London close: Footsie hits 4-month high
A sharp drop on Wall Street carved a chunk out of London's gains late Friday, but the leading index stayed above 6,300 thanks to hefty rises at British Energy and LSE on bid excitement.
Nuclear power generator British Energy was top pick 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.
London Stock Exchange also ended stronger after Sanford Bernstein said falls in LSE's share price had made it an attractive target for rivals Nasdaq or the New York Stock Exchange. Results are due next week.
Meanwhile, interdealer broker ICAP rallied, helped by talk of a bid from commodity trading platform InterContinentalExchange.
The advance was disrupted as crude prices surged back above $127 a barrel, sending US markets deep into the red, but the UK's top index closed at its best levels since early January.
British Airways took off as profits in the year to March jumped to £883m from £611m in 2007, 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 profit increased by 13% in the four months to 30 April. 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.
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.
Mortgage lender HBOS has sold its entire stake in Rightmove, raising about £59m through a secondary placing of 16.2m shares or 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.
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.
FTSE 100 - Risers
British Energy Group (BGY) 715.50p +5.22%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 1,143.00p +5.06%
British Airways (BAY) 233.00p +4.02%
ICAP (IAP) 659.00p +3.78%
Next (NXT) 1,285.00p +3.71%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 415.00p +3.30%
Home Retail Group (HOME) 260.50p +3.27%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 954.50p +3.24%
Compass Group (CPG) 367.25p +3.09%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,094.00p +2.95%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 266.50p -3.44%
Rolls-Royce Group (RR.) 439.25p -2.39%
(Article continues below)Advertisement
Barclays (BARC) 410.25p -2.03%
Tate & Lyle (TATE) 499.00p -1.38%
FirstGroup (FGP) 546.50p -1.35%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 372.75p -1.26%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 782.00p -1.01%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 2,958.00p -0.94%
Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC) 1,444.00p -0.82%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 6,969.00p -0.77%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Moneysupermarket.com (MONY) 127.25p +6.93%
Mapeley (MAY) 1,365.00p +6.23%
Cattles (CTT) 214.50p +6.06%
Capital & Regional (CAL) 355.00p +5.97%
Johnston Press (JPR) 125.75p +5.67%
Investec (INVP) 397.75p +5.50%
International Personal Finance (IPF) 260.25p +5.15%
Debenhams (DEB) 63.75p +4.94%
Inchcape (INCH) 446.00p +4.88%
Trinity Mirror (TNI) 255.25p +4.61%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Galiform (GFRM) 66.50p -4.66%
Marshalls (MSLH) 215.00p -4.44%
Findel (FDL) 277.00p -4.40%
Signet Group (SIG) 70.00p -2.44%
Meggitt (MGGT) 278.00p -2.37%
Bellway (BWY) 706.50p -2.28%
Micro Focus International Plc (MCRO) 252.50p -1.85%
Rightmove (RMV) 378.75p -1.75%
Logica (LOG) 125.50p -1.57%
Greggs (GRG) 4,220.00p -1.49%
