STOCKS NEWS UK SMALL-Devro gains on update; Investec ups target
STOCKS NEWS Reuters Results diary
Europe [STXNEWS/EU] Real-time Equity News [E] [GB/EQUITY]
UK [STXNEWS/UK] Stocks on the move [HOT-RTRS]
UK smallcaps [STX/UKSC]
15.44GMT 17Nov2008-Devro gains on update; Investec ups target
-------------------------------------------------------------
Shares in Devro (DVO.L) gain as much as 5.9 percent after the sausage skin maker's third quarter interim management statement (IMS) pleases, with house broker Investec raising its target price to 85 pence from 74.
Investec says Devro's Q3 IMS reads positively, with the group's board stating that it is confident full year performance will meet its expectations.
The broker says Devro's sales generally continue to show good growth and the firm is still showing a positive trend in pricing versus last year, while costs are in line with the broker's expectations.
Investec says it is leaving its full year forecasts for Devro unchanged after the trading update, but has increased its target price in line with a general improvement in sector ratings. The broker has a "buy" rating on the shares.
Reuters Messaging:jon.hopkins.reuters.com@reuters.net
14:00GMT 17Nov2008-Carphone falls on outlook, demerger worries
--------------------------------------------------------------
Shares in Carphone Warehouse (CPW.L) fall over 10 percent to as low as 127.25 pence on worries of a gloomy outlook statement from Europe's biggest independent mobile phone retailer at its interim results on Tuesday and concerns that any demerger of its telecoms business might be a long time in coming.
"With all the best will, you can't see how the company would be bucking the trend in terms of retail and then (mobile handset maker) Nokia had a profit warning last week," said Daniel Stewart analyst Mike Jeremy.
He also pointed to newspaper reports which say Carphone will announce plans to separate its telecoms business from its retail joint venture with U.S. electricals group Best Buy (BBY.N), but that the demerger might not occur for some time because of turbulent market conditions.
Carphone has declined to comment on the possible demerger.
Reuters Messaging: rm://mark.potter.reuters.com@reuters.net
12:41GMT 17Nov2008-Bid talk helps Taylor Wimpey buck market weakness
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Shares in Taylor Wimpey (TW.L), the UK's largest housebuilder, rise as much as 13 percent after The Observer newspaper on Sunday reported the company was being circled by potential private equity bidders. [ID:nLG340628]
"The share price has gone up because ... there has been a rumour of a private equity bid for the company," says an analyst.
The speculation helps it outperform building supply peers Wolseley (WOS.L) and Travis Perkins (TPK.L), down 7.3 percent and 6.3 percent respectively, drawn lower by Irish building materials group Kingspan (KSP.I), which earlier predicted a 33 percent drop in full-year operating profits. [ID:nLH490426]
"The Kingspan statement this morning hasn't been helpful to the builders merchants," says MF Global analyst Andrew Gardner.
Reuters messaging rm://ben.deighton.com@reuters.net
12:33GMT 17Nov2008-FTSE Small Cap Index down 0.6 pct midday
------------------------------------------------------------
The FTSE Small Cap Index .FTSC falls 0.6 percent in mid-session trade, tracking the trend of the wider UK markets, with the FTSE 100 Index .FTSE down 2.0 percent and FTSE 250 index .FTMC off 1.6 percent.
Avis Europe (AVE.L) plunges 23.1 percent after warning the used car market and the economic environment are weaker than it expected and that underlying pretax profit for the year will be slightly below last year outcome.
Melorio (MLO.L) jumps 14.7 percent as it says it conditionally agees to buy IT training companies Zeno Ltd and Zenos Learning, which broker Singer believes will be just over 10 percent accretive to full year 2010 EPS estimates.
Reuters Messaging rm://david.brett.reuters.com@reuters.net
12:32GMT 17Nov2008-UTV up as Organo further raises stake
--------------------------------------------------------
Shares in Northern Irish broadcaster UTV Media Plc (UTV.L) (UTV.I) extend recent gains on further stakebuilding by second-largest investor Organo Investments, headed by Racing Post owners Peter Crawley and Neill Hughes. Organo bought 1.8 million shares on Friday, taking its stake to 11.4 percent.
That narrows the gap with the leading shareholder, Irish investment holding company TVC Holdings Plc (TVCH.I), which raised its holding to 15 percent last week. UTV, which operates the franchise of Britain's ITV (ITV.L) in Northern Ireland, is up 14 percent at 96 pence at 1206 GMT.
For more, click on [UTV.L]
Reuters messaging rm://paul.sandle.reuters.com@reuters.net
11:42GMT 17Nov2008-Diploma jumps on positive results
----------------------------------------------------
Shares in Diploma (DPLM.L) surge 14 percent after reporting its full-year results to Sept 30, 2008, which sees pretax profit climb 18 percent and a 38 percent hike in its total dividend, with Altium Securities repeating its "buy" 12-month core and 6-month trading recommendations.
Altium says the results, which beat its estimates across the board, apart from the dividend which was inline, are underpinned by the contribution form last year's acquisitions and the benefit of a weaker sterling.
The broker currently maintains its estimates, in spite of the better than anticipated results, due to the challenging macro economic conditions, but says it expects the company to use its cash position to fund further acquisitions in the current year.
For more double click on [ID:nBNG393468]
Reuters Messaging rm://david.brett.reuters.com@reuters.net
