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London close: Footsie suffers lack of confidence

Tue, 23rd Feb 2010 16:21

A terrible report on US consumer confidence sent Wall Street spiralling lower, dragging London's leading index deep into the red late on.UK shares started well enough, but weakened steadily through the morning and spent much of the afternoon dipping in and out of negative territory until the US data.Dollar strength ruined the day for miners, while the confidence news raised concerns about demand for commodities.Eurasian Natural Resources, Fresnillo, Xstrata, Lonmin and Anglo American were among the biggest casualties, but oil heavyweights Shell, BP and Cairn also fell as oil sank 1.6% to below $79 a barrel.On a brighter note, Wolseley rallied to new highs after surprising the market with an unscheduled trading update. The building supplies group said it expects profits for the year to 31 July 2010 to exceed analysts' expectations of £326m. Better than expected earnings are due to improvements in cost efficiencies rather than economic conditions.Lloyds chief executive Eric Daniels's decision to waive his right to a bonus for the second year in succession has found favour with investors. 'Mr Daniels has taken this action because he believes that the excellent progress the group is making, based on the considerable contribution of many colleagues across the company, is in danger of being obscured by the current debate on executive bonus awards in the banking sector,' the group's chairman, Sir Win Bischoff, said.Drugs giant AstraZeneca upped its 2010 earnings forecast after settling a long running dispute with the UK tax authorities. It will pay £505m to resolve all claims by HM Revenue & Customs linked to transfer pricing over a 15-year period.Mondi rose despite lower profits for 2009 as the paper and packaging group took heart from a revival in trading conditions in Europe in the final quarter. Underlying profit before tax in 2009 fell to £182m from £284m in 2008 on revenue down 17% to £5,257m. But the firm reported 'a steady improvement in industry order volumes, with some recent price recovery in the European packaging grades,'Reckitt Benckiser faces an investigation into sales of its Gaviscon heartburn medicines to the NHS after the OFT accused it of abusing its dominant market position. The OFT alleges that Reckitt Benckiser sought to restrict competition to its Gaviscon brand by withdrawing and de-listing its NHS packs of Gaviscon Original Liquid from the NHS prescription channel just before its patent ran out.Drax, operator of the UK's largest coal-fired power station, delivered a set of full year results ahead of market expectations, despite poor market conditions. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in 2009 were £355m, down from £454m in 2008 but ahead of market expectations of £341m. The shares fall back, however, on concerns about low gas prices and high coal costs.Stephen Thomas, night club owner Luminar's founder and veteran chief executive, is to hang up his dancing shoes after 22 years. He will step down from the board at the end of February but stay with the group until the end of July to ensure a smooth handover to Simon Douglas, his replacement. Douglas was latterly chief executive at music retailer Zavvi.First half losses piled up at ferrochrome producer International Ferro as a combination of lower ferrochrome prices and a stronger Rand outweighed higher volumes. Revenues fell 14% to R452m for the six months to December 2009, though this was up 77% on the previous six months.Construction and regeneration specialist Morgan Sindall saw profits slide in 2009 but the cash rich company is drawing comfort from its strong order book which should enable the company to 'offset some of the effect of weakening public spending demand.' Profit before tax and amortisation for 2009 dived 28% to £51.5m from £71.4m in 2008, but was ahead of market expectations of £49.33m.Veterinary products group Dechra Pharmaceuticals reported a rise in profits in the six months to December 31 as it continued growing sales in spite of the economic downturn. Pre-tax profits rose to £9.7m from £7.3m on revenues that climbed to £184.8m from £173.2m.Business publisher United Business Media (UBM) has snapped up online banner advertising agency Game Advertising Online. UBM is paying an initial $1m for Game Advertising Online (GAO), with further payments of up to $7m due depending on trading performance of the acquired company.Pendragon, the UK's largest car dealer, bounced back into profit in 2009 but is cautious going forward ahead of the end of the car scrappage scheme and expects conditions to remain difficult. Profits in 2009 came in at £1.3m compared with a loss of £194m.Industrial services group Brammer reported a 29.9% drop in annual adjusted pre-tax profit but said it is cautiously optimistic about 2010. Profit before tax on ordinary activities, before amortisation and exceptional items, fell to £13.8m for the year ended 31 December 2009 from £19.7m before. Revenue fell 10.9% to £426.1m the previous year.Spice, which provides management services to utility firms, warned that it expects to miss full year pre-tax profit forecasts after bad weather hit the group's distribution division.Plant genetic research company Futuragene admitted this afternoon that it has received a bid approach, but that it's worth no more than the current market price.FTSE 100 - RisersWolseley (WOS) 1,630.00p +12.49%Intertek Group (ITRK) 1,288.00p +5.75%Smith & Nephew (SN.) 672.50p +1.43%Serco Group (SRP) 527.50p +1.34%Reed Elsevier (REL) 488.00p +1.20%British Airways (BAY) 209.50p +1.11%Capita Group (CPI) 743.50p +1.02%G4S (GFS) 267.00p +1.02%Hammerson (HMSO) 391.30p +1.01%Experian Group (EXPN) 624.00p +0.89%FTSE 100 - FallersEurasian Natural Resources (ENRC) 1,025.00p -3.76%Xstrata (XTA) 1,055.00p -3.39%Fresnillo (FRES) 751.50p -3.34%Lonmin (LMI) 1,815.00p -3.25%Cairn Energy (CNE) 337.00p -3.13%ICAP (IAP) 328.40p -3.10%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,195.00p -3.08%TUI Travel (TT.) 261.50p -2.79%Next (NXT) 1,832.00p -2.76%Antofagasta (ANTO) 880.00p -2.76%FTSE 250 - RisersSIG (SHI) 116.60p +7.66%Croda International (CRDA) 901.00p +7.07%Mondi (MNDI) 379.50p +4.23%Chemring Group (CHG) 3,300.00p +3.35%Davis Service Group (DVSG) 413.90p +3.17%Travis Perkins (TPK) 750.50p +2.60%Kier Group (KIE) 1,000.00p +2.56%BSS Group (BTSM) 286.00p +2.22%Moneysupermarket.com (MONY) 69.50p +2.21%Misys (MSY) 217.20p +2.02%FTSE 250 - FallersFerrexpo (FXPO) 260.80p -7.52%Enterprise Inns (ETI) 106.30p -6.84%Punch Taverns (PUB) 80.20p -5.20%Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 352.50p -4.99%Trinity Mirror (TNI) 137.80p -4.77%Debenhams (DEB) 63.70p -4.14%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 257.60p -3.88%Persimmon (PSN) 409.50p -3.67%Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 284.30p -3.53%Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 466.00p -3.48%
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23 Feb 2010 08:38

