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London close: Footsie slide continues
Wed, 08 Feb, 2012
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London close: Footsie slide continues
Wed, 25 Aug 2010, 15:59:00
Stocks came off their lows before trading closed, but still finished firmly in the red at their lowest levels since early July as worries over the global economic recovery persist. Ireland was in focus today notwithstanding its size after the country was downgraded by the ratings agency Standard & Poors, which thinks bank recapitalisation could be more costly than previously thought. In company news, <b>Tullow Oil </b> got it in the neck on concerns about a tax dispute between it and <b>Heritage Oil</b>. The dispute is a hangover from the sale to Tullow of Heritage Oil's 50% operated interests in blocks 1 and 3A in the Lake Albert Rift Basin. The Ugandan government is holding back on giving final approval to the deal until the dispute is resolved, and that may put a road-block on future development of Tullow's Ugandan assets. The news overshadowed the Irish oil firm's interim results, which were in line with expectations. Higher commodity prices pushed profits up sharply to $89m from $31m in 2009 on sales up 11% to $486m. Production fell 6% to 55,800 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd). "Overall, nothing to change our view that Tullow is over-valued and we retain our Sell rating," said FinnCap. Credit Suisse remains a buyer but has taken a machete to its price target, chopping it from 648p to 525p. While Tullow sits at the bottom of the pile of FTSE 100 stocks, <b>Heritage </b>occupies the basement in the FTSE 250. The best performing blue chip is car insurer <b>Admiral</b>. A 14% hike in car insurance premiums and a surge in new customers helped first half profits jump by a fifth despite a tough time for price comparison subsidiary Confused.com as meerkats and opera singers hit it hard. <b>Serco</b> is higher after it said it expects strong organic revenue growth in 2010. The outsourced services provider reported in-line half year figures. Adjusted pre-tax profits rose to £110.2m in the six months ended 30 June compared with £92.3m last time. Sector peer <b>Capita </b>advances in sympathy but business process outsourcing giant <b>Xchanging </b>is out of sorts after an analysts briefing this morning failed to quell concerns about the company's accounting policies. Record sales volumes of iron ore, metallurgical coal and oil helped mining giant <b>BHP Billiton</b> lift underlying net income by 16% last year. The group, which recently launched a £26bn bid for Canadian fertiliser group Potash, posted pre-tax profits of $19.6bn, up from $11.6bn, in the year to June on revenues 5% better at $52.8bn. Evolution Securities, which rates the shares as a "buy", said the results "came in a little better than our conservative numbers but below consensus," but added that "the ley numbers to focus on are the "US$17.9bn of operating cash flow and the reduction in net debt to only US$3.3bn for a gearing ratio of 6%." Temporary power solutions provider<b> Aggreko</b> was a laggard even after saying it anticipates the outcome for the full year to be slightly better than expectations after posting a good set of half-year figures. Pre-tax profit rose 18.9% in the six months ended 30 June to £127.1m, while revenue increased to £583.6m compared with £499.8m last time. The interim dividend rises 50% to 6.55p. Adverts featuring blind footballers and an "exceptional" World Cup linked largely to England's dismal showing did the trick for <b>Paddy Power</b> with first half profits up over 50%. The Irish bookie also now expects to beat market forecasts for the year. Broker Daniel Stewart applauded the 28% increase in interim dividend but with the stock trading at a 48% premium to its peers it thinks there is better value to be found elsewhere in the sector. Structural steel supplier <b>Severfield-Rowen</b> cut its interim dividend by half after reporting lower revenues and profits. Revenue of £126.7m and underlying pre-tax profits of £8.2m dropped by 36.7% and 66.7% respectively and the interim dividend has been cut to 5p per share from 10p last time. <b>Derwent London</b>, which rents out offices in the capital, said the improved conditions that emerged within its investment and occupational markets in central London during the second half of 2009 continued into the first half of 2010. Adjusted net asset value (NAV) per share increased 17% to 1,365p in the six months ended June and 37% over the last 12 months. Broker KBC Peel Hunt responded by bumping up its estimate of the year-end NAV to 1400p from its previous forecast of 1356p. The share price sits at a premium to NAV, however, and the broker is sticking with its "hold" rating. Scottish port operator <b>Forth Ports</b> lifted half year profit 29% after a good performance from its ports business and said it is confident about the remainder of the year. Forth, whose ports include London's Tilbury docks, Grangemouth and Leith said profit before tax increased to £16m for the half year ended 30 June from £12.4m in 2009. Revenue rose to £89.6m from £86.6m. Good news for regional newspaper publisher <b>Johnston Press</b>. It swung to a pre-tax profit and said it has seen the improving trend in advertising revenues continue. The group made a pre-tax profit of £26.1m in the 26 weeks ended 3 July compared with a loss of £94.2m last time. <b>SIG</b>, the insulation materials and specialist construction products maker, has confirmed well-flagged interim results, but is worried about how things will develop over the next few months. The loss before tax was slashed to £2.2m from £9.2m previously, but underlying profit dropped 16% to £18.5m. Film studio <b>Pinewood Shepperton</b> recorded a 12% drop in half year profit but said revenues for 2010 are now expected to exceed market expectations. <b>FTSE 100 - Risers</b> Serco Group (SRP) 586.50p +4.83% Admiral Group (ADM) 1,512.00p +2.65% Centrica (CNA) 325.10p +1.37% Severn Trent (SVT) 1,305.00p +1.32% Inmarsat (ISAT) 661.00p +0.92% Cairn Energy (CNE) 449.40p +0.88% Land Securities Group (LAND) 603.00p +0.84% Compass Group (CPG) 516.50p +0.58% ARM Holdings (ARM) 331.80p +0.55% GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,206.50p +0.54% <b>FTSE 100 - Fallers</b> Aggreko (AGK) 1,346.00p -5.81% Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,238.00p -4.55% Barclays (BARC) 298.00p -3.61% Antofagasta (ANTO) 977.50p -3.41% Burberry Group (BRBY) 820.50p -3.30% Old Mutual (OML) 122.90p -3.23% British Airways (BAY) 208.70p -3.16% Anglo American (AAL) 2,254.00p -2.84% Schroders (SDR) 1,330.00p -2.78% Invensys (ISYS) 234.70p -2.78% <b>FTSE 250 - Risers</b> Promethean World (PRW) 124.80p +4.87% JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 808.00p +3.79% TR Property Inv Trust Sigma Shares (TRYS) 66.50p +3.10% Connaught (CNT) 12.51p +2.79% Hiscox (HSX) 360.50p +2.71% Hansteen Holdings (HSTN) 66.75p +2.69% Northumbrian Water Group (NWG) 328.90p +2.59% SIG (SHI) 93.00p +2.54% Carillion (CLLN) 298.20p +2.40% Mothercare (MTC) 502.00p +2.20% <b>FTSE 250 - Fallers</b> Xchanging (XCH) 110.00p -10.79% Yell Group (YELL) 14.85p -7.36% BBA Aviation (BBA) 181.20p -5.92% Premier Foods (PFD) 16.52p -5.00% Ashtead Group (AHT) 78.30p -4.80% Charter International (CHTR) 567.00p -4.71% Punch Taverns (PUB) 81.40p -4.68% Senior (SNR) 112.80p -4.49% Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 24.95p -4.44% Enterprise Inns (ETI) 84.40p -4.36%
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