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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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20 Oct 2009 14:19

London afternoon: Footsie pulled both ways

Footsie is struggling to find any sense of direction despite some big movements in individual companies' share prices. Fast growing software company Autonomy is finding the market hard to please. Despite another spell of strong organic growth in the third quarter, the shares are the worst performer

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20 Oct 2009 12:04

London midday: Banks drag Footsie down

Footsie made a valiant effort to finish the morning in the blue but came up just short, thanks largely to the weakness of financial stocks. Barclays is sharply lower, after Qatar's sovereign wealth fund said it was selling half of the warrants it holds in the bank. Qatar Holding is selling 379.22

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20 Oct 2009 10:39

FTSE 250 movers: Partygaming slumps as founder sells

Investors are betting against PartyGaming after the founder of the online gambling group started selling some of his stake. He will sell up to 75m shares in the firm, reports say. Investors have no appetite for shares in Greggs even after the bakery chain served up a 2.5% rise in third quarter sale

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15 Oct 2009 10:37

Revenue down at PartyGaming

Online gaming group PartyGaming saw revenues fall by 4% in another weak quarter for its poker division, though the addition of bingo group Cashcade limited the sales downturn. Total revenue in the three months to September reached $112.7m, against $117.7m, as poker revenue fell 31% to $45.1m from $

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28 Aug 2009 16:40

London close: Comfortable gains posted

London's benchmark index finished the day with decent gains, though off earlier highs, with banks and miners proving the catalyst. Lloyds was the major riser on rumours that it is considering alternatives to the government's toxic asset protection scheme (APS), which could include the sale of Scot

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28 Aug 2009 14:27

London afternoon: Shares aim higher

London's blue chips have added to gains in afternoon trading ahead of what is expected to be a rosy start on Wall Street. US stocks are seen posting good gains after Intel hiked its third-quarter revenue outlook just before the open. Kazakhmys, Xstrata, Rio Tinto, Antofagasta, Randgold Resources,

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28 Aug 2009 11:33

London midday: Miners keep Footsie ahead

Miners and financials are giving the markets a cheer before the extended weekend break. Kazakhmys, Xstrata, Rio Tinto, Antofagasta, Randgold Resources, Anglo American and Vedanta Resources are all amongst the major risers. Lloyds is amongst the risers on rumours that it is considering alternative

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28 Aug 2009 10:50

Broker tips: Restaurant Group, Heritage Oil, PartyGaming

A strong set of first half results from Frankie & Benny's and Chiquito owner Restaurant Group prompted Altium Securities to lift its target price on the restaurant chain operator to 240p from 200p. Pre-tax profits climbed to £21.7m from £21.1m over the same period the previous year. Revenues climbe

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28 Aug 2009 10:42

Broker snap: Partygaming profits rise fails to impress

Online gaming giant PartyGaming saw pre-tax profits rise at the half year stage, but revenues fell by 21% and broker Collins Stewart remains unconvinced on the stock's prospects. The firm's revenues were hit by the appreciation in the US dollar, which was responsible for about half of the year-on-y

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28 Aug 2009 08:17

London open: Miners lead advance

London's blue chips are clawing back some of yesterday's losses in early dealings, thanks to strong mining stocks. Kazakhmys, Xstrata, Rio Tinto, Antofagasta, Randgold Resources, Anglo American and Vedanta Resources are all in demand. Lloyds Banking is said to be considering alternatives to joinin

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28 Aug 2009 07:52

London pre-open: Footsie to win back gains

London's leading share index is expected to claw back yesterday's losses in early dealings. Lloyds Banking is said to be considering alternatives to joining the government's toxic asset protection scheme (APS), including a potential rights issue or the sale of Scottish Widows. The part-nationalise

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28 Aug 2009 07:22

PartyGaming profit up, revenue hit

Online gaming giant PartyGaming saw pre-tax profits rise at the half year stage, but revenues fell by 21% predominantly due to the strength of the dollar against the euro and sterling. Pre-tax profit rose to £38m in the six months ended June from £30.3m last time. However, net revenue fell to $201

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27 Aug 2009 17:06

Friday preview: PartyGaming, Restaurant Group, Robert Walters

Hot on the heels of sector peer 888 Holdings, online gaming giant PartyGaming releases interim results on Friday. Broker KBC Peel Hunt is tipping net gaming revenues will decline by around one-fifth to $200m from $254m in the first half of last year, predominantly due to the strength of the dollar

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25 Aug 2009 12:24

PartyGaming buys US poker firm

PartyGaming, the online gaming and gambling group, has bought poker busines WPT Enterprises Inc. for a cash consideration of $12.3m, its first US acquisition since being forced out of the country in 2006. The group said the agreement will result in an ongoing revenue share relating to the purchased

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23 Jul 2009 16:32

London close: US surge extends Footsie's winning streak

Footsie's winning streak extended to nine days as US markets surged ahead on better than expected June home sales and forecast-busting results from a number of US household names. Trading had been quiet up until mid-afternoon, but as soon as the US markets started to pick up buyers returned in earn

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