The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers among London Main Market small-caps on Wednesday.
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SMALL-CAP - WINNERS
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Metro Bank PLC, up 1.4% at 98.74 pence, 12-month range 67.70p-157.80p. The retail and commercial bank reports a positive first quarter, achieving profitability on a statutory basis. Assets edge down 2.7% year-on-year to £22.10 billion, as deposits slip 5.5% to £15.60 billion. ‘Metro Bank has delivered a second consecutive quarter of underlying profitability and March has been our strongest month of performance since the turnaround commenced. We continued to attract more personal and business accounts, demonstrating the strong appeal of our service-led, community-based model,’ says CEO Daniel Frumkin.
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SMALL-CAP - LOSERS
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Superdry PLC, down 6.8% at 78.9p, 12-month range 77.21p-184.4p. The clothing retailer falls after confirming on Tuesday that it is in discussions with ‘certain institutional and other investors’ over a proposed equity fundraising of up to around 20% of its issued share capital. It said that Founder & Chief Executive Officer Julian Dunkerton intends to ‘significantly participate’ in the equity raise and provide a ‘material underwriting commitment, reflecting his confidence in the long-term prospects of the business’. A further announcement will be made in due course ‘as appropriate’.
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Card Factory PLC, down 5.4% at 105.24p, 12-month range 39.15p-117p. Shares in the greeting cards, gifts, wrap and bags retailer fall despite a solid performance in the financial year that ended January 31. Revenue rises 27% to £463.4 million from £364.4 million, as pretax profit multiples to £52.4 million from £11.1 million. In addition, it notes ‘encouraging’ trade in the new financial year so far, which has been slightly ahead of the board’s expectations. ‘These strong results reflect positive momentum across the business, including notable progress on our strategic growth initiatives, buoyed by the marked shift of customer spend back towards the high street,’ says CEO Darcy Willson-Rymer.
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