London midday: Lloyds leads the charge

The top share index is in positive territory again, with Lloyds Banking Group leading the charge after revealing the details of its strategic review. Lloyds, the part-nationalised high street behemoth, is aiming to shed a further 15,000 jobs and cut its presence in foreign markets by half. The announcement today comes as part of a review of the business by its new Chief Executive, António Horta-Osório. Other notable aims include an investment programme in new IT systems. This combined with the job cuts is likely to cost £2.3bn. Shares jumped by 7% early on.Other banks are in demand also, including Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays.BG Group, the FTSE-100 gas and oil company, rose strongly after it doubled the estimate of how much oil there might be in its Santos Basin site, 300 km off the coast of Brazil. Oil peers BP and Royal Dutch Shell were also higher.In the FTSE 250, Berendsen is shining after the workwear rental and cleaning group said pre-tax profits for the full-year should beat last year's. The performance in continental Europe has been better than expected, while growth in the UK has been "modest."Greene King is lacking froth though. It posted a sharp rise in profits as revenues moved higher in the year to 1 May, but the pub group and brewer foresees another "testing" year. Pre-tax profits climbed to £140m from £123m on revenues that were up to £1.04bn from £984m. The dividend climbed by 7.4% to 23.1p. Oilfield services firm Wood Group said on Thursday that it has seen good growth in the year to date and expects full-year numbers to be in line with expectations. Shares edged upwards after the open.Sector peer Petrofac, however, bucked the sector trend despite saying that it is on course to deliver its target of at least 15% like-for-like net profit growth in 2011.No news was good news for ground engineering specialist Keller on Thursday, as the company said there had been no significant changes to the group's trading or outlook since it issued a profits warning in May.Department store Debenhams has thumbed its nose at its struggling neighbours on the high street, posting a rise in sales in the second half to date. Like for like sales were up by 3% from the same period the previous year, and by 1.5% excluding the VAT rise, Debenhams said. However, things are not so cheery at HMV. The struggling CD and DVD retailer is already pinning its hopes on a good Christmas to help revive declining sales. In the year to 30 April, sales fell by 7% from the same period the previous year to £1.868bn, while the company struggled to stay in the black, with pre-tax profits falling to £2.6m from £67.3m. FTSE 100 - RisersLloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 48.20p +7.94%BG Group (BG.) 1,405.50p +4.11%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 37.76p +2.72%Smith & Nephew (SN.) 661.50p +1.93%BP (BP.) 456.35p +1.56%Old Mutual (OML) 132.40p +1.53%Next (NXT) 2,302.00p +1.28%Schroders (Non-Voting) (SDRC) 1,292.00p +1.25%Aggreko (AGK) 1,906.00p +1.22%Anglo American (AAL) 3,050.00p +1.16%FTSE 100 - FallersPetrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,502.00p -2.78%ARM Holdings (ARM) 582.50p -2.02%United Utilities Group (UU.) 589.50p -1.50%ICAP (IAP) 471.60p -1.50%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,396.00p -1.34%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,228.00p -1.29%Severn Trent (SVT) 1,445.00p -1.23%Resolution Ltd. (RSL) 290.70p -0.99%Vodafone Group (VOD) 163.85p -0.94%Glencore International (GLEN) 482.15p -0.90%FTSE 250 - RisersBerendsen (BRSN) 535.00p +5.84%International Personal Finance (IPF) 360.90p +5.07%Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 456.80p +5.04%London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 1,003.00p +4.92%New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 910.00p +4.60%Northgate (NTG) 323.70p +4.49%Ultra Electronics Holdings (ULE) 1,723.00p +4.05%Rotork (ROR) 1,700.00p +3.98%St James's Place (STJ) 336.70p +3.92%Keller Group (KLR) 452.60p +2.86%FTSE 250 - FallersGreene King (GNK) 489.40p -5.52%Dixons Retail (DXNS) 15.95p -2.98%Halfords Group (HFD) 366.30p -2.97%Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CW.) 46.27p -2.86%Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 311.60p -2.26%Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 261.90p -1.91%Carpetright (CPR) 643.00p -1.83%Sports Direct International (SPD) 229.60p -1.75%Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 106.20p -1.67%UK Commercial Property Trust (UKCM) 81.00p -1.46%