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London midday: Bid talk boosts Footsie pair
Wed, 08 Feb, 2012
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London midday: Bid talk boosts Footsie pair
Wed, 1 Sep 2010, 11:26:00
It is a quiet day on the corporate news front and, as is often the case on such days, bid gossip is occupying the thoughts of traders. <b>Cable & Wireless Worldwide</b> (CWW), the demerged part of Cable & Wireless that is predominantly comprised of the telecoms giant's UK business, is being touted as a possible target for US telecoms titan <b>AT&T</b> . CWW's shares lost about a fifth of their value since the company announced on 20 July that proposed public spending cuts in Britain could put a brake on earnings growth this year. The gossip-mongers think that the share price fall has put the company in the price range of its US rival. Also reportedly on the selling block is travel firm <b>TUI Travel</b>, another company enduring a dip in fortunes. The shares suffered after a profit warning on 10 August and although the shares have recovered some of those losses, reports in the press suggest that Germany's TUI, which owns all but 42.5% of TUI Travel, is pondering a full takeover. Other sources suggest, however, that TUI AG will want to clear the decks and sell its stake in container shipping firm Hapag-Lloyd first. Outside of this pair the chunky gains this morning were mostly to be found in the mining sector where <b>Fresnillo, Kazakhmys </b>and <b>Xstrata </b>led the way after China's official purchasing managers' index rose to 51.7 in August from a 17-month low of 51.2 in July, causing an improvement in commodity prices and overall sentiment. In company news, <b>Soco International</b> has discovered oil at the Te Giac Den appraisal well, TGD-2X, offshore Vietnam. Testing will take about three weeks. Troubled oil giant <b>BP</b> has raised more than $400m (£260m) through the sale of two of its interests in Malaysia to help meet its bill for the Gulf of Mexico disaster. Wealth management firm <b>Hargreaves Lansdown</b> has had a record year despite tough market conditions, lifting profits by 18%. Global business media company <b>United Business Media</b> (UBM) has bought Astound, a privately owned US virtual career fairs business. Technology-focused holding company <b>Emblaze</b> is in advanced negotiations to sell its holdings in Formula Systems (1985) Limited, the information technology global solutions provider. The Nasdaq-listed company was purchased by Emblaze in November 2006. <b>Mouchel</b>, the support services group, has increased the size of its cost cutting programme to £25m from £10-15m as it awaits the government's public spending review. The firm said the medium and longer term outlook is becoming "increasingly positive" as the new government's policies are implemented. The order book has also held steady at £2bn. Sales in the second half of 2010 are expected to be ahead of previous expectations at <b>IQE</b>, the supplier of advanced wafer products and wafer services to the semiconductor industry. Dry cleaning to workwear hire group <b>Johnson Service</b> reported a 17% increase in half-year profit and said it is well placed for a successful second half. A day after the company lost a quarter of its stock market value , cash-strapped vehicle replacement firm <b>Accident Exchange</b> share price fell by almost two-thirds after the company said that a debt for equity swap deal is likely to leave the company with too few shares held by the public to maintain a stock market listing. <b>FTSE 100 - Risers</b> Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CW.) 70.30p +5.24% TUI Travel (TT.) 211.60p +5.12% Fresnillo (FRES) 1,132.00p +3.85% Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,192.00p +3.11% Man Group (EMG) 214.40p +2.98% Xstrata (XTA) 1,056.50p +2.97% WPP Group (WPP) 664.50p +2.86% InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 1,010.00p +2.85% Investec (INVP) 483.00p +2.70% Land Securities Group (LAND) 627.50p +2.62% <b>FTSE 100 - Fallers</b> National Grid (NG.) 547.00p -0.36% HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 641.70p -0.31%
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