London close: Flat finish as Carnival and Imperial warn on profits

Shares finished slightly higher on another choppy day for the FTSE 100, with bid-talk surrounding ENRC helping offset profit warnings from Imperial Tobacco and Carnival.Imperial Tobacco fell back after it slashed profit expectations for its Spanish business as competition in the country forced it to cut prices for cigarettes. Imperial, whose brands include Lambert & Butler and Gauloises Blondes cigarettes, said operating profits in Spain could fall short of previous expectations by up to £110m.A profit warning also hit the cruise operator Carnival, with economic strife in southern Europe also a factor. The impact of conflicts in the Arab World and the earthquake and nuclear disaster in Japan will cost the company an additional $0.15 in the second half, said Carnival, which added that fuel price increases will cost the company another $0.05. The company added that softness in bookings in Southern Europe and Britain will hit revenues by another $0.05 a share, though it expects stronger regions to offset this.Mining giant Kazakhmys was in demand after it secured a $1.5bn loan facility to help the development of a major copper project at Aktogay in Kazakhstan. A memorandum of understanding was signed on Monday with the China Development Bank Corporation (CDB) for the loan. Meanwhile, talk of a bid from trading house Glencore lifted Kazakh peer ENRC.In the banking sector, Lloyds moved higher following newsthe bank is to cut another 15,000 staff as part of a cost-cutting drive. Reports also say the Bank of China is eyeing up branches Lloyds is selling.Aim-listed wine retailer Majestic Wine reported a 26.6% increase in full year profit, lifted its final dividend and said it was encouraged by current trading despite challenging market conditions. Energy services firm Wood Group will return 140p per share to its shareholders, in the second stage of its £1.08bn return of cash programme. Following the £412m returned through a tender offer two weeks ago, the company will return the residual £665m.Safety systems specialist Latchways was in demand after it reported record annual profit and revenue as it introduced new products and ramped up sales to overseas markets. The group, whose safety systems are used to provide worker safety in wind power turbines, commercial rooftops, electricity transmission towers, aircraft wings and industrial plants, said pre-tax profit rose to a record £9.3m for the year ended 31 March 2011 from £7.6m the year before.Fire engine supplier Assetco jumped after it confirmed it is in discussions with a "number of parties which may or may not lead to an offer being made for the business," it confirmed in a statement Monday morning.Sterling Energy lost a quarter of its value, sinking to a 52-week low, after a disappointing open hole flow test at its Sangaw North-1 well in Kurdistan. North Sea-focused oil group Faroe Petroleum fell after it said its Lagavulin exploration well near Shetland has not been successful and that it has incurred in cost overruns on that project.