| CATEGORY: MARKET REPORT - CLOSE SECTOR: FIXED LINE TELECOMMUNICATIONS |
London close: Late surge boosts blue chips |
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Thu 14 May 2009
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Market Movers
FTSE 100 4,362.58 +0.72%
techMARK 1,246.57 -0.03%
FTSE 250 7,428.77 +0.78%
LONDON (SHARECAST) - A late surge helped Footsie close firmly in the blue after it traded within a narrow range for the bulk of the day.
BT set a gloomy tone with worse than anticipated results and a dividend cut more severe than predicted, but other results got a more encouraging response.
Insurer Prudential rose by more than 5% despite a 5% drop in insurance sales during the first quarter. Its asset management arm saw net inflows of £2.7bn, which analysts said was impressive given the difficult backdrop.
Brewing giant SABMiller posted a fall in pre-tax profits in the year to March 31 as beer drinkers began to feel the effects of the global financial crisis towards the end of the period. Pre-tax profit slipped to $2.96bn from $3.26bn even as higher pricing in some markets helped lift revenue to $25.3bn from $23.8bn.
A strong performance from its rail division helped engineer Invensys shares soar away. A return to the dividend list also helped.
Engineering and construction group Balfour Beatty expects to make progress in 2009 after seeing strong trading in its divisions, helped by its exposure to public sector projects.
Consumer electricals retailer Kesa will cut jobs and close some of its stores in Spain as it announced a 7.5% drop in total like-for-like sales. However, overall the company traded in line with its markets.
Power provider National Grid reported a 3% drop in full-year pre-tax profit but said it has made a good start to the new year.
Travel firm Thomas Cook said it is on track to meet full year exceptions despite reporting a wider pre-tax loss in the six month ended March.
Car rental company Avis said overall volumes were broadly in line with expectations, below the year before period, as poor demand continues, particularly in Spain.
Broadcaster ITV expects net television advertising revenue to fall 16% this month and 18% in June, worse than the 15% reported for the first quarter.
The share price of ceramics firm Cookson is on the boil after the company said that after merely breaking even in the first two months the company has since been trading at a small profit and expects this trend to continue throughout the second quarter.
Inter-dealer broker Tullett Prebon’s shares are on the slide after it said revenue in the first four months of 2009 was down 6% on the same period of last year at constant exchange rates.
Car dealer Inchcape said first quarter trading was ahead of expectations, helped by strong performances from the UK and Singapore.
Meatpacker Hilton Food said trading for the 16 weeks ended April 19 has been in line with management expectations.
Property developer St. Modwen announced plans to raise £107.4m in a bid to reduce debt and lower gearing. The group set a price of 135p per share, representing a discount of 38.4% to the closing price on 13 May.
SQS Software Quality Systems dropped after the software testing company said adjusted pre-tax profit for the six months ending 30 June will be about half of the level reported in 2008.
Business publishing and events group Euromoney Institutional Investor fell into the red at the interim stage thanks to exceptional items. The company said trading ‘may get worse before it gets better’.
Shares in Luminar dropped after the nightclub owner scrapped its final dividend and reported lower full-year profits. Pre-tax profit from continuing operations before exceptional items fell to £20.3m in the year ended 26 February from £31.5m previously. Last year the group paid a dividend of 13.95p per share.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Invensys (ISYS) 224.00p +13.25%
Fresnillo (FRES) 631.00p +11.68%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,197.00p +8.13%
Prudential (PRU) 436.50p +6.59%
Friends Provident (FP.) 71.60p +5.76%
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 626.50p +5.29%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 228.25p -7.31%
BT Group (BT.A) 88.40p -6.36%
Petrofac Ltd (PFC) 590.00p -6.13%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 503.50p -5.89%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,443.00p -1.97%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 2,304.00p -1.96%
FTSE 250 - Risers
International Personal Finance (IPF) 80.00p +25.98%
Enterprise Inns (ETI) 141.00p +19.75%
Inchcape (INCH) 18.50p +12.12%
Charter International (CHTR) 565.00p +8.86%
Helical Bar (HLCL) 330.75p +8.00%
Hansard Global (HSD) 145.00p +7.41%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Tullett Prebon (TLPR) 278.00p -12.30%
Tate & Lyle (TATE) 255.25p -9.57%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 236.00p -7.09%
Stagecoach Group (SGC) 125.00p -4.94%
Kier Group (KIE) 1,080.00p -4.76%
ITV (ITV) 31.00p -4.62%
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