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London mid-morning: Footsie under a cloud
Wed, 08 Feb, 2012
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London mid-morning: Footsie under a cloud
Tue, 24 Aug 2010, 10:13:00
London's leading share index is firmly in the red amid a fall in mining stocks on global economic uncertainty and poorly received company updates. A much faster than expected turnaround in the US helped advertising giant <b>WPP</b> lift first half profits by more than a third, with shareholders getting a 15% dividend hike, but the market is underwhelmed and the shares fall back. Increased production volumes and higher prices contributed to a sharp increase in underlying net earnings at copper miner <b>Antofagasta</b> in the first half of 2010. The full year copper production target was trimmed to 530,000 tonnes, however. The company is lower, though, as worries over economic growth hit metal prices. <b>BHP Billiton</b>, <b>Kazakmys</b> and <b>Vedanta</b> are also suffering. <b>Cairn Energy</b>'s revenue before exceptional items increased by 311% from $81m to $333m at the half year stage. In an update on its Greenland drilling programme the company said the first hydrocarbons have been discovered in the Baffin Bay basin by T8-1 well which has encountered gas, in thin sands. In the FTSE 250, interactive learning technology specialist <b>Promethean World</b> has fallen sharply even after it revealed a surge in half year profit and is to pay a maiden dividend after solid growth across its key markets. <b>Persimmon</b> has restarted dividend payments as first half profits and sales rose simmonsharply, though it says the housing market has slowed in recent weeks. Shareholders will get 3p per share after interim profits jumped to £101.4m from £9.8m. Underlying profits, before one-offs and landbank provisions, came in at £39.4m against a loss of £16.7m. Pubs group <b>Punch Taverns</b> expects full year earnings to be marginally ahead of its previous expectations, as pub refurbishments and favourable summer weather brought in more customers. The group, which has more than 7,100 pubs in total, said like for like sales for the last 12 weeks were up 2.6% after improved trading particularly in the final quarter. Steam trap and pump maker <b>Spirax Sarco</b> pulled out all the stops in the first half of 2010, achieving record results. Revenue rose 10%, or 8% on a constant currency basis, in the first half of 2010 to £277m from £251.6m the year before. <b>Wood Group</b>, which provides support services to the oil and gas industry, posted a decline in half yearly profit but said it looks to the second half and 2011 with increasing confidence. <b>Spectris</b> expects full-year results will meet forecasts after the instrumentation and controls company told investors the gradual recovery witnessed at the end of 2009 strengthened during the first half of this year. Adverse currency movements hit <b>Gem Diamonds</b>' first half despite a recovery in sale prices over the period. Profits to June fell to $7.8m from $18.1m as revenues fell to $104m from $117m, though stripping out a one-off gain last year Gem says underlying turnover rose by 20% to $87m. South Korea's state-run oil company <b>KNOC</b> confirmed press reports that it doesn't intend to increase its £18 a share cash bid for Dana Petroleum. <b>FTSE 100 - Risers</b> Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,032.00p +1.57% Burberry Group (BRBY) 848.50p +1.31% Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 338.30p +0.51% Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 288.50p +0.45% ICAP (IAP) 402.60p +0.40% Compass Group (CPG) 506.50p +0.40% Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 1,841.00p +0.38% British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,182.50p +0.23% International Power (IPR) 370.70p +0.19% African Barrick Gold (ABG) 564.50p +0.18% <b>FTSE 100 - Fallers</b> Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,920.00p -5.74% Wolseley (WOS) 1,240.00p -5.05% Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,100.00p -4.18% Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC) 814.50p -4.06% Legal & General Group (LGEN) 92.25p -3.40% Invensys (ISYS) 241.30p -3.36% WPP Group (WPP) 650.00p -3.13% Xstrata (XTA) 989.20p -2.92% Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,211.00p -2.79% BP (BP.) 380.25p -2.65% <b>FTSE 250 - Risers</b> Punch Taverns (PUB) 84.45p +7.99% Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 2,429.00p +2.06% Persimmon (PSN) 353.60p +2.02% Fidessa (FDSA) 1,386.00p +1.61% Connaught (CNT) 12.49p +1.54% Mothercare (MTC) 498.70p +1.44% Sports Direct International (SPD) 105.80p +1.05% Forth Ports (FPT) 1,290.00p +1.02% Salamander Energy (SMDR) 224.20p +0.99% PZ Cussons (PZC) 344.80p +0.97% <b>FTSE 250 - Fallers</b> Promethean World (PRW) 120.00p -19.19% Spectris (SXS) 873.00p -4.12% Balfour Beatty (BBY) 239.00p -3.63% Redrow (RDW) 99.00p -3.32% Petropavlovsk (POG) 983.50p -3.20% Ferrexpo (FXPO) 294.00p -3.13% DSG International (DSGI) 24.22p -3.04% Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 128.00p -3.03% CSR (CSR) 299.00p -2.99% Cookson Group (CKSN) 433.40p -2.91%
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