STOCKS NEWS UK-Uniq jumps as company closes in on French sale
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11:19GMT 24Jun2009-Uniq jumps as company closes in on French sale
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Shares in Uniq (UNUNI.L) rise as much as 24 percent on reports it is close to finalising a deal to sell its French frozen and chilled foods business, Marie.
A source familiar with the matter tells Reuters an announcement of the sale is likely as early as this week but plays down a report in France's Les Echos newspaper which says it could fetch as much as 90 million euros. [ID:nWLA7372]
"I can't imagine it would be a bad thing given the problems they've had in France," one analyst says of the reported sale.
"It (France) never worked. They never achieved what they planned which was to build a pan-European chilled foods business. They didn't have the scale or depth of management to pull it off," says the analyst who asks not to be named.
Reuters messaging rm://matthew.scuffham.reuters.com@reuters.net
10:57GMT 24Jun2009-Premier Oil up on well results
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Shares in Premier Oil (PMO.L) climb 2.5 percent after announcing that the offshore Vietnam, Ca Rong Do discovery well, has tested at 3,265 bopd and 8.1 million standard cubic feet of gas per day, which RBS says "provides encouragement for further activity."
Premier says it plans to conduct a 3D survey to define the resource potential of the well and adjacent structures.
RBS expects to increase its NAV estimate by 15 pence to 20 pence for Ca Rong Do in isolation, and bring in around 15 pence to 20 pence of risked value for further drilling in 2010.
"At the very least, this is an encouraging start to the meat of the 2009 exploration campaign, and the company remains one of our top picks in the E&P space."
Reuters Messaging rm://david.brett.reuters.com@reuters.net
10:32GMT 24Jun2009-Domino Printing downgraded post results
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Shares in Domino Printing Sciences (DOPR.L) fall 4.6 percent, the top faller on the FTSE 250 .FTMC, after Seymour Pierce cuts its forecasts for 2009 and 2010 and reduces its recommendation to 'sell' from 'hold' following the company's results on Tuesday.
"Despite initially having some faith in the first half results we have revised our estimates for FY09 earnings by over 20 percent from a figure that was in line with guidance as we understood it at the last trading update in March," Seymour Pierce analyst Ian Robertson says.
"The cuts in our forecasts come not from the revenues but the costs side," he says, adding that the results indicate recent acquisitions have not been performing as well as previous buys.
For more on the results, please click on [ID:nLN223397]
Reuters messaging rm://victoria.bryan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net
10:09GMT 24Jun2009-Creston higher; Panmure lifts target
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Shares in Creston (CRCRE.L) gain 1.5 percent after Panmure Gordon lifts its target price for the communications company to 70 pence from 60 pence, while repeating its "buy" rating, following the firm's full-year results on Tuesday.
Panmure says in a note that Creston's results came in above expectations, describing the company's revenue and clean pretax profit growth of 4 percent and 5 percent respectively as encouraging.
The broker highlights that the firm has a strong track record of revenue and profit growth, and in this context, "(its) full-year 2010/2011 forecasts are based conservatively."
"With residual asset appeal, and a very low rating, we believe the current share price is still discounting too bleak an outcome," it says.
Reuters Messaging rm://tricia.wright1.reuters.com@reuters.net
09:55GMT 24Jun2009-Kingspan down; Davy cuts forecasts
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Shares in Kingspan Group (KSP.I)(KSP.L) fall 1.2 percent after broker Davy cuts its forecasts on the Irish building materials firm following recent data, which it says shows construction activity remains depressed across the continent.
Davy revises its 2009 and 2010 diluted adjusted EPS forecasts to 22 cents from 26 cents and 20 cents from 23.5 cents respectively, implying a peak to trough decline on Kingspan's earnings of around 80 percent.
The broker says the cuts come on the back of news that Euroconstruct, the construction forecast group, is now forecasting that 2009 will result in the biggest yearly decline on record -- 7.5 percent -- in European construction activity, and SIG's (SHI.L) recent profit warning. [ID:nLI35457]
Reuters Messaging rm://david.brett.reuters.com@reuters.net
09:09GMT 24Jun2009-Polar Capital gains after results
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Shares in Polar Capital (POLR.L) gain 2.7 percent after the hedge fund firm posts full-year results, which prompt Altium Securities to repeat its "buy" rating on the stock.
Polar Capital says adjusted diluted earnings per share at end March are down 32 percent to 9.9 pence, which Altium says in a note is ahead of its expectation of 9.1 pence, while assets under management (AUM) fell 52 percent to $1.5 billion.
"Although Polar is not for the faint hearted given there is much to be done to improve profitability, we are encouraged by progress to date," says Altium.
The broker says performance remains impressive across the group, according to the May facts sheets which are the most recently available data, and highlights that all six hedge funds have posted positive returns in the year to the end of May, building on calendar 2008 when five of seven funds posted positive performance.
"The challenge for Polar over the short to medium term is to rebuild AUM, (and) in our view the group is well placed from the position of fund performance and infrastructure," says the broker.
Reuters Messaging rm://tricia.wright1.reuters.com@reuters.net
