Risers:
BskyB +2.02%
British Sky Broadcasting has today reported a 7.6% increase in year-on-year revenue to £3.75bn. The group also reported a net profit for the six months to 31 Dec of £411m, a drop from £487m a year earlier. Chief Executive Jeremy Darroch has commented on trading throughout Q2 saying: “Customer demand in the second quarter was strong across the board with good growth in all products,”
Kazakhmys +3.46%
Kazakhmys shares are up today after reporting its copper output increased by 0.6% throughout last year. The copper mining company reported full year production of 294,000 metric tons, meeting the top end of guidance which was between 285,000 – 295,000 tons.
Billington Holdings +20.47%
Billington Holdings shares are up over 20% during early morning trading on Thursday after revealing full year performance will be above market expectations.
Safestore Holdings +5.09%
Safestore Holdings has today reported a swing to pretax profit to £48.6m in comparison to a loss of £19.5m a year earlier. The company also revealed plans to place around 18.6m shares which will be used to cut debt. Full year revenue was reported down 2.7% at £96.1m.
Mitchells & Butlers +2.37
Trading throughout Christmas was strong for pub group Mitchel & Butlers, reporting a 2.6% increase in comparable sales and a 1.3% increase in food volumes for the three weeks to 4 Jan 2014. The group sold 193,000 meals on Christmas Day, growth of 7.5%.
Fallers:
Diageo -4.69%
Diageo has reported mixed news this morning resulting in them falling over 5% and leading the FTSE 100 fallers during early morning trading. Sales fell by 10% in the Asia Pacific region due to anti-corruption measures that has been brought in by the Chinese government. The company has however reported half-year net profit of £1.6bn in comparison to last years reported figure of £1.52bn. The company has said the increase in net profit has been directly affected by trading in North America where there has been a strong demand in premium spirits.
SuperGroup -1.97%
Clothing brand SuperGroup has today announced that they have appointed Hans Schmitt to the board which will take effect from May 1. Mr Schmitt is currently the Managing Director of International and Wholesale.
Lomin PLC -1.83%
Platinum producer Lomin PLC has today revealed it will review its full year sales guidance due to a strike in South Africa. The company has however reported a 45% increase in platinum production during the last three months of 2013 to 196,249 troy ounces. Lomin has confirmed the following: “Due to the ongoing strike we will reassess our guidance and update the market in due course”.