London close: Shares give up recovery
London gave up a promising recovery to finish in the red after briefly moving back into positive territory in the afternoon in line with a strong start in the US.
British Energy closed sharply higher, despite initially declining after releasing its results. In the nine-months to the end of 2007, the company's operating profit before NFL cash sweep adjustments and amortisation fell to £563m from £626m. Adjusted EBITDA declined to £745m from £775m.
Household products group Reckitt Benckiser also rose after it reported a 15% rise in full year adjusted net income to £905m, thanks to the launch of new products and strong growth of BHI brands. Net revenues rose 7% in 2007 to £5.27bn and adjusted operating profit increased by 12% to £1.19bn, excluding a net exceptional gain of £43m compared to a pre-tax charge of £149m last year.
Credit Suisse lifted its price target on British American Tobacco to 2,050p from 1,950p, citing the benefits of the weakening pound. It maintained its 'outperform' rating on the stock.
Aeroengine provider Rolls Royce has signed a deal to provide Trent XWB engines to power up to 20 aircrafts for Synergy Aerospace. It closed up more than 1%.
On the downside, banks took a hit after Bradford & Bingley's raft of one-off charges.
The mortgage lender's profits plunged from £247m to £126m in 2007 as it took £226m of impairment charges across a range of financial instruments. The group says it is in a strong funding position and has agreed £2bn committed funding facilities, but the figures knocked Alliance & Leicester as well.
Housebuilders were hit by a double-whammy after a gloomy housing report from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and strong indications that the Bank of England may not make as many interest rate cuts this year as expected.
RICS says 54.7% more surveyors reported a fall than a rise in house prices in January - up from 49.1% in December. Only Scotland is seeing house prices rise, it added. It was the sixth month in a row in which the ratio of falls to increases has risen, the worst streak since the early nineties.
Taylor Wimpey and Persimmon both fell back on the news.
Shares in Marks and Spencer fell after the clothes and food retailer gave away 800,000 discount vouchers, suggesting that it was having trouble offloading stock.
Shares in fashion group Burberry rose after Goldman Sachs removed it from its 'conviction sell' list, lifting its rating to 'neutral'. Goldman noted that Burberry had lost 26.7% of its value since being added to the conviction sell list on December 3. It cut its 12-month price target to 480p from 530p.
Industrial fastenings distributor Trifast said a disappointing trading performance in December means its results for the year to 31 March 2008 are likely to be below market expectations.
Personal insolvency group Debtmatters will dispose its IVA and debt resolution business and concentrate on its loan brokering service. "Accordingly, the company confirms that it is no longer in a bid period," it added.
Engineering consultant WS Atkins edged higher after saying it is trading in line with expectations and its core markets remain robust.
Mobile software developer i-mate was one of the biggest risers after it teamed up with Australian telecoms company Telstra to launch i-mate Ultimate 8502 and i-mate Ultimate 9502 in the country,
Serial profits-warning announcer Photo-Me International moved higher after news emerged that former director Philippe Wahl has increased his stake in the company to about 7.17%.
FTSE 100 - Risers
British Energy Group (BGY) 533.00p +9.00%
Experian Group (EXPN) 453.75p +4.19%
Man Group (EMG) 579.50p +4.04%
International Power (IPR) 416.50p +2.59%
Reckitt Benckiser (RB.) 2,723.00p +2.56%
British Airways (BAY) 299.00p +2.49%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 769.50p +2.46%
British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 581.00p +2.29%
WPP Group (WPP) 615.50p +2.24%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 1,996.00p +2.10%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Alliance & Leicester (AL.) 559.00p -6.99%
BG Group (BG.) 1,137.00p -4.21%
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Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,954.00p -3.36%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 173.10p -2.70%
Persimmon (PSN) 726.00p -2.62%
Liberty International (LII) 983.00p -2.48%
Diageo (DGE) 1,034.00p -2.36%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 411.00p -2.14%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 124.50p -2.05%
BAE Systems (BA.) 459.00p -2.03%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Telecity Group (TCY) 232.00p +5.94%
United Business Media (UBM) 530.00p +4.85%
Michael Page International (MPI) 250.25p +4.82%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 172.00p +4.40%
Rightmove (RMV) 466.00p +3.79%
Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 384.00p +3.71%
PartyGaming (PRTY) 28.00p +3.70%
Informa (INF) 373.00p +3.54%
Carpetright (CPR) 760.00p +3.47%
Wincanton (WIN) 374.75p +3.38%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Bradford & Bingley (BB.) 187.00p -23.12%
Northern Rock (NRK) 95.50p -9.05%
Aricom (ORE) 68.50p -5.52%
St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 487.75p -4.64%
Galliford Try (GFRD) 75.75p -4.42%
Henderson Group (HGI) 96.00p -4.24%
Genus (GNS) 644.00p -4.17%
International Personal Finance (IPF) 208.00p -4.15%
ITE Group (ITE) 140.00p -4.11%
UK Coal (UKC) 435.00p -3.92%
