Beazley Share News (BEZ)

After all the waiting and speculation, the formal bid for Cadbury from US group Kraft Foods proved a disappointment, but it has not dampened sentiment in a buoyant London market.Kraft formally announced a bid for Cadbury on the same terms as the indicative offer announced at the beginning of September. Not surprisingly, the Cadbury board gave the offer short shrift, noting that the terms of 300p cash plus 0.2589 Kraft Foods shares for every Cadbury share actually value each Cadbury share at a lower value now than when the bid terms were first mooted, thanks to the slide in Kraft's share price in the intervening weeks. Cadbury shares initially tumbled from just below 770p to just below 745p on the announcement of the bid terms but have since recovered most of those losses. The Kraft terms value each Cadbury share at 717p based on Friday's closing share price for Kraft.Away from the mergers and acquisitions arena, miners continue to make the running as metals prices firm up. Kazakhmys, Fresnillo, Rio Tinto and Vedanta are the best performers in the mining sector.Mining giant Anglo American has added former Sainsbury chairman, Sir Philip Hampton, to the board in a non-executive role. Hampton has been chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) since February 2009. Prudential is going well in a buoyant insurance sector after ING upped its price target for the stock from 392p to 584p.Cash-strapped bank Royal Bank of Scotland is also in demand after week-end analysis of last week's results and government asset protection scheme announcement.Inmarsat is on a high after the satellite operator lifted profits by nearly a third over the past three months. Revenue overall in the three months to September rose by 8.7% to $176.7m (2008: $162.5m). Profit before tax rose by 31% to $70m. Free cash flow rose 6% to $102.9m (2008: $54.0m).Fellow Footsie stock G4S is on the slide, however, after it said things have been steady at the security services firm since August's interims. Operating profit for the first nine months of 2009 was up 25% at actual exchange rates and revenue rose by 23%. At constant exchange rates, profit rose 12% and revenue by 9%.Insurer and reinsurer Beazley has seen strong growth in premiums written this year, even after it pushed through rate increases. Gross premiums written in the first nine months of 2009 rose 45% to £861.9m from £595.4m in the first nine months of last year.Hiscox is in confident mood after boosting premium income by 31.7% in the first nine months of 2009, giving the specialist insurer "good reasons to be optimistic".Sales slumped further at Aer Lingus over the past three months with revenue down by nearly 10% as fares came under heavy pressure both on short-haul and long-haul flights.Oil and gas production levels were both higher in the third quarter at energy company JKX Oil and Gas. Total production in the third quarter of 2009 rose to 13,657 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), up 24% from 10,978 boepd in the same period of 2008.Metal basher IMI has made a thumping gain after saying it expects earnings this year to come in " materially higher" than previously forecast as higher margins have offset a sharp fall in revenues.Shares in online poker giant PartyGaming have come up trumps following the group's purchase of the owner of the World Poker Tour brand. The company has paid £12.3m in cash for WPT Enterprises. Engineering and construction group Costain has been appointed to assist with a roadworks programme in the Midlands arising from the government's fiscal stimulus plan.The share price of respiratory disease drug developer Synairgen more than doubled in early trading on Monday after lab test suggested its inhaled interferon beta product could combat swine flu.