LONDON Midday Report

London midday: Cadbury powers Footsie surge

Footsie is still going strong as shares in chocolate maker Cadbury rush ahead following its rejection of a Ł10.2bn offer from Kraft.

Cadbury has rejected the proposal. Kraft, whose brands include Dairylea cheese and Toblerone chocolates, said its proposed offer of 300p a share and 0.2589 Kraft shares for every Cadbury share values each share in the Dairy Milk firm at 745p and Ł10.2bn in total.

Elsewhere in the world of sweet foods, sugar producer and clothes retailer Associated British Foods is also going well said it expects some improvement in adjusted earnings over the full year despite a much higher interest charge. Trading in the second half of the year has been strong. Sales and profit at Primark will again top the preceding year’s figures. Like-for-like sales growth of 7% is expected for the full year driven by a very strong performance in the UK.

Leisure group Whitbread is also going well after it forecast profits this year will be at the higher end of forecasts. The rate of decline at hotel chain Premier Inns steadied in the three months to 13 August, while coffee chain Costa continued to push ahead. Overall, sales rose by 2.4%, but Whitbread said like-for like sales, down by 2.6%, were hit by tough comparatives this time last year.

Balfour Beatty, the engineering, construction and services group, is to be involved in six construction frameworks in Devon. Its contracting subsidiary, Mansell, is one of 11 contractors to be appointed by Devon County Council on the Construction Framework South West.

Industrial conveyor belt maker Fenner expects to meet profit forecasts this year after trading picked up in the last two months.

Industrial unrest continues to hamper production at Aquarius Platinum’s Kroondal and Marikana operations in South Africa with the replacement of sacked workers likely to take longer than expected.

Fast growing NHS staff supplier Healthcare Locums doubled its interim dividend as profits jumped by nearly two-thirds and margins climbed sharply. The supplier of temp-contract doctors, social workers, nurses and other health ancillary staff, saw revenue overall rose by 8.5% to Ł86.5m in the half year to June. Profit before tax rose 64% to Ł9.5m (2008: Ł5.8m).

Craneware is another healthcare specialist doing well. The hospital management software supplier posted a 40% hike in full year pre-tax profit as it increased new product lines.

FTSE 100 - Risers
Cadbury (CBRY) 801.00p +41.02%
Lonmin (LMI) 1,652.00p +4.69%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 848.00p +4.43%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,099.00p +4.07%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 105.55p +3.70%
BT Group (BT.A) 133.50p +3.61%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 73.40p +3.53%
British Airways (BAY) 196.00p +3.48%
Man Group (EMG) 268.90p +3.46%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 767.00p +3.23%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Petrofac Ltd (PFC) 899.50p -0.94%
Shire Plc (SHP) 1,038.00p -0.86%
Thomson Reuters (TRIL) 1,887.00p -0.79%
Standard Life (SL.) 193.50p -0.72%
Friends Provident Group (FP.) 81.85p -0.67%
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,055.00p -0.38%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,367.00p -0.36%
G4S (GFS) 222.20p +0.14%
Fresnillo (FRES) 676.50p +0.15%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,190.00p +0.17%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Whitbread (WTB) 1,189.00p +15.89%
Yell Group (YELL) 53.00p +10.21%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 111.50p +9.31%
Galiform (GFRM) 64.90p +6.83%
Shanks Group (SKS) 93.70p +6.78%
Kier Group (KIE) 1,172.00p +5.59%
Premier Foods (PFD) 45.10p +5.42%
PayPoint (PAY) 494.90p +5.30%
Morgan Crucible (MGCR) 156.00p +5.26%
Morgan Sindall (MGNS) 690.00p +5.26%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Domino Printing (DNO) 264.50p -3.01%
Restaurant Group (RTN) 196.40p -3.01%
Cranswick (CWK) 599.00p -2.92%
Goldman Sachs Dynamic Opportunities EUR Shares (GSDE) € 1.02 -2.85%
Novae Group (NVA) 333.80p -1.82%
AG Barr (BAG) 1,342.00p -1.68%
Game Group (GMG) 173.70p -1.53%
Genus (GNS) 578.00p -1.28%
Melrose Resources (MRS) 336.00p -1.03%
Investec (INVP) 432.90p -1.01%