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London afternoon: Stocks are becalmed

Thu, 04th Mar 2010 14:13

It's been an up and down day for the blue-chip index although the Footsie has rarely strayed far from its overnight level.As expected, the Bank of England has held interest rates at 0.5% and taken no further action on quantitative easing (QE) amid conflicting signals over the state of the UK economy.House prices fell by 1.5% in February breaking a run of seven consecutive monthly increases. The average house price in the UK is now £166,587, still more than 4.5% higher than a year ago, according to High Street lender the Halifax. Company results came thick and fast in the morning session and the market's response to many of the announcements from the heavyweight was negative.Engineering and project management firm Amec is worst of the blue chips as investors react badly to a 3% slip in revenues, or 12% on an underlying basis, last year amid tough economic conditions.Insurer Aviva has taken a tumble despite beating profit expectations in 2009. Operating profit on an IFRS basis fell to £2.02bn in the year ended 31 December 2009 from £2.30bn in 2008, but rose 3% to £3.48bn on a market consistent embedded value (MCEV) basis. Panmure Gordon predicted a 17% drop in IFRS profit to £1.91bn and a 7% decline in MCEV operating profit to £3.11bn, in the middle of the £2.94bn-£3.29bn range of forecasts.A mixed statement from Cobham also brought out the sellers. Underlying profit before tax increased 21% to £295m in 2009, towards the top end of the range of analysts' forecasts. But its Mission Systems and commercial markets businesses are finding it tough and earnings, and earnings are expected to be more than usually weighted to the second half.In a subdued mining sector Kazakhstan based Kazakhmys edges higher after finishing 2009 in stronger shape. Copper production of 320,000 tonnes beat expectations. Leisure group Whitbread posted continuing double-digit sales growth at its coffee shop chain Costa and a move into like-for-like (LFL) sales growth at its hotel chain Premier Inn. Schroders is in demand as the fund manager said it had got off to a good start in 2010 following record net inflows and funds under management last year.Scottish temporary power solutions provider Aggreko is another faller even after it reported record revenues, profits and margins in 2009, helped by foreign exchange tailwinds.Elsewhere, Petrofac is proposing to hive off its UK Continental Shelf assets into a new company to be formed with Swedish oil and company Lundin Petroleum. The new company, called EnQuest, will be 45% owned by Petrofac shareholders and will be listed on the London stock exchange as well as on the NASDAQ OMS bourse in Stockholm.In the FTSE 250, newspaper publisher Trinity Mirror is higher. The publisher of the Daily Mirror saw a sharp fall in profits in 2009 as advertising sales slumped and circulation revenues were squeezed, but said it had seen an improvement in advertising towards the end of the year. Pre-tax profits in the 53 weeks to January 3 fell to £72.7m from £124.2m over the preceding 52 week period on revenues that were down to £763.3m from £871.7m.Galiform is in the red. The joiner posted a fall in revenues in 2009, but the severity of the decline was softened by the company's exposure to public and private sector tenanted housing, which has not experienced the same turmoil as the owner-occupied housing market.Online gaming group PartyGaming fell into the red in the year to December 31 after paying costs for a non-prosecution agreement with the US authorities. The firm posted a net loss $26.5m in the year to December 31 having posted a profit of $66.1m the previous year.Communications technology firm Spirent posted a rise in full year profit as conditions improved. For the year ended 31 December 2009 pre-tax profit rose to £54.1m from £51.4m the year before. Revenue grew by 6% to £272.1m. Car rental firm Avis Europe reported a rise in annual pre-tax profit while revenue shrank 16% as customers continue to cut back on travelling. Pre-tax profit of €4.5m for the year ended 31 December against a profit of €3m the year before after 'rigorous cost cuts'. Revenue fell to €1.4bn from €1.7bn.Mouchel Group is lower after rival support services group VT decided not to proceed with its offer for the company, leaving the field clear for Babcock International.Shares in insurance company Lancashire Holdings took a step back as the company said it was too soon to gauge the effects on first quarter results of the Chilean earthquake.Spirax-Sarco, the engineer that provides services and products for steam-using and specialist peristaltic pumping markets, posted record sales and profits in 2009, with a large helping hand from the weakness of sterling. Adjusted profit before tax, which excludes exceptional charges, edged higher to £90.2m in 2009 from £90.1m but was down 16% in constant currency terms.
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25 Mar 2011 17:19

London close: Footsie back at 5,900

Blue chips closed the week just above 5,900 with decent gains across a range of sectors helped by a smattering of broker recommendations. Reckitt Benckiser is wanted after Bank of America Merrill Lynch upgraded the stock of the Cillit Bang maker to "buy" from "neutral", while Autonomy is in the red

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25 Mar 2011 15:28

FTSE 250 movers: African Barrick rises on Tanzanian success

African Barrick Gold is a top performer after having further successes with its drilling programme on the Nyanzaga project in Tanzania. Euromoney Institutional Investor, the business publisher and exhibitions organiser, is among the fallers after its pre-close trading update underwhelmed investors.

