BP Share News (BP.)

The top shares index sits just in the red with a flurry of updates failing to provide a definite sense of direction.The mixed reception is apparent in the oil sector where BP and BG Group are moving in both directions BP is the laggard of the FTSE 100. The rising price of oil and gas boosted its profits in the second quarter, though the benefits were partially offset by lower production as a result of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The oil giant saw second quarter profits of £3.2bn, against a loss of £10.3bn for the same period last year. Benefits of the soaring oil price were tempered by BP's ignominious exit from the Gulf of Mexico following the oil rig disaster and subsequent leak there.In contrast, BG Group is in demand. The oil and gas leviathan saw second quarter earnings per share jump 27% to 33.1 cents from 26.1 cents a year earlier. The interim dividend has been hiked by 10% to 10.8 cents. Turning to another valuable commodity, Tanzania's largest gold producer, African Barrick Gold is shining after it unveiled a 54% increase in its net profit for the second quarter of the year to $69.77m, on the back of a 39% rise in revenues, to $311.76m. Today's biggest percentage movers are to be found in the FTSE 250 though. Investors have no appetite for pork products supplier Cranswick, which expects full-year results to fall short of expectations as it continues to face high input costs and a weak consumer environment. The company, which supplies sausages and bacon for the Sainsbury's 'Taste the Difference' range, says it is in discussions with customers as it seeks to mitigate the effects of higher raw material costs. Set-top box maker Pace is in demand despite saying half yearly pre-tax profit more than halved, despite an increase in sales, after inventory management problems, losses at its Networks business and the impact of Japan's Tsunami. It reaffirmed that it was on track to meet its lowered profit guidance of between $150m and $170m for the full year. In other sectors, chip designer ARM beat high expectations with its second quarter figures. The market had been expecting normalised EPS of 2.43p, but ARM delivered EPS of 2.98p, up 27% from 2.34p in the second quarter of 2010. Normalised profit before tax climbed 25% to £54.2m from £43.5m the year before. Revenue in dollar terms grew 27% to $190.2m from $150.3m a year earlier, but in sterling terms the rise was only 18%, to £117.8m from £100m. Daily Mail publisher DMGT continues to cut jobs amid persistent weak advertising revenues in its newspaper business. While underlying revenues were up by 2% from the same period a year ago to £495m in the third quarter, this was due to strength in its specialist business publications division, where underlying revenues rose by 8% to £229m. Also in media, Specialist business publisher and trade events group Informa posted flat first half pre-tax profit and said, despite economic headwinds, overall trading remains in line with company expectations for the full year. Pre-tax profit was little changed at £66.5m for the six months ended 30 June 2011 compared to £66.4m before. Revenue increased to £634.8m from £624m previously. Among smaller companies, centuries-old Indian travel firm Cox and Kings has been unmasked as the bidder for Holidaybreak, the adventure and educational holidays specialist. Holidaybreak, whose shares take off again today, has announced that discussions may result in an offer for the company at 432.1p per share, but has warned that at this stage there can be no certainty that any offer for the company will be forthcoming. AIM-quoted coalminer ATH Resources, which has seen its share price rise by a tenth over the last week, has confirmed that it is in "preliminary discussions" regarding a possible offer for the company. FTSE 100 - RisersBG Group (BG.) 1,476.00p +3.58%Capita Group (CPI) 716.50p +1.85%Anglo American (AAL) 3,081.50p +1.82%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 795.00p +1.79%United Utilities Group (UU.) 608.00p +1.67%Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,194.00p +1.10%Reed Elsevier (REL) 566.50p +0.98%Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,102.00p +0.92%Severn Trent (SVT) 1,474.00p +0.89%Xstrata (XTA) 1,370.00p +0.85%FTSE 100 - FallersBurberry Group (BRBY) 1,555.00p -2.81%GKN (GKN) 232.20p -2.52%BP (BP.) 464.00p -2.40%British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 725.50p -1.83%ARM Holdings (ARM) 607.00p -1.46%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,705.00p -1.39%RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 133.80p -1.33%Man Group (EMG) 237.00p -1.29%John Wood Group (WG.) 695.50p -1.14%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 35.88p -1.10%FTSE 250 - RisersPace (PIC) 116.10p +10.57%Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 143.50p +4.36%Perform Group (PER) 195.90p +3.11%Pennon Group (PNN) 732.00p +2.95%Domino's Pizza UK & IRL (DOM) 496.60p +2.94%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 503.00p +2.84%Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) 36.84p +2.59%EnQuest (ENQ) 129.40p +2.54%Rotork (ROR) 1,662.00p +2.53%Renishaw (RSW) 1,850.00p +2.49%FTSE 250 - FallersCranswick (CWK) 648.50p -12.31%Punch Taverns (PUB) 64.50p -5.08%Croda International (CRDA) 1,979.00p -2.70%Dixons Retail (DXNS) 14.82p -2.50%St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 173.00p -2.48%Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 303.00p -1.56%Petropavlovsk (POG) 833.50p -1.48%Laird (LRD) 191.10p -1.44%Lamprell (LAM) 389.70p -1.39%New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 831.00p -1.36%