London open: Shares start strongly

Shares have started strongly as company updates are given a warm reception. Shares in Wolseley jumped after the building supplies group said it expects profits for the year to 31 July 2010 to exceed analysts' expectations of £326m. However, it said the better than expected earnings will be due to

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23 Feb 2010 08:01

Int'l Ferro loss rises

First half losses piled up at ferrochrome producer International Ferro as a combination of lower ferrochrome prices and a stronger Rand outweighed higher volumes. Revenues fell 14% to R452m for the six months to December 2009, though this was up 77% on the previous six months. There was a loss bef

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21 Jan 2010 13:18

International Ferro boosts production

International Ferro Metals cranked up production in the second quarter in anticipation of higher ferrochrome prices in 2010, driven by Chinese growth. Output rose 58% to 57,942 tonnes from the first quarter due to the start-up of the second furnace in August. That, and record production in December

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4 Jan 2010 11:43

Sector movers: Commodities boost industrial metals stocks

Higher metals prices give industrial metals stocks a lift. International Ferro Metals and Ferrexpo are among the stocks posting good gains. With shares starting the year on a strong footing overall, defensive stocks such as the tobacco giants British American and Imperial are unwanted. Top perform

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22 Dec 2009 06:41

Tuesday tips round-up: Cairn Energy, Hunting, Gem Diamonds

Shares in the FTSE 100 oil explorer Cairn Energy notched up the best gain among blue chips yesterday as it brought forward its eagerly awaited drilling campaign in offshore Greenland by a year. The best guess of RBS, Cairn's broker, is that the company will target discoveries in the region of 500 m

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12 Nov 2009 14:11

Round-up: Capital & Regional, International Ferro, Synergy Healthcare...

Property fund manager Capital & Regional reports valuations in the UK fund businesses, particularly in retail warehouses, are trending higher in the fourth quarter. This reflects the strength of the investment market which is likely for the balance of this year to outweigh pressure on income. C&R

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15 Sep 2009 06:44

Tuesday tips round-up: J Sainsbury, Velti, Helphire

Potential clouds on the horizon for J Sainsbury could come from Tesco pushing the pricing button and Justin King - Sainsbury's chief executive who has initiated a turnaround since 2004 - jumping ship to the same role at M&S, although he has scotched such speculation. The shares have fallen margina

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14 Sep 2009 16:34

London close: Footsie fights back

After toiling in the red all day, Footsie made a late push into positive territory to close above the 5,000 point mark. Miners were weak spot. Reports over the weekend suggested some commentators are concerned by the amount of speculative money that is flowing into the minerals sector. Meanwhile co

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14 Sep 2009 14:11

London afternoon: Resource stocks lose favour

Resource stocks are friendless today as oil and metals prices shift into reverse. Reports over the weekend suggested some commentators are concerned by the amount of speculative money that is flowing into the minerals sector. Meanwhile copper prices have fallen for the fourth day in a row on over-s

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14 Sep 2009 12:32

London midday: Footsie stuck in the red

Miners continue to weigh on the leading share index. ENRC and Kazakhmys are lower. Reports over the weekend suggested some commentators are concerned by the amount of speculative money that is flowing into the sector. Cooper prices have fallen for the fourth day in a row. Platinum refiner Johnson

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14 Sep 2009 08:47

London open: Dull start to week

Footsie has dipped below 5,000 this morning with miners running into profit taking on talk that the recent metal price rally has run too far. Johnson Matthey, ENRC and Kazakhmys are the worst performers. Reports over the weekend suggested some commentators are concerned by the amount of speculative

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14 Sep 2009 07:12

Int'l Ferro deep in the red

Ferrochrome producer International Ferrochrome slid into a second half net deficit of R341m as a slump in demand and prices prompted severe production cutbacks. The cut back in production caused sales to fall from 207,862 tonnes last year to 101,835 tonnes this year, with a consequential deteriorat

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6 Aug 2009 06:10

Thursday's tips round-up: Shire, IFM, Patsystems

While a number of punters may wish to wait to see how Shire performs in the longer term, we would be encouraged that a number of analysts see the share price making substantial gains in the next year. Those at UBS, for example, say the stock will reach 1040p, while the company itself argues it is a

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3 Aug 2009 13:19

Sector movers: Bank results impress market

Well-received results from Barclays and HSBC help lift the banking sector higher. Barclays shares shot up after it posted half-year profits of £3bn, despite an 86% rise in impairment charges, as profits at its investment banking division doubled. Pre-tax profit more than halved at HSBC in the firs

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3 Aug 2009 11:26

Small cap round-up: YouGov, Lok'n'store, International Ferro...

Market researcher YouGov's trading has met expectations recently despite continuing difficult trading environment experienced by the entire marketing services sector. "The company has begun to see the benefits of the increased focus on its key growth areas of business as well as the cost reduction

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