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London open: ITV takes a tumble

Wed, 11th May 2011 08:29

The Footsie has opened up lower, with ITV providing a drag, taking a tumble in early trading.Despite a strong first start to the year, terrestrial broadcaster ITV has warned that it is facing tougher comparatives in the current quarter, meaning that the firm could underperform the market in the first half. Nevertheless, revenues for the three months to 31 March grew 11% to £500m, from £450m last year, "driven by positive television advertising market", the group said.Also lower is oil titan BP. It has been a year in waiting, but BP has finally received approval by regulators to complete the purchase of ten Brazilian exploration and production blocks from Devon Energy. The Brazilian National Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANP) has been deliberating the $7.2bn deal since last March, following delays due to the Macondo oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.Banking giant HSBC has unveiled some details of its new strategic plan in which it will direct investment to fast growing markets while cutting back elsewhere. The group plans to focus on wealth management in 18 of the "most relevant" economies while limiting retail banking to those markets where it believes it can achieve profitable scale. Nevertheless, shares fell into the red in early trading.Online grocery firm Ocado has sank on the FTSE 250 after revealing that sales growth in the second quarter has, as expected, been lower than the first as a result of capacity constraints and the higher incidence of holidays. The firm, which has a long-term delivery deal with John Lewis grocery arm Waitrose, said gross sales growth will be approximately 21% for the first half of the year, down from almost 25% growth in the first quarter.A record number of customer transactions helped Sainsbury beat sales and profits forecasts, prompting the supermarket giant to hike its dividend by 6.3%. Meanwhile, sales grew by 7.1% from £21.42bn to £22.94bn, beating estimates of around £21.34bn, as a result of "market-beating like-for-like sales growth" (4.7%) and increased floor space, which contributed 2.4% to the rise. However, shares edged lower.Energy services firm Wood Group is in demand after saying that it expects full year results to be in line with expectations. "The long term fundamentals for oil & gas and gas fired power generation remain strong and we believe the refocused group is well positioned to deliver good longer term growth," the group said.---BCFTSE 100 - RisersMarks & Spencer Group (MKS) 403.70p +1.97%Reed Elsevier (REL) 557.00p +1.36%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,395.00p +1.01%Shire Plc (SHP) 1,894.00p +0.80%SABMiller (SAB) 2,274.00p +0.71%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,338.00p +0.68%Diageo (DGE) 1,281.00p +0.63%Severn Trent (SVT) 1,494.00p +0.61%Smith & Nephew (SN.) 691.50p +0.58%Schroders (Non-Voting) (SDRC) 1,427.00p +0.56%FTSE 100 - FallersITV (ITV) 73.30p -3.43%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 299.80p -2.41%Whitbread (WTB) 1,622.00p -2.17%Inmarsat (ISAT) 610.00p -1.61%HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 648.40p -1.19%Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,225.50p -1.04%Sage Group (SGE) 293.20p -0.95%Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,230.00p -0.89%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,290.00p -0.85%Capital Shopping Centres Group (CSCG) 398.60p -0.72%FTSE 250 - RisersPace (PIC) 97.50p +4.84%Exillon Energy (EXI) 470.90p +3.79%Redrow (RDW) 132.30p +3.76%International Personal Finance (IPF) 360.10p +2.80%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 44.25p +2.22%Avis Europe (AVE) 200.00p +2.09%St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 176.70p +1.90%Carpetright (CPR) 681.00p +1.72%Melrose (MRO) 353.20p +1.64%Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 444.90p +1.51%FTSE 250 - FallersOcado Group (OCDO) 216.50p -7.08%Restaurant Group (RTN) 312.50p -5.02%Provident Financial (PFG) 976.00p -3.65%Computacenter (CCC) 476.10p -2.78%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 2,701.00p -2.70%UK Commercial Property Trust (UKCM) 80.40p -2.55%Fidessa Group (FDSA) 1,783.00p -2.52%Hiscox Ltd. (HSX) 412.00p -2.37%CSR (CSR) 384.00p -1.89%Genus (GNS) 980.50p -1.80%FTSE TechMARK - RisersPhoenix IT Group (PNX) 218.25p +2.95%XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 1,686.00p +2.49%Corin Group (CRG) 54.00p 0.00%Asterand (ATD) 12.50p 0.00%Triad Group (TRD) 19.00p 0.00%Alterian (ALN) 112.00p 0.00%Antisoma (ASM) 2.42p 0.00%Promethean World (PRW) 80.00p 0.00%Torotrak (TRK) 43.00p 0.00%Ark Therapeutics Group (AKT) 4.08p 0.00%FTSE TechMARK - FallersParity Group (PTY) 25.00p -9.09%Wolfson Microelectronics (WLF) 236.25p -3.08%Innovation Group (TIG) 16.75p -1.47%Vislink (VLK) 18.25p -1.35%Vectura Group (VEC) 67.25p -1.10%Corin Group (CRG) 54.00p 0.00%Asterand (ATD) 12.50p 0.00%Triad Group (TRD) 19.00p 0.00%Alterian (ALN) 112.00p 0.00%Antisoma (ASM) 2.42p 0.00%

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