Risers:
Porvair, up 5.7%
The filtration and environmental technology group reports pre-tax profit in the nine months ended Aug. 31 was ahead of management expectations, adding that the full year is also expected to be ahead. They reported revenue up 13% in the last nine months.
Debenhams, up 2.3%
Debenhams have announced they have remained on track in the past 10 weeks which has helped contribute to like for like sales growth of 2 percent. They believe this will deliver profits that are in line with expectations. Online sales have grown by 46 percent over the last year as mobile growth climbed by 72 percent according to its trading statement released today.
Go-Ahead up 2.5%, Stagecoach Group, up 2%
JPMorgan Cazenove upgrades Go-Ahead Group to overweight from neutral and raises its price target to 1800p from 1430p. Says it’s the only name that has almost exclusive exposure to the U.K. market. “Furthermore, current valuation appears to discount only about 60% of targeted incremental EBIT gains,” says JPMorgan. Upgrades Stagecoach to overweight from neutral and raises its price target to 365p from 324p, noting it has best-in-class margins.
Kenmin Resources, up 14%
The molybdenum and tungsten exploration and development company have announced with immediate effect, the appointment of Kanat Assaubayev as its new Chairman. Shares welcome the news, trading over 10 percent higher.
Fallers
Lloyds, down 2.2%
The government has sold a 6 percent stake in Lloyds banking group at a price of 75p, raising £3.2 billion. The sale cuts the government’s stake in Lloyds from 38.7 percent o 32.7 percent. The shares which were offered to intuitional investors have now been sold. We are believed the next sale of Lloyds shares is expected to include an element aimed at retail investors but this won’t happen for another 90 days.
Investec, down 6%
The banking and asset management group have reported full-year results of its global Specialist Banking business are expected to fall behind last year’s level, while the Asset Management and Wealth and Investment businesses are expected to record results ahead of last year’s on the back of net inflows.
Evraz, down 4%
Barclays downgrades Evraz to underweight from equalweight and cuts its price target to 122p from 204p. Says, “our key concern about Evraz is its ability to deliver sustainable deleveraging: even in a relatively successful 1H 2013 the company kept burning cash and we do not see it improving materially in 2H 2013.” They also announced that the recently mentioned rights issue could create a substantial share overhang. Adds uncertainty around the Russian domestic long steel supply-demand balance and potential weakness of iron ore prices are also a concern.
Imagination Technologies, down 2.8%
The multimedia, communications and processor technology company, in an interim statement have announced they will maintain its guidance of unit shipments in excess of 650 million for fiscal 2014 based on existing and new product shipments. The momentum in the business has continued and there have been a number of important developments during the period. Royalty revenue growth for the latest quarter has continued to be strong, in line with our expectations. The unit volume growth has been significant, driven by volume ramp-up and new product launches from a number of our customers.
UKrproduct Group, down 20%
The Ukrainian producer and distributor of dairy foods and beverages, have posted a 84% drop in first half pre-tax profit, partly due to higher raw material costs, and said that full year aggregate profit is expected to be below 2012. Pre-tax profit for the six months ended June 30 amounted to £145,000, compared with pre-tax profit of £892,000 in the year ago period