London close: Properties & housebuilders underpin London
London closed firmer on balance, receiving a small mid-afternoon lift from Wall Street, which opened higher in the wake of better than expected results from IBM.
Real estate stocks were buoyant today on news that activist investor Laxey is looking for £1bn to invest in property companies whose values have plummeted in recent months.
Liberty Intenrational, British Land, Land Securities, Segro and UK Commercial Property Trust all showed good gains. Laxey said it does not think the end of the world is nigh and property shares are cheap.
Hammerson was the best performing property stock, however, after announcing that it had got Marks & Spencer on board for its major new shopping development in Leeds.
As is often the case, where properties went, housebuilders followed, with Persimmon and Taylor Wimpey both well to the good.
Retailers rallied, led by Debenhams on reports over the weekend that trading has been solid over Christmas. It reports later in the week.
Shares in Tesco fell after brokerage firm Morgan Stanley reduced the supermarket giant to underweight from overweight, while Shire Pharmaceuticals also fell after Merrill Lynch cut the drugmaker to neutral from buy.
Mail order group N Brown reported today and it has also motored ahead. N Brown posted a 14% rise in sales despite the postal strike and said it is well placed for the next financial year. "The board is confident that we can meet our profit expectations for the 53 weeks to 1st March 2008 and that we are well placed for the next financial year," it added.
JJB Sports said over the 6 weeks to 6 January 2008 total revenue rose 2.5%, which includes a similar increase in like-for-like revenue, but margins were approximately 400 basis points lower than in the same six week period last year. The stock clear-out will mean profits for the second half coming in slightly below last year's £27.4m.
Fashion chain Ted Baker reported a strong performance from its retail division over the second half of the year resulting in a 14% increase in sales for the period 12 August 2007 to 24 December 2007, compared to the same period last year, on a 7.2% increase in average retail square footage. " Gross margins were in line with management expectations and we are starting the new season with a clean stock position," it added.
Elsewhere, Goldman Sachs kept its 'buy' recommendation and 587p price target on BAE Systems, saying it expects the defence giant to enjoy continued strong sales in the US.
Contractor Balfour Beatty anticipates 2007's results will be at the top end of current expectations. Trading in the second half of the year in all parts of the group has been strong and there have also been good settlements on some completed projects. The group's cash position remains strong.
Spread bettor IG Group was weak despite a 60% rise in first-half underlying earnings. All parts of the business are performing well and it remains confident about the group's prospects for the current year, it added, but brokers' see growth slowing.
Forth Ports was up confirmation that Australian investment group Babcock & Brown's European Infrastructure Fund has acquired 19.6% of port operator Forth Ports with its affiliates owning a further 0.8%.
In similar vein, Ceres Power surged higher after Centrica said it would take a 9.99% stake in the company.
Steam pump specialist Pursuit Dynamics was wanted after shareholder John Morley increased his stake a bit more to 16.1%.
Cooker and kitchen equipment maker Aga Foodservice fell after indicating it expects full-year pre-tax profits of over £26m after a satisfactory 2007.
Software group CODA has received a bid approach worth 205p per share cash from rival software house Unit 4 Agresso.
Speciality pharmaceutical company Meldex was another stock benefiting from a bid approach.
Marketing and communications services group Hasgrove said it is confident of achieving significant growth in the current financial year thanks to new business wins and a strong second half.
The group said it had a strong second half and trading for the year to 31 December is in line with market expectations.
The convincing victory for the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party in Taiwan was seen as a boon for Amazing Holdings, which is building a luxury casino in the Taiwan's Penghu Islands. The company said a decisive result for the KMT should be viewed as a very positive development given that passage of the Gaming Bill is a stated party policy.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Hammerson (HMSO) 1,020.00p +9.27%
Persimmon (PSN) 739.00p +6.87%
Liberty International (LII) 990.00p +6.45%
British Land (BLND) 944.50p +5.06%
Enterprise Inns (ETI) 417.25p +4.51%
Standard Life (SL.) 235.75p +4.43%
Yell Group (YELL) 337.75p +4.00%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 172.50p +3.73%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 1,516.00p +3.69%
Whitbread (WTB) 1,150.00p +3.60%
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FTSE 100 - Fallers
Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,600.00p -3.92%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 1,756.00p -3.41%
Shire (SHP) 1,142.00p -3.22%
Wolseley (WOS) 681.50p -2.50%
Cable & Wireless (CW.) 173.50p -2.31%
Reckitt Benckiser (RB.) 2,602.00p -2.07%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 1,945.00p -2.02%
BT Group (BT.A) 275.25p -1.78%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 183.00p -1.77%
Reuters Group (RTR) 596.00p -1.65%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Premier Foods (PFD) 160.00p +20.30%
Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 241.75p +16.09%
Savills (SVS) 297.25p +15.44%
Debenhams (DEB) 76.50p +12.92%
Restaurant Group (RTN) 123.00p +12.84%
Carpetright (CPR) 828.50p +11.21%
Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 3,058.00p +9.61%
Derwent London (DLN) 1,359.00p +9.60%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 241.00p +9.05%
SEGRO (SGRO) 462.25p +8.57%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
IG Group Holdings (IGG) 360.25p -8.22%
Northern Rock (NRK) 82.50p -5.44%
De La Rue (DLAR) 910.00p -3.86%
SSL International (SSL) 500.50p -3.00%
Rightmove (RMV) 415.50p -2.92%
Balfour Beatty (BBY) 458.25p -2.76%
Collins Stewart (CLST) 151.25p -2.73%
VT Group (VTG) 671.50p -2.33%
BlueBay Asset Management (BBAY) 310.00p -2.29%
Game Group (GMG) 226.25p -2.27%
