B.p Marsh Share News (BPM)

Footsie managed to close with gains despite spending some of the day in the red, with oil giant BP leading the risers.BP climbed after it kicked off the oil majors results season with third quarter figures that showed a smaller than feared drop in profits. Profit attributable to shareholders came to $5.34bn from $8.05bn in the third quarter last year. Analysts predicted nearer $3bn.That attracted buyers to rivals BG and Shell, which are due to publish results on Wednesday and Thursday respectively.Household goods group Reckitt Benckiser shrugged off the recession during the third quarter, reporting a big jump in profits and raising targets for the full year. Pre-tax profit jumped 26% to £469m from £373m a year ago.GlaxoSmithKline was higher ahead of the drug giant's third quarter results tomorrow and after it and Genmab, a Danish biotech firm, won US approval to sell a leukaemia drug. Fellow drug giant AstraZeneca also closed higher.Publisher Reed Elsevier was wanted after Exane BNP Paribas raised the stock to 'outperform' from 'neutral'. Broker comment also lifts department store Debenhams, which Barclays Capital has an 'overweight' rating on. BarCap has initiated coverage on Debenhams with a price target of 100p.Fund raising concerns continue to hang over the part-nationalised UK banks Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking. The move by Dutch banking group ING, announced yesterday, to split itself in twain in order to spike the guns of an EU investigation into the legality of the state aid it received during the height of the banking crisis, has also highlighted the potential for a damaging EU ruling on the UK banks.Profits fell at paper and packaging firm Mondi during the third quarter, with a recovery in volumes offset by lower average selling prices. Underlying operating profit was "modestly" lower than the previous three-month period, but the firm said it is beginning to feel the benefits of its recently completed cost cutting programme.Yellow Pages business Yell slumped after it extended the deadline for its lenders to approve its refinancing proposals for a second time. The company, which is looking to restructure £3.8bn of debt, set a new deadline of 5pm on Wednesday 28 October after last night's cut-off passed without success.Computer chip designer ARM improved after it said it still expects full year dollar revenues to be in line with market expectations, after announcing an 8% dip in third quarter turnover, though it rose 5% in sterling terms to £75.2m from £71.7m. Profit before tax eased to £24.3m from £24.9m the year before.Cinema operator Cineworld said total revenues rose 6.5% in the 43 weeks to 22 October 2009 and added that the final quarter has a promising film line up that includes "Sherlock Holmes" and "A Christmas Carol". The strength of the group's box office revenues, up 10.9% year on year, has underpinned Cineworld's performance which is set against the backdrop of exceptional Q3 trading last year due to the outstanding success of "Mamma Mia", the group said.On the mining front, Aquarius Platinum moved back into the black in the third quarter despite a slide in total revenue. Net profit in the third quarter was $17.9m on total revenue of $85.8m, compared to a net loss of $20.4m on revenue of $106.2m a year earlier.Ormonde Mining has confirmed Antofagasta as the previously unidentified joint venture partner for its La Zarza ground holdings in the Huelva Province of southern Spain.Griffin Mining received a fillip when it revealed that its Caijiaying zinc-gold mine returned to profitability in the third quarter.Getech swung to a full-year loss and scrapped its final dividend as the fall in crude prices hurt the oil data analysis specialist. The group reported a loss before tax of £627,901 in the 12 month ended 31 July compared with a profit of £900,000. Revenue was down 20% at £3.31m.B. P. Marsh saw its share price eat into the substantial discount to the group's net asset value after the venture capital provider issued an upbeat trading statement. NAV per share at the end of July stood at 146p, down from 150p at the end of January and 154.4p at the end of July 2008, but well above the company's share price of around 90p.FTSE 100 - RisersBP (BP.) 594.40p +4.81%Reed Elsevier (REL) 473.00p +3.32%Home Retail Group (HOME) 306.70p +2.71%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,256.50p +2.15%Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,890.50p +2.08%Tesco (TSCO) 395.85p +2.02%AstraZeneca (AZN) 2,830.00p +1.96%Smith & Nephew (SN.) 545.50p +1.87%Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,933.50p +1.74%Cable & Wireless (CW.) 148.10p +1.72%FTSE 100 - FallersRoyal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 40.80p -8.14%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 83.84p -6.16%Vedanta Resources (VED) 2,215.00p -5.06%Man Group (EMG) 331.30p -4.30%Fresnillo (FRES) 792.50p -4.06%Barclays (BARC) 339.80p -3.63%Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,870.50p -3.38%ICAP (IAP) 424.50p -3.35%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,224.00p -3.01%British Airways (BAY) 193.70p -3.00%FTSE 250 - RisersUK Commercial Property Trust (UKCM) 77.50p +4.66%Game Group (GMG) 156.20p +4.55%DS Smith (SMDS) 119.40p +3.83%Avis Europe (AVE) 31.50p +3.72%Debenhams (DEB) 84.35p +3.37%QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 144.00p +3.15%Ecofin Water & Power Opportunities (ECWO) 154.00p +3.01%Computacenter (CCC) 304.80p +2.97%JKX Oil & Gas (JKX) 291.20p +2.93%Dunedin Income Growth Inv Trust (DIG) 182.00p +2.82%FTSE 250 - FallersHochschild Mining (HOC) 280.00p -6.67%Fidessa (FDSA) 1,244.00p -6.47%PV Crystalox Solar (PVCS) 69.50p -5.70%Laird (LRD) 199.20p -5.14%Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 279.40p -4.61%Tomkins (TOMK) 167.20p -4.51%Punch Taverns (PUB) 86.65p -4.25%IG Group Holdings (IGG) 312.00p -4.15%Big Yellow Group (BYG) 395.10p -4.08%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 138.90p -4.01%