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London afternoon: Footsie cruises towards 6,000

Thu, 03rd Mar 2011 14:13

Footsie has 6,000 within its sights once more as stocks bounce back strongly on hopes that the Libyan situation might be resolved. Reports that the Arab League is considering a proposal to end the fighting in Libya have boosted sentiment, and has sent the price of oil into reverse. Heavy oil users such as airline International Consolidated Airlines and cruise operator Carrnival react positively to the oil price fall.Engineering and project management company Amec is enjoying a spell at the top of the Footsie leaderboard, as it shrugged off any worries of a double-dip recession by saying it expects to grow regardless of the pace of economic recovery. Pre-tax profits in 2010 soared to £258.2m from £203.5m the previous year as revenues grew to £2.95bn from £2.54bn. The company is on the look-out for acquisitions but said it would consider returning cash to shareholders if it could not find anything worth buying.Fellow engineer IMI is also on a lot of investors' shopping lists, after an increase in demand and cost cutting helped the company grow full-year profits by 44% to a new record, though the search for a new chairman goes on. Profit from continuing operations before tax and exceptional items rose to £304.4m from £211.7m in 2009 on revenue up 7% to £1.91bn. Reported profit leapt 64% to £306.1m and organic sales growth was 6%.Insurer Aviva ramped up profits by 35% in 2010, helped by cost cutting, and had a record year in the UK. The firm, which has 19m customers in Britain, posted a profit before tax of £2.44bn, up from £1.81bn in 2009. Operating earnings jumped 26% to £2.55bn. Oil and gas firm Tullow Oil hailed an "exceptional result" on its drilling of the Enyenra-2A appraisal well, in the Deepwater Tano licence offshore Ghana. Drilling successfully encountered oil in excellent quality sandstone reservoirs, with solid evidence of communication with the Owo-1 well, which confirms that the Owo oil discovery, now renamed Enyenra, is a major light oil field. The government has agreed to let Rupert Murdoch's NewsCorp, the publisher of the Times and Sun, buy satellite broadcaster BSKyB in a deal that will see Sky News placed under independent control."While News Corporation continues to believe that the proposed acquisition of the shares in BSkyB that it does not already own will not result in insufficient plurality for any audience in the UK, it has submitted this comprehensive proposal in order to avoid a lengthy and costly review by the Competition Commission," News Corp said, as it welcomed the announcement.Full year earnings for mining giant Kazakhmys were a little higher than expected as the price of copper raced higher in 2010. Stripping out any contribution from the group's 26% stake in fellow Kazakh resources firm ENRC, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) totalled $1.93bn, up 59.5% from $1.21bn the year before and ahead of market expectations of $1.86bn. Defence firm Cobham's profits in 2010 were hurt by delays in orders in the US and the company sees continuing difficulties this year as the world's only superpower seeks to rein in spending following the financial crisis. Statutory pre-tax profits in the year to 31 December fell to £189m from £245m on revenues that edged up to £1.8bn from £1.75bn. The profits slide did not stop the shares outperforming the rest of the FTSE 250, however.Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey returned to profit in 2010 and has made a positive start to the current year with prices up in some places. The firm made a profit before tax and one-off items of £75.1m compared with a £96.1m loss in 2009 on revenue up a fraction at £2.6bn despite total completions falling from 15,166 to 14,272. Identity theft and credit card insurer CPP celebrated a strong first year as a public company, with profits increasing by a third. Underlying profit before tax in 2010 rose 33% to £46.7m from £35.2m the year before on revenue that rose 12% to £325.8m from £292.1m in 2009. Telecoms testing group Spirent reported a 32% rise in 2010 pre-tax profit, increased its dividend and said it is confident of further growth in 2011. The company, which tests the performance of IT and communications systems, said pre-tax profit for the year rose to $112.2m compare with $84.9m in 2009. Revenue was up 13% at $482.2m. Newspaper group Trinity Mirror has taken a dive. It held back from reinstating its dividend despite a big jump in profits as it slashed costs to cope with the tough times the newspaper industry is facing. The publisher of the Mirror and a host of local titles said pre-tax profits in 2010 were up to £101.5m from £72.7m the previous year, even as revenues slipped to £761.5m from £763.3m. Some analysts had been expecting a slight rise in revenues.Online gaming operator Partygaming has been bid up, after it announced a rise in "clean" earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to £100.4m in 2010 from £93.2m the year before, despite the continued loss of appetite among punters for online poker.Marketing services provider Communisis reported 2010 operating profit in line with expectations but there were additional amortisation costs relating to the refinancing of debt.Shares in information technology services firm Parity were below par after the company's full year results disappointed. Revenues in 2010 slumped to £93.0m from £119.0m the year before, while the group suffered a loss before tax and exceptional items of £3.1m, compared to a profit of £0.3m the year before. Canamens BNG is not making the final $11.98m payment to AIM-quoted oil and gas explorer Roxi Petroleum for the purchase of BNG Ltd, which has a stake in exploration interests in Kazakhstan. Canamens will forfeit a 6.25% interest in the BNG contract area to Roxi as a result.JJB Sports is offering its landlords as much as £7.5m if they agree to a series of proposals that might save the hard-up sports retailer from going bust. Under the terms of a proposed company voluntary arrangement (CVA), 43 stores will shut by 24 April 2012, while a further 46 shops could close during the following year if their performance doesn't improve.
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23 Jul 2009 15:06

