(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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Ocado Group, up 1.1% at 2,415.00 pence. Morgan Stanley hiked its price target on the online grocer to 1,770p from 1,320p.
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InterContinental Hotels Group, up 1.0%. Shares in the Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn hotel chain owner were higher after French newspaper Le Figaro reported Sofitel hotel owner Accor was exploring options for a merger. A potential tie-up would topple US chain Marriott International from its position as the world's largest hotel operator.
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FTSE 100 - LOSERS
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M&G, down 6.0%. Deutsche Bank downgraded the investment manager to Hold from Buy.
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Standard Life Aberdeen, down 5.1%, Evraz, down 4.9%, Mondi down 4.5%. The stocks went ex-dividend, meaning new buyers no longer qualify for the latest payout.
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Antofagasta, down 4.5%. The Chilean copper miner slashed its interim dividend by 42%, as first-half earnings took a hit from a drop in copper prices as a result of the coronavirus crisis. Antofagasta also warned that 2020 copper output will be at the lower end of its original 725,000 to 755,000 tonnes range, and only if no Covid-19 related shutdowns occur during the rest of the year. For the half-year ended June 30, revenue fell 15% to USD2.14 billion from USD2.53 billion last year as a result of lower realised copper prices and sales volumes, partially offset by the increase in the realised gold price. First-half pretax profit fell by 49% to USD387.5 million from USD763 million. Antofagasta declared an interim dividend of 6.2 cents, down 42% from 10.7 cents paid out last year.
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FTSE 250 - WINNERS
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Frasers Group, up 15%. The retail group said it was seeing signs of normality returning to the high street but warned that further lockdowns were a threat. The retailer saw pretax profit for the financial year ended April 26 fall 20% to GBP143.5 million from GBP179.2 million a year prior. Revenue rose 6.9% to GBP3.96 billion from GBP3.70 billion year on year. This increase was driven by premium lifestyle sales, which increased by 35% to GBP722.0 million from GBP535.4 million a year prior, as well as by European retail, which increased by 16% to GBP697.7 million, from GBP599.8 million year on year. Mike Ashley's company also plans to invest "in excess" of GBP100 million on upgrading its digital platforms and pushing its designer label business Flannels. "This strategy is likely to improve gross margins as it shifts towards the sale of higher-priced products, as well as opening new flagship stores and taking existing stores upmarket in order to make them more appealing to third party brands, notably Nike and Adidas," said AJ Bell's Russ Mould.
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AO world, up 6.0%. The online electrical goods retailer said that the structural shift to online shopping has resulted in a continued strong trading momentum and a sharp jump in revenue growth. AO said that its UK revenue in the four months to July 31 grew 59% year-on-year to GBP401.3 million and and its German revenue by 92% to EUR74.3 million. "The demand for AO's products and services has been sustained since competitor stores started to re-open at the beginning of July. This reaffirms our belief that this is a structural shift in demand where customers have found a better way to shop the electricals category," the Bolton, England-based company said.
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FTSE 250 - LOSERS
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John Laing, down 6.5%. The infrastructure projects investor said its net asset value fell in the first half of 2020, with its Renewable Energy portfolio suffering amid lower power price forecasts. The company said its net asset value per share as at June 30 was 309 pence, down 4.9% from 325p a year before and an 8.3% drop from 337p at the end of December. While the firm's Public-Private Partnership portfolio made a 3% positive contribution to NAV growth, its Renewable Energy portfolio made a 7% negative NAV contribution, including a hit from falling power price forecasts and changes to macro-economic assumptions. The company declared a 1.88p per share dividend for the interim period, up 2.2% from 1.84p a year before. John Laing noted that a strategic review is underway, aimed at ensuring the company can capitalise on net investment opportunities and cultivate a "healthy future pipeline".
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OTHER MAIN MARKET AND AIM - LOSERS
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Premier Oil, down 17%. The oil and gas company said it took a knock in the first half of 2020 due to a double set of challenges, as it agreed to refinance its debt facilities and plans to raise more equity. Premier Oil swung to a pretax loss in the half-year ended June 30 of USD671.5 million from a profit of USD120.6 million a year prior. Sales revenue fell 39% to USD530.6 million from USD871.3 million year-on-year. Production was 67,300 barrels of oil equivalent per day, down 20% from 84,100 barrels of oil equivalent per day a year prior. This was however in line with the company's 2020 guidance. The company plans to raise a further USD300 million in equity, in addition to the USD230 million it already announced to fund the proposed BP acquisitions as previously disclosed. Premier Oil's debt refinancing is conditional on at least a USD325 million take-up of the equity raise.
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By Arvind Bhunjun; arvindbhunjun@alliancenews.com
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