London close: Footsie closes in poor state
Footsie closed the day in a sorry state with only a handful of companies in the blue as investors reacted cautiously to a mass of corporate statements. A poor start on Wall Street added to the gloom.
Defensive stalwarts Reckitt Benckiser and Imperial Tobacco were the best performers. Reckitt posts figures tomorrow.
BP slipped back, but was one of the better performers even though earnings fell as expected. Second quarter profits of $6.09bn compared with $6.12bn a year ago, but included a one-off gain of $741m. Production of 3.804m barrels of oil equivalent per day was down 5% on the second quarter of 2006. Overall, the results were slightly better than expected, said analysts.
Johnson Matthey dropped despite reporting a good start to the new financial year. First quarter sales for the continuing businesses grew by 9%, while profit before tax was up 12% compared with the same period last year.
Miners were deep in the red, with Rio Tinto, Lonmin, Anglo American and Xstrata growing weaker through the session.
Life insurers have given back some of Wednesday's advance as SG Securities dropped Friends Provident shares to 'hold' from 'buy'. Legal & General and Prudential are both lower.
The downgrade comes a day after the company announced it is in advanced discussions with Resolution regarding a possible merger of the two businesses.
Support services giant Capita is to pay a special dividend of 25p per share, £155m in total, following a rise in interim profits of 18% to £104m on revenues 17% higher at £985m. Margins also rose slightly.
Directories group Yell is in the blue after it reported a 21% rise in first quarter underlying earnings and said it is on track to meet full year expectations.
Vodafone comfortably saw off a call to sell off its US business by small rebel shareholder Efficient Capital Structure, with more than 90% supporting the company's stance.
Sports Direct had anotehr terrible day as it forecast only limited growth this year after a very tough first three months. "The first three months of the current financial year have been exceptionally difficult with the unprecedented weather conditions having an immediate impact on sales," said boss Dave Forsey.
JKX Oil & Gas was lower after it said it has entered the Russian gas market with the acquisition of the southern Russian Koshekhablskoye gas field for $50m. "This strategic acquisition represents a significant opportunity for JKX to increase its reserves and asset base and to capitalise on its proven experience of operating in the region," said chief executive Paul Davies.
Set-top box maker Pace posted profit before tax and exceptional items of £6.1m in the year to end May compared with a loss of £15.6m. Sales more than doubled to £386.5m.
Semiconductor group Wolfson Microelectronics' current order backlog is at record levels and it remains confident of delivering current full year revenue expectations. Second quarter revenue of $49.5m, up from $47.7m, was at the top end of guidance, with third quarter revenue forecast to rise to between $63-68m.
Speciality pharmaceutical firm Sinclair Pharma said it has moved into profit for the first time thanks to acquisitions and organic growth, although the numbers failed to impress.Bullish comment about the results yesterday from spread better IG sent its share price racing higher.
Property group St Modwen lost out in the race to won the contract to develop the Elephant & Castle complex in London.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Reckitt Benckiser (RB.) 2,748.00p +1.14%
Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,313.00p +0.78%
Yell Group (YELL) 472.50p +0.69%
Man Group (EMG) 613.50p +0.66%
Barclays (BARC) 738.50p +0.48%
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FTSE 100 - Fallers
British Energy Group (BGY) 509.00p -4.50%
Old Mutual (OML) 168.70p -3.93%
Lonmin (LMI) 3,590.00p -3.88%
Drax Group (DRX) 700.50p -3.84%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,133.00p -3.81%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 849.00p -3.69%
FTSE 250 - Risers
IG Group Holdings (IGG) 341.00p +9.21%
Britvic (BVIC) 354.00p +3.81%
FKI (FKI) 113.25p +2.72%
Mitie Group (MTO) 261.75p +2.65%
SSL International (SSL) 464.50p +1.86%
Galliford Try (GFRD) 151.75p +1.85%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Sports Direct International (SPD) 147.00p -22.63%
Dimension Data Holdings (DDT) 60.50p -10.37%
International Personal Finance (IPF) 238.25p -8.19%
Game Group (GMG) 193.50p -6.86%
BlueBay Asset Management (BBAY) 408.75p -5.82%
Autonomy Corporation (AU.) 832.00p -5.62%