FTSE 250 movers: Yell up 20% after revenue hike

Weakness in the pound has given investors in directories group Yell something to shout about. The shares are up 20% after revenue in the three months to 30 June rose 1.5% to £475.3m from £468.4m a year earlier. On a constant currency basis, however, revenue dipped 10.4%. Shares in Tate & Lyle bou

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23 Jul 2009 13:46

London afternoon: Footsie regains 4,500

The Footsie's eight day winning streak looks set to become nine days as the blue chip index hit 4,500 again amid more gains for US stocks. On the positive side, miners Fresnillo, Kazakhmys, Vedanta Resources, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, ENRC, Xstrata and Lonmin are all among the top ten risers on hope

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23 Jul 2009 13:11

Broker tips: Compass, Yell, PartyGaming

The share price of caterer Compass Group was looking decidedly soggy Thursday morning after a disappointing interim management statement but broker Charles Stanley reckons the share price fall makes the case for purchasing the shares even more compelling. "The share price has reacted adversely to t

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23 Jul 2009 11:54

London midday: OfWat report dilutes equity strength

The Footsie's eight day winning streak is in danger of coming to an end today as utility companies weigh down the blue-chip index after water regulator Ofwat outlined proposals for lower water bills. The water regulator's draft proposals would see the average annual water bill fall by £14 to £330 b

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23 Jul 2009 11:33

Broker snap:Bingo buy a winner for Party

Partygaming's acquisition of online bingo specialist Cashcade has got the thumbs up from brokers but it may be bad news for rival online gaming firm 888. "The deal is negative for 888, as Cashcade is a major client for 888's software and 888 potentially loses this relationship," notes Nick Batram o

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23 Jul 2009 09:03

PartyGaming snaps up bingo operator

Online gaming titan PartyGaming has beefed up its bingo offering with the acquisition of Cashcade, owner of some of the UK’s leading bingo web sites. PartyGaming is initially paying £71.9m in cash for Cashcade, with a possible further £24m due depending on the future profit performance of Cashcade.

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21 Jul 2009 16:44

London close: Rally continues

Footsie finished just shy of the 4,500 mark after another day of gains as the rally continues. Wm Morrison led the way after saying it is confident full year results will be ahead of its earlier expectations due to continuing customer growth and the successful implementation of its cost cutting pla

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21 Jul 2009 14:11

London afternoon: Advance gathers speed

London kicked on over the lunchtime session, with risers outnumbering fallers by four to one among FTSE 100 constituents. Wm Morrison leads the way after saying it is confident full year results will be ahead of its earlier expectations due to continuing customer growth and the successful implement

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21 Jul 2009 11:57

London midday: Morrisons leads advance

Retail stocks dominate proceedings in London following trading updates from Morrisons and Next. Wm Morrison leads the risers in the FTSE 100 after saying it is confident full year results will be ahead of its earlier expectations due to continuing customer growth and the successful implementation o

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21 Jul 2009 10:43

FTSE 250 movers: William Hill hit by joint venture concerns

Shares in William Hill are lower after the bookmaker said its joint venture with online gaming technology firm Playtech, William Hill Online (WHO), is 'making good progress during an extensive integration period and in difficult trading conditions'. Playtech was less sanguine, saying WHO 'is making

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9 Jul 2009 16:33

London close: Modest gains as US struggles

Equities held onto gains despite a lacklustre final session as Wall St struggled to make headway. Mining stocks continue to dominate the list of risers. Silver miner Fresnillo is the best performer after being upgraded to "buy" by Citigroup. In contrast the US bank had downgraded gold miner Rand

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9 Jul 2009 14:46

London afternoon: Rally gathers pace

Equities pushed higher over the lunch-time session, boosted by expectations of a firm start on Wall Street. Mining stocks continue to dominate the list of risers. Silver miner Fresnillo is the best performer after being upgraded to "buy" by Citigroup. In contrast the US bank had downgraded gold min

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9 Jul 2009 12:17

London midday: Mining stocks in the driving seat

Mining stocks are behind the wheel once again and today they are driving the market higher. Silver miner Fresnillo is the best performer after being upgraded to "buy" by Citigroup. In contrast the US bank had downgraded gold miner Randgold Resources to "hold" from "buy". Elsewhere in the sector An

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9 Jul 2009 08:33

London open: Miners provide early boost

Miners are giving London's blue chips a lift in early dealings ahead of the Bank of England's decision on interest rates and the quantitative easing programme later today. Fresnillo is the best performer, up more than 5%, closely followed by Kazakhmys, Anglo American, Vedanta Resources, Antofagasta

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9 Jul 2009 07:44

London pre-open: London gets pep from Wall St. rally

The late rally yesterday on Wall Street has put traders in a positive frame of mind ahead of the Bank of England's decision today on interest rates and the quantitative easing programme. City sources predict the FTSE 100 will open around 21 points up from the previous close of 4,140. Fund manager

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