London afternoon: Experian provides isolated cheer

Leading shares trimmed their losses over the lunchtime session but the predominant colour on the Footsie leaderboard remains red.Mining companies lead the retreat on fears that Germany's decision to impose an immediate ban on "naked short selling" of euro-denominated government bonds and also credit default swaps based on those bonds indicates that the state of the European economy is even worse than previously thought. Xstrata, Rio Tinto, ENRC, Kazakhmys and Antofagasta are all nursing falls of 5% or more.BHP Billiton is another in the sector that is under the cosh after chief executive Marius Kloppers told The Australian Financial Review that he would not rule out the prospect of a dividend cut in response to plans by the Australian government to introduce a new tax on resource companies' profits.For much of the day water company Severn Trent was the only bright spot among blue-chip stocks but it has been joined in the blue by one or two others, including credit checking firm Experian, which said it will increase its interim dividend and launch a $300m share buyback programme as it sees signs of 'gradual recovery' in some of its key markets.While its fellow utility company Severn Trent is enjoying the support of risk averse investors Scottish & Southern Energy is fading. The energy company increased full-year underlying profit by 3%, in line with expectations, and added a quarter of a million new energy customers during the period. The UK's second-biggest electricity producer reported adjusted profit before tax rose to £1.29bn in the year ended March 2010 from £1.25bn last time.In the financial sector profit before exceptional items fell 5% at interdealer broker ICAP in the year to 31 March, down to £333m from £350m in 2009. Revenue rose 1% to £1.6bn.A "dramatic turnaround" in the UK commercial property market saw Land Securities swing strongly back into the black. In the year to March, the value of Land Securities' investment properties increased by £863m or 10.3% with basic net asset value up 17% to 750p. Shares in plant hire specialist Speedy Hire fell as it reported a full year adjusted pre-tax loss and said while it was encouraged by stable levels of recent trading, there remained many difficult months ahead.Pub owner Mitchells & Butlers posted a sharp recovery in underlying profits to £73m from £47m in the half year to March, as it fleshed out its plans to move away from drink-led outlets to food-based ones. Sales in the half-year to end April rose from £1.02bn to £1.04bn. Operating profits rose by 12% to £156m.Insurer Lancashire Holdings edges higher after ratings agency Standard & Poor's assigned an "A-" counter-party credit rating and financial strength rating on the insurer's subsidiaries Lancashire Insurance Company Limited and Lancashire Insurance Company (UK) Limited. Pearson has agreed the takeover of training group Melorio for a total consideration of 225p per share in cash or £99.3m in total. Melorio announced it was in bid talks yesterday and the price is a 31% premium to the day before that announcement. Artificial joint maker Corin has revealed trading for the first four months of the year was in line with expectations, with constant currency sales up 6%.The outlook is sunnier for PV Crystalox Solar (PVCS), the company that makes the silicon wafers used in solar power systems, as demand for its products improve. The company said shipment volumes for the first half of 2010 are expected to be in the range of 155-160 megawatts (mw), an upgrade on the guidance of 145-155mw given at the end of March and a significant improvement on the 139mw shipped in the second half of 2009. Revenues for the six months to the end of June are expected to be above management's previous expectations. Shares in Parity slumped after the IT services group announced the departure of its chief executive Alwyn Welch. He will be replaced by Phil Davies, who founded the company and was chief executive of the company from its creation in 1994 until 1999.Private equity group BlueGem Capital has made a recommended offer to buy luxury department store operator Liberty for about £32m. The offer is equivalent to 141.8p a share. Liberty plans to pay a 44.2p special dividend to shareholders if the offer is declared unconditional. Shares in security and surveillance company Petards fell sharply after it said it was implementing a capital reorganisation due to the share price being below the nominal value of existing ordinary shares.Oil explorer Rockhopper will know in 10-15 days exactly how big its discovery in the North Falkland Basin is. The firm drilled well 14/10-2 on the Sea Lion prospect down 2,744m during the 35 days it had hired the rig for. It's now been suspended for future testing.Trading has been slightly ahead of expectations in the 14 weeks to May 15 in the businesses French Connection is not planning to sell, the fashion retailer said today. Sales have been 'slightly softer' than last year, but gross margin has tightened and overheads remain under tight control, the company said.Engineering and automotive consultancy Ricardo has warned that markets continue to reflect the underlying weakness of economic recovery, with customers cautious and projects taking longer to close.