The following stocks are the leading risers and fallers among London Main Market small-caps on Tuesday.
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SMALL-CAP - WINNERS
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Card Factory PLC, up 6.4% at 92.75 pence, 12-month range 38.60p-96.22p. The greeting cards, wrapping and gift card seller is trading ahead of expectations and has noticed a post-Covid shift back to the high street by UK shoppers, partly due to strikes at the Royal Mail discouraging online buying. In the 11 months to December 31, Card Factory says sales surged 28% to £432.6 million from £337.3 million in the same period a year earlier. Card Factory now expects annual earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of at least £106 million, ahead of consensus of £96.9 million. Shares set new 52-week high on Tuesday.
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Ten Entertainment Group PLC, up 3.8% at 275.10 pence, 12-month range 183.00p-285.01p. The ten-pin bowling operator rises on hope the festive period was as successful for the leisure sector as it was for retailers. Peer Hollywood Bowl Group PLC adds 1.0%. Escape room operator XP Factory PLC, listed on AIM, rises 1.7%.
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AO World PLC, up 0.8% at 70.13 pence, 12-month range 37.22p-110.50p. The online electricals seller ups annual guidance. AO says UK revenue in the three months to December 31, its third-quarter, fell 17% year-on-year, an outcome line with expectations. Cost-cutting measures have helped its profit, however. It now expects adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation in the range of £30 million to £40 million, ahead of previous guidance of the top end of a £20 million to £30 million range. The shares jumped to 81.90p at the open Tuesday, before steadily giving back gains throughout the morning.
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SMALL-CAP - LOSERS
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Robert Walters PLC, down 5.3% at 511.40p, 12-month range 418.08p-892.00p. The recruiter reported an improved fourth quarter, though its performance in China weakened. Group gross profit grew 11% to £105.3 million in the final quarter of 2022 from £95.1 million a year earlier. Net fee income from Mainland China fell by 24% due to only recently lifted Covid restrictions.
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