London close: Banks lead Footsie rally
London's blue chips bounced back from yesterday's hammering, adding nearly 200 points as US stocks rallied on figures from Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers.
Banks led the recovery, with HSBC, Barclays and RBS surging while other financials, ICAP and Man Group, also posted good gains.
Retailers also did well after department store Debenhams saw like-for-like sales in the first half fall 0.7% due to challenging trading conditions in January and February. The group saw total sales for the 26 weeks to 1 March 2008 rise 1.2% and said profit for the first half will be in line with expectations, which was better than expected. Next and Marks & Spencer posted good gains in sympathy.
Life insurer Legal & General saw profits fall a bigger than expected 26% in 2007 following a £269m pre-tax charge to account for longer UK life expectancies. Worldwide operating profit on a European Embedded Value (EEV) basis fell to £912m from £1.23bn in 2006.
Tour operator TUI Travel has made a strong start to the year and said it remains confident that it will meet its expectations for the 12 months to 30 September 2008.
Shire Pharmaceuticals was in demand as the market seems certain a bid is coming. The talk is that it could be either Pfizer at £13 per share or AstraZeneca, at £14 per share, that makes a move, though is nothing concrete yet to suggest either scenario will happen.
Oil and gas firm Venture Production saw full year profits fall to £101m from £176m previously as revenue slipped slightly due to lower production volumes. Average production decreased 7.7% to 41,228 boepd. Property group Mapeley is another hefty faller after poorly received results yesterday.
Property group Derwent London, formed following the acquisition of London Merchant Securities in February 2007, grew adjusted net asset value per (NAV) share by 8.4% in 2007, it said today.
Software group Misys is to merge its healthcare unit with US firm Allscripts and raise £75m from a share placing to help fund the deal. Misys also announced a 166% increase in third quarter adjusted operating profit to £15m from £6m a year ago.
Retailer Ted Baker said full year profits rose 10% as it sees total sales in the new year rise 16.1% compared with the same period last year.
Outdoor clothing retailer Blacks Leisure has warned that accounting discrepancies at its Sandcity unit will lead to pre-tax profit missing current forecasts by £1m in both 2007/8 and 2008/9.
Granby Oil and Gas has agreed terms of a recommended cash offer for the group with exploration and production company Silverstone worth 63.45p per share.
Among the minnows Vislink is sharply lower after expressing cautious over the outlook for MRC, its US radio frequency business and lower revenues at Defence Law Enforcement and Security.
Encryption software group nCipher is also down on a warning that profits will be substantially reduced in 2008.
Tadpole Technology surged ahead after it signed a two-year Software as a Service agreement with MiVISP, a UK supplier of managed services and content
FTSE 100 - Risers
Man Group (EMG) 529.50p +8.95%
ICAP (IAP) 551.00p +8.79%
Alliance & Leicester (AL.) 515.50p +8.36%
Schroders NV (SDRC) 790.50p +7.92%
TUI Travel (TT.) 261.50p +7.50%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,616.00p +7.45%
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FTSE 100 - Fallers
Yell Group (YELL) 146.40p -0.41%
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,618.00p -0.37%
Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,264.00p +0.31%
Experian Group (EXPN) 360.25p +0.63%
Resolution (RSL) 681.00p +0.67%
Unilever (ULVR) 1,614.00p +0.75%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Misys (MSY) 161.25p +13.76%
Investec (INVP) 317.25p +8.09%
PayPoint (PAY) 555.00p +7.56%
New Star Asset Management Group (NSAM) 89.75p +7.49%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 84.75p +7.28%
Kesa Electricals (KESA) 197.50p +6.61%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Venture Production (VPC) 601.00p -9.62%
PartyGaming (PRTY) 21.00p -6.67%
John Wood Group (WG.) 381.25p -3.91%
Benfield Group (BFD) 240.00p -3.90%
Talvivaara Mining (TALV) 331.50p -3.56%
Big Yellow Group (BYG) 418.00p -2.28%
