London midday: Market follows Man higher

Date: Thursday 27 May 2010

Buoyed by a good showing on Asian markets overnight European stock marketsare continuing their resurgence today, with London pretty much keeping pace with the likes of Germany, France and Italy. Sentiment has been boosted by China’s denial that it is cutting its holdings of euro zone sovereign debt.

Hedge fund manager Man Group leads the advance after it beat full-year profit forecasts and said it has begun to see a pick-up at its flagship AHL fund. The company, which last week agreed to buy New York-listed rival GLG Partners for $1.6bn, posted a profit before tax of $541m for the year to 31 March, down from $743m in 2009.

Shares in life insurer Prudential shot ahead on rumours that it is to scrap its planned $35.5bn takeover of AIG's Asian arm (AIA). Reports indicate institutional and private investors representing as much as 20% of the share capital of the Pru intend to vote against the takeover plans at the company’s AGM on 7 June. Sector peers Aviva andLegal & General are also wanted.

Miners Vedanta Resources, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are ahead, with the latter pair benefitting from an apparent softening in the Australian government’s hard-line stance on the planned introduction of a resource tax.

BP confirmed this morning that "top kill" operations at its leaking MC252 well in the Gulf of Mexico began last night at 1900 BST and are ongoing. It should take two days to complete operations, but US politicians will want minute-by-minute updates.

QinetiQ is the pick of the FTSE 250 stocks. The military researcher posted a pre-tax annual loss and suspended its dividend for twelve months after it was hit by a delay in orders. After what the group called a 'difficult year' with disappointing sales and weaker margins, new boss Leo Quinn said the group will undertake a two-year programme to restructure and reposition the business.

Also in defence, Cobham's slow start to its new financial year picked up with news of a new US navy contract. The company, which earlier this month said its defence and security businesses had started the year more slowly than anticipated due to delays in the award of certain US military contracts, announced the capture of a $46m contract from Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR).

Sugar and sweeteners giant Tate & Lyle is the worst performing FTSE 250 member. The company is to mothball its Fort Dodge plant in a move which put a £217m dent in full year profits, and has announced a new focus on its Speciality Food ingredients business. Adjusted pre-tax profit eased to £229m in the year to 31 March from £247m the year before. Sales dipped to £3,506m from £3,553m while net debt was cut to £814m from £1,231m.

Telecoms firm Cable & Wireless Communications said it has been a “challenging year” as it faced difficult condition in the Caribbean. The group, which split into two in March, posted pre-tax profits of