London afternoon: Flat Footsie

The blue-chip index is treading water, though there has been some keen interest in the day's big results announcements.Man Group is sharply lower after the hedge fund manager suffered a 4% drop in funds under management during the third quarter, mainly due to the $1.2bn pulled out of its flagship AHL fund. Funds under Management (FUM) at 31 December slipped to $42.4bn from $44bn at the end of September, traditionally a quiet period for sales.In contrast, credit checking firm Experian in on the up. Latin America was once again a bright spot, and overall the company saw underlying organic revenue growth of 1% in the last three months of 2009. The group remains cautious on the outlook for the UK, however.FT publisher Pearson has confirmed it is looking at possible options for its Interactive Data subsidiary, including the sale of its 61% stake. Its interest in the New York-listed provider of financial market data, analytics and related solutions, currently valued at $2.4bn, is worth about $1.5bn.Daily Mail is higher after UBS upgraded it to 'buy' from 'neutral', saying, 'DMGT is our preferred newspaper play given its exposure to B2B (c70% of profits), and attractive valuation,' the broker said.Home Retail, Next and Debenhams are in retreat after Citigroup cut its ratings on all three from 'buy' to 'hold' as it switched its stance on the retail sector from 'overweight' to 'underweight' on expectations of a drop-off in like for like sales in the second half of 2010. Defence technology group QinetiQis in the doghouse after it warned that the seasonally stronger second half will not happen this year due to a delay in orders from governments in both Britain and the US.Housebuilder Bovis ended last year with cash in hand and has now started to buy land again after house sales last year rose by 25% and average prices increased by 2.5%. Iron ore producer Ferrexo saved the best to last in 2009, with output in the fourth quarter being the best of the year. Sales volumes in 2009 topped 2008 levels and also exceeded 2009 production volumes.A pick-up in demand in the final two months of the year should ensure that sales for 2009 were similar to 2008 levels at instrumentation and controls company Spectris.Lamprell the specialist engineer focused on the oil and gas industry, said it has received final payment from BassDrill in relation to the delivery of the tender barge BassDrill Alpha.Restaurant chain Prezzo expects full year results to 27 December 2009 to come in ahead of market expectations, following stronger trading in the second-half of the year. Christmas brought a little bit of cheer for Magners cider group C&C, with December sales recovering after a weak November and profits to end-February still expected to come in at the top end of guidance.Reports that the German government is planning to cut the feed-in tariff for roof-top and ground-mounted solar panels by an additional 16 or 17% from April 2010 hit solar panel silicon wafer maker PV Crystalox Solar.An upturn in world trade in the last six months has been driving improved shipping activity at Braemar, the provider of broking, consultancy, technical and other services to the shipping, marine and energy industries.Shares in Portmeirion are on the rise after the ceramics maker said pre-tax profits for the year ended 31 December will be above expectations.