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25 Mar 2011 14:07

London afternoon: Gaming firms in demand

Leading shares are mixed after the strong opening prompted traders to bank some profits at the end of a week which has seen the top share index advance by around 170 points. Broker commentary is behind the share price movements of the Footsie's best and worst performers. Reckitt Benckiser is wante

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4 Mar 2011 06:43

Friday tips round-up: Cobham, Aviva, Amec...

Yesterday's full-year figures from Cobham have much to recommend them. Underlying pre-tax profits were up by a healthy 4% to £306m, on revenues broadly flat at £1.9bn, thanks to an improvement in margins to 18.3%. Cobham is also working hard to insulate itself from the ructions over defence spendin

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3 Mar 2011 16:39

London close: Shares soar on Libya deal hopes

Reports that the Libyan situation might be resolved through mediation rather than violence sent UK shares sharply higher. The Arab League is said to be considering a proposal to end the fighting in Libya sending oil prices higher. Heavy oil users such as airline International Consolidated Airlines

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3 Mar 2011 15:28

FTSE 250 movers: PartyGaming surges as sales rise

Online gambling firm PartyGaming is the best performer on the FTSE 250 after 2010 revenues rose by 15%, after casino games, bingo and sports betting offset weakness from the company's poker operations. Cobham was also higher despite statutory pre-tax profits for 2010 falling to £189m, from £245m, h

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3 Mar 2011 14:33

Revenues soar at PartyGaming

Casino games, bingo and sports betting drove revenues higher at PartyGaming in the year to 31 December, offsetting weakness from the company's poker operations. Revenues rose by 15% from the previous year to €357.3m (£300m) to €310.1m, with casino revenues jumping to €151.4m from €136.3m, bingo rev

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3 Mar 2011 14:13

London afternoon: Footsie cruises towards 6,000

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

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28 Jan 2011 15:56

FTSE 250 movers: BTG and IG Group on the decline

BTG is on of the heaviest fallers despite yesterday's announcement that the speciality pharmaceuticals developer expects its recurring revenues will grow by £5m following the Biocompatibles acquisition. IG Group is following suit after the its was reported yesterday that the spreadbet firm has one

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17 Dec 2010 08:12

PartyGaming's casino keeps year on track

PartyGaming, the internet gambling firm that's merging with rival bwin, has traded in line with expectations during the fourth quarter, with a stronger casino business offsetting weakness in poker and bingo. The company said trading since the end of September has been "solid" overall, thanks mainly

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15 Nov 2010 08:04

Sportingbet confirms talks

Online bookmaker Sportingbet has confirmed it is in talks about 'potential opportunities', rumoured to be with Swedish rival Unibet in a deal that could be worth up to £600m. "The company confirms that it has had and will continue to have discussions with different parties in relation to a variety

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22 Oct 2010 16:24

London close:Dull end to the week

London has closed lower as Wall Street failed to arouse much enthusiasm and miners fell back with a weak dollar. Talks about currency tensions at this weekend's G20 meeting in Korea are also making traders cautious. Lonmin, Eurasian Natural Resources Corp, Vedanta and Anglo American are lower. Tw

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22 Oct 2010 15:25

London afternoon: Gloomy mood continues

Blue chips are stuck in the red as Wall Street failed to arouse much enthusiasm and miners continue to wallow in negative territory as dollar strength trims commodity prices. US company earnings have been largely well-received, but talks about currency tensions at this weekend's G20 meeting in Kore

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22 Oct 2010 12:54

Broker tips: GSK, PartyGaming, Debenhams

Panmure Gordon has not changed its forecasts for GlaxoSmithKline following third quarter results that failed to rouse much excitement. The drugs firm's results were broadly in line with the broker's expectations reporting revenues of £6.81bn and earnings per share of 28.2p. The broker recently dow

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22 Oct 2010 12:44

Broker snap: Exciting future ahead for PartyGaming

KBC Peel Hunt expects that the completion of PartyGaming's merger with bwin Interactive Entertainment to be one "well worth waiting for". The internet gambling firm's third quarter results were in line with forecasts with revenues at €85.3m. This represented a 6% decline compared with the last quar

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