Barclays Share News (BARC)

The top share index closed near its highs, helped in part by well-received company updates.Burberry was in fashion after bumper demand for outdoor coats and other luxury accessories meant a storming third quarter for the luxury goods group, with revenue up by 30% and profits now set to hit the top end of forecasts this year. "The Burberry team delivered a 30% increase in revenue in the third quarter, with strong, consistent growth in both retail and wholesale and in every product division and region," chief executive Angela Ahrendts said. Oil services group Petrofac's shares moved ahead after it said it has been awarded a $1.2bn (£750m) contract to help develop gas fields in Algeria. The work was awarded by In Salah Gas, an association comprising BP, the Algerian state-owned company Sonatrach and Norway's Statoil.India-focused integrated energy company Essar Energy was friendless after unveiling a convertible bond issue to raise in the region of $500m.In a firm mining sector, Rio Tinto moves higher after it said its global iron ore operations set a new quarterly production record in the final three months of 2010. The group produced 65m tonnes in the final quarter of last year, up from 50m tonnes the year before, taking 2010 production up to a record 239m tonnes, versus 185m tonnes in 2009.Fourth quarter production levels at miner African Barrick were merely in line with management expectations, however. On the plus side, the group enjoyed a 27.5% increase from a year earlier in the average realised price of the gold it sold.Brewer SABMiller helped more drinkers in Africa and China quench their thirst during the third quarter, sending organic lager volumes up 3%. The owner of Peroni and Grolsch says volumes, stripping out the effects of acquisitions and disposals, were up 2% in the first nine months of the financial year.State-owned lender Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has sold its majority stake in care homes operator the Priory Group. Private equity firm Advent International is buying the business for an enterprise value of up to £925m. RBS expects to receive gross equity proceeds of up to £133m in cash.Barclays Bank has been fined £7.7m and will have to make redress of £60m to customers after "very serious" mis-selling of two investment funds.Credit checking company Experian enjoyed double-digit revenue growth during its third quarter as performances overseas put the UK & Ireland in the shade. Revenue both on an actual basis and at constant exchange rates was up 12% in the three months to 31 December, with organic growth at 8%. Fast expanding engineer Meggitt has taken another leap forward with agreement to acquire Pacific Scientific Aerospace (PSA) from US firm Danaher $685m in cash. A placing of 69.8m new shares will help fund the deal. Shares in spread betting firm IG Group slumped after it revealed a £143.1m write-down in the value of its Japanese business. Net trading revenue in the six months to 30 November rose 9% to £156.7m from £143.74m the year before but on a statutory basis the group posted a loss of £69.1m. The company warned that "if activity levels remain similar to those seen recently we expect profits to be slightly below current market expectations."Plant hire group Ashtead has ended its bid interest in Lavendon after a firm rebuttal from the board of the powered access platform group. Lavendon unanimously rejected an "opportunistic" 115p per share offer from joint bidders Ashtead and Belgium's Thermote & Vanhalst.Mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse has lifted its full-year guidance following a strong performance from its partnership with the US electronics group Best Buy. It raised its guidance for Best Buy Europe's full-year profit share from Best Buy Mobile US to £90m to £100m from £85m to £95m previously. Optos has reported a 10% year-on-year increase in revenues in the three months to December 2010 as it increased its ways of generating revenues from the retinal imaging equipment.Online gaming group 32Red said it expects revenue in the second half to rise by a third as its main 32Red casino drives growth.FTSE 100 - RisersBurberry Group (BRBY) 1,115.00p +5.29%ARM Holdings (ARM) 536.50p +4.28%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,685.00p +4.14%BG Group (BG.) 1,366.00p +4.00%BAE Systems (BA.) 361.10p +3.35%Admiral Group (ADM) 1,620.00p +3.12%WPP (WPP) 802.00p +3.08%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,665.00p +3.03%Shire Plc (SHP) 1,674.00p +2.89%Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,531.00p +2.82%FTSE 100 - FallersEssar Energy (ESSR) 533.00p -4.39%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,181.50p -1.95%Rexam (REX) 345.20p -1.23%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 560.00p -0.71%GKN (GKN) 228.80p -0.48%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 67.81p -0.43%Tesco (TSCO) 409.00p -0.37%Carnival (CCL) 3,109.00p -0.32%Prudential (PRU) 688.50p -0.22%ICAP (IAP) 568.50p -0.18%FTSE 250 - RisersTaylor Wimpey (TW.) 38.10p +8.39%Ashtead Group (AHT) 170.30p +6.97%Soco International (SIA) 365.00p +6.79%Persimmon (PSN) 459.10p +5.37%De La Rue (DLAR) 829.00p +5.20%St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 179.70p +5.03%Filtrona PLC (FLTR) 290.00p +4.69%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 101.00p +4.61%Supergroup (SGP) 1,590.00p +4.61%Henderson Group (HGG) 155.50p +4.50%FTSE 250 - FallersIG Group Holdings (IGG) 481.00p -7.23%CPP Group (CPP) 318.00p -3.34%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 529.00p -2.94%Exillon Energy (EXI) 398.00p -2.40%Centamin Egypt Ltd. (CEY) 163.30p -2.22%Hunting (HTG) 760.00p -2.19%Enterprise Inns (ETI) 108.10p -1.91%Bodycote (BOY) 289.40p -1.90%Drax Group (DRX) 400.50p -1.84%Booker Group (BOK) 58.60p -1.51%