London afternoon: Stocks continue rising
London's top stocks are still riding high thanks to some M&A news and the expected modest start on Wall Street.
London Stock Exchange leads the pile after Sanford Bernstein said falls in LSE's recent share price has made it an attractive target for rivals Nasdaq or the New York Stock Exchange. The group is also due to post results next week.
Nuclear power generator British Energy is also higher after receiving a range of takeover proposals, including some priced above Thursday's closing share price. "The board has reviewed the proposals and has decided that discussions should continue with all the parties concerned," it said in a statement.
Interdealer broker ICAP is also going strong, helped by talk of a bid from commodity trading platform InterContinentalExchange.
British Airways is the biggest flyer though. Its profits jumped to £883m (2007: £611m) in the year to March even though its fuel bill topped £2bn, but it is very cautious on the current year. "The first quarter will be particularly difficult," it said adding it is reviewing costs across its whole network.
Shares in Compass moved higher after Goldman Sachs upgraded the caterer to 'neutral' from 'sell' following its first half results. The broker said Compass was managing issues such as food cost inflation effectively and continuing to reduce costs.
National Grid is enjoying a surge after Credit Suisse kept its neutral stance on the power supplier, but said it was a 'trading buy'.
Ladbrokes profits increased by 13% in the four months to April 30. Gross win increased by 16% and by 34% including the contribution from "high rollers." The High Rollers chipped in £40m but their activity has recently fallen to de minimis levels, Ladbrokes said.
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Housebuilder and contractor Kier expects to meet profit expectations this year barring any further significant market setbacks for its residential business, where reservations are down 35% on last year and margins are under pressure.
Capital & Regional said its underlying tenant business remained resilient in the first quarter with all indicators trading within their normal range.
An unnamed shareholder in Rightmove is raising about £60m in a secondary placing of 16.2m shares, around 13% of the online property group.
IT services provider Computacenter said pre tax profit will be more skewed towards the second half, which may result in the first half being slightly below the same period last year. "This is due to not achieving our revenue growth objectives to date, despite increased investments, and the increased proportion of Group profits generated in Germany, which have always been biased towards the second half of the year," said the group.
Flat panel speaker technology firm NXT, "within sight" of breakeven, has said the level of increase in second half sales revenue will depend on the outcome of ongoing licensing talks.
Trading since the start of the year has been "encouraging" at Harry Potter publisher Bloomsbury, which is also feeling the positive benefit of cost cutting efforts.
Shares in struggling estate agent Humberts have been suspended at the request of the company as concerns about its future intensified.
Grey clouds descended on Weatherly today after a potential suitor pulled out of bid talks with the miner.
