion, or 323p, as at the end of December 2018. Portfolio value at the end of June stood at GBP1.54 billion, up 3.5% on the rebased portfolio value at the end of December 2018.
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OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - WINNERS
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Tekcapital, up 19%. The intellectual property investor posted a substantial profit increase for the first half of its financial year, resulting from a sharp increase in the fair value of its portfolio companies. The group's pretax profit for the six months to May 31 was USD4.4 million, up from only USD105,996 the year before, after a USD4.8 million net increase in the fair value of its portfolio companies pushed revenue up to USD5.4 million from USD1.3 million. Tekcapital has opted to prioritise investment in its current portfolio companies. In 2018, the company said it was looking into investing "in a new portfolio company in the cannabidiol space". While Tekcapital is still interested in this investment, the firm has decided to wait on additional progress from its exiting portfolio companies before moving forward with the deal.
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