STOCKS NEWS UK SMALL-Greene King rises after fundraising
STOCKS NEWS Reuters Results diary
Europe [STXNEWS/EU] Real-time Equity News [E] [GB/EQUITY]
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08:40GMT 24Apr2009-Greene King rises after fundraising
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Shares in Greene King (GNK.L) rise as much as 5 percent after the British pubs group says it plans to raise 207.7 million pounds through a rights issue to repurchase debt and make acquisitions.
Greene King, which has around 2,500 pubs in England and Scotland, also says trading has improved since the start of 2009 and that it expects its underlying pretax profit for the year to be not less than 115 million pounds, in line with expectations.
"The rights issue will enable Greene King to repair its balance sheet as well as taking advantage of distressed asset prices in the sector. Recent trading confirms the stronger trend in recent weeks ... and the pretax profit forecast is 5 percent above our estimate," says KBC analyst Paul Hickman.
For more, click on [ID:nLN475826]
Reuters messaging rm://rhysl.jones.reuters.com@reuters.net
08:24GMT 23Apr2009-ITV reverses gains, no rights issue yet
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Shares in ITV (ITV.L) fall 5 percent, reversing earlier gains, after the UK's main free-to-air commercial broadcaster says a new covenant-free financing and plans to dispose of digital channel operator SDN mean it does not currently need a rights issue.
ITV also announces the start of a search for a Chief Executive to replace Michael Grade, who will move to a non-executive role once a regulatory review of advertising rules is complete.
One trader says investors have been selling after the shares gained over 10 percent on Wednesday on the back of bid speculation from Italy's Mediaset (MS.MI). [ID:nLM51501]
"People were buying yesterday on bid speculation and so have sold off after there was no mention of that in this morning's statement," says Sam Wright at Spreadex.
Analysts also point to SDN being one of ITV's more successful units.
"We believe SDN is an excellent business, and view it as a hidden gem within ITV," write Numis analysts in a note.
For more please click on [ID:nLN499258]
Reuters messaging rm://victoria.bryan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net
08:05GMT 23Apr2009-UK Small Caps gain 0.1 percent early
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The FTSE Small Cap index .FTSC gains 0.1 percent in early deals, while the blue chips .FTSE are flat, and the midcaps .FTMC gain 0.8 percent.
Lavendon (LVD.L) falls by more than 8 percent, as the equipment rental company says its 2009 pretax profit will be lower than its earlier estimates due to tough trading conditions in Europe, with Altium Securities cutting its rating to "hold" from "buy".
Nautical Petroleum (NPE.L), the developer of heavy oil assets on the UK continental shelf and in Europe, rallies almost 25 percent, extending gains made Wednesday in response to changes to the North Sea oil tax regime announced in the Chancellor's Budget Speech.
Reuters Messaging rm://tricia.wright.reuters.com@reuters.net
07:55GMT 23Apr2009-Domino's Pizza falls as recent sales slow
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Shares in Domino's Pizza (DOM.L) fall as much as 6.4 percent after Britain's biggest pizza delivery chain says sales slowed in late February and March after a strong performance in January.
However, the company, which delivers to some 3 million British homes annually, says online sales were strong in its first-quarter and it plans to open 50 new stores in 2009.
Like-for-like sales for the 13 weeks to end of March were up 9.3 percent.
"This is lower than that for the first six weeks, which was up 15 percent on a like-for-like basis, reflecting bad weather in February. It implies only 4.4 percent (growth) for the most recent seven weeks, which also includes Easter," says KBC analyst Paul Hickman.
For more, click on [ID:nLN061615]
Reuters messaging rm://rhysl.jones.reuters.com@reuters.net
07:52GMT 23Apr2009-Rank hit by increase to bingo duty
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Shares in Rank Group (RNK.L) slump by as much as 14 percent after the bingo hall and casino operator warns a hike in bingo tax announced in Wednesday's Budget would result in a 6 million pounds hit to profits in its current year and a 9 million pounds impact on an annualised basis going forward.
Plans to increase bingo duty to 22 percent from 15 percent overshadowed what analysts described as a solid trading update with group revenue for the first 16 weeks of Rank's financial year in line with the same period last year.
Investec downgrades its 2009 pretax profit forecast to 34 million pounds from 40.3 million previously and cuts its 2010 forecast to 32.5 million pounds from 41.5 million.
"The Budget highlights how exposed the gaming sector is to regulation and tax, especially at a time when a cash-strapped government needs to raise revenue," said Investec analyst Matthew Gerard.
To see Ranks's statement please click on [ID:nRnsV0094R]
Reuters messaging rm://matthew.scuffham.reuters.com@reuters.net
07:38 GMT-Lavendon falls after update
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Shares in Lavendon (LVD.L) fall 7.5 percent, making it the biggest faller on the FTSE Small Cap index .FTSC, as the equipment rental company says 2009 pretax profit will be lower than its earlier estimates due to tough trading conditions in Europe.
Altium Securities cuts its recommendation to "hold" from "buy", and lowers its EPS forecast for 2009 to 27.5 pence from 51.1 pence, and for 2010, to 26.6 pence from 52.8 pence.
For more double click on [ID:nBNG338949]
Reuters Messaging rm://tricia.wright.reuters.com@reuters.net
07:19GMT 23Apr2009-Debenhams leaps; H1 profit tops forecast
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Debenhams (DEB.L) shares leap 23 percent to 78 pence after Britain's second-biggest department store beats first-half profit forecasts and says trading has improved in the first few weeks of its second half.
"In context with the backdrop during the period, Debenhams results today stand out against the sector," says Singer analyst Matthew McEachran.
"Rippling through the 10 million pounds that they have beaten our H1 forecasts by, coupled with scope for cautious H2 forecasts to be exceeded, leads us to believe that full year forecasts could be upgraded by as much as another 10-15 percent today."
"On the back of these results we expect consensus August 2009 headline pretax profit to rise about 20 percent to 115 million pounds," Citi analysts say.
For more double click on [ID:nLM958433] [ID:nWLA2385]
