London afternoon: Housebuilders get Budget boost

It would appear that the UK Budget was far from a blockbuster as the market has reacted phlegmatically to the Chancellor's big day. The headline grabbing move was the commitment to effectively abolish National Insurance and push up income tax to compensate, but this will not take effect for some time. House builders react favourably to the introduction of a shared equity scheme to help get 10,000 families onto the housing ladder. Redrow, Barratt Developments and Taylor Wimpey all feature prominently among the best performers on the second tier. Resource stocks are in demand, with ENRC sitting atop a buoyant mining sector and Cairn leading oils higher.Underlying profits more than doubled last year at Kazakhstan-based mining giant ENRC with this year also expected to see production at "at effectively full available capacity", though it says rising costs are a worry. Record production in 2010 and higher prices in 2010 lifted revenue by 72% to $6.6bn, with like-for-like sales up 62%. The shares sit atop a very buoyant mining sector. Ukrainian iron ore pellet producer Ferrexpo doubled revenue in 2010 and profit swelled fivefold to almost $500m as production hit a record, taking full advantage of strong demand and high prices. Profit before tax jumped to $498m from $81m in 2009 on sales up $1.3bn from $649m the previous year.Oil outfit Cairn is enjoying another day in the sun as analysts get stuck into yesterday's trading update. Investec, which rates the shares a "hold", has raised its price target for Cairn from 392p to 401p. Elsewhere in the oil sector BP moves up after raising $575m from the sales of its 93% interest in the Wattenberg, Colorado natural gas processing plant. Sainsbury's is on offer. The supermarket chain grew like for like sales by less than expected during the fourth quarter following a widely-predicted slowdown since Christmas. Like for like sales excluding fuel but including VAT rose 1% in the 10 weeks to 19 March compared with 3.6% in the third quarter and the 1.5% to 2% growth predicted by analysts. "We expect the consumer environment to remain tough, with our customers facing fuel price inflation, uncertain employment prospects and government spending cuts," chief executive Justin King said. Stockbroker Arden responded to the update by cutting its price target for Sainsbury to 345p from 380p. The broker rates the shares a "weak hold". Tom Gadsby, at Matrix Group, meanwhile, said sales growth showed "quite a slowdown" from the third quarter update. "Expect the shares, which have been trading at a 20% premium to the sector (partly as a result of better trading but more for the Qatari interest in the shares and the regular Friday bid talk) to be off sharply," Gadsby said. "It looks to be more a Sainsbury issue, as we had a meeting with MRW IR [Morrisons investor relations] yesterday which suggested they are not seeing evidence of a consumer slowdown, something borne out by the past eight weeks Kantar market share data. The sector is off today, so we suggest picking up some Morrison on weakness," Matrix recommended.The market does not seem to be following Matrix's advice, however, as Wm Morrison is lower in sympathy with Sainsbury, as is Tesco.Marks & Spencer and Debenhams are doing their bit to bolster the fortunes of the retail sector this morning. The shares are wanted after Spanish fashion retailer Inditex issued forecast-busting fourth quarter results. Next, ahead of results tomorrow, also edges higher.Property giant Hammerson has splashed out over £200m to snap up the Centrale shopping centre in Croydon plus five others as it executes its plan to invest into areas with potential. Medical devices and airport scanners maker Smiths Group has reported a healthy increase in half-year profits, up around a quarter. The company grew profit before tax for the six months to 29 January to £189m from £148m a year ago, and headline profit, which excludes lots of one-off items, by 25% to £224m. Oil explorer Soco International remains on target for first oil from the Te Giac Trang (TGT) field in Vietnam, but profits fell sharply in 2010 and no new reserves were added during the year. Profit after tax sank to $12.3m from $34.8m, mainly due to the fact that entitlement barrels linked to Soco's cost carry of Petrovietnam on the 9-2 Block had been fully recouped by the end of 2009. Terrestrial broadcaster ITV has been about as popular as a black & white re-run of Crossroads this week and Nomura thinks it might be because May be a negative month for TV advertising. "The latest indications we have from media buyers suggest the UK TV advertising market is cooling down (although against tough - +27% - comparisons) after a stronger than expected start. Late money is not being spent in the way that it has been for the past few months. It is not yet possible to identify a particular sector as the culprit but it seems more of a general slowdown," said Nomura analyst Matthew Walker. "This is perhaps not terribly surprising given the weak UK economy, subdued retail sales and weak consumer confidence. However, the most recent sell-side expectations were for an increase of 4-5% for the TV market in May, and if the media buyer information is correct, this could lead to a short-term loss of momentum for advertising for ITV," Walker added. The Japanese broker is neutral on the sector but rates ITV as a "buy" with a target price of 115p.Punch Taverns is suffering a hangover after the celebrations yesterday following its decision to split itself in two. Further analysis of the deal has led some market observers to conclude that the split into a "good pub group" and a "duff pub group" may not be such a good deal as first thought. Cake and bread maker Finsbury Food reported a 3% rise in half year pre-tax profit helped by a strong performance from its Bread and 'Free From' and a return to profit at its cake division. Pre-tax profit rose to £1.9m for the six months ended 1 January 2011 from £1.8m before. Group revenue increased to £87.8m from £82.9m.Capital & Regional Properties returned to profit in 2010 thanks to a positive contribution from associates and joint ventures.Drug developer Skyepharma hit a year high Wednesday after swinging into the black in 2010. Investors welcomed a profit before tax of £6.5m compared with a £0.9m loss a year ago as revenue increased 4% to £58.1m following a large rise in manufacturing revenues.ILX has signed a three-year e-learning licence, valued at £142,000, with Colt Telecom. It is the largest licence ever sold by the Best Practice Division.Coastal Energy took a tumble after the Thailand-focused oil and gas company said it is still uncertain about the commerciality of the Bua Ban North A-02 exploration well. The well, next to the recent Bua Ban North A-01 discovery, was drilled down 8,100 feet and encountered 205 feet of net sand in the Eocene interval, with good reservoir characteristics and indications of an oil gradient.Home credit and car finance provider S&U increased its profit in 2010 thanks to a strong performance from the car finance business.Specialist flooring company Airea continues to face a volatile trading environment and many of its markets remain depressed. In the six months to 31 December 2010 the company saw sales slide to £15.1m from £16.7m in the second half of 2009. Profit before tax went through the floor, tumbling to £0.19m from £0.52m the year before.Engineering group Lupus's recovery has continued strongly enough for it to resume dividend payments. Investors will get a 2p final after underlying profits jumped by 56% last year and the group posted a meaty pre-tax profit.Public sector ecommerce software group @UK stayed stuck in the red last year as sales fell by 11%. Turnover dropped to £2.05m, from £2.3m, with an an adjusted loss before tax of £592,000 (2009: £799,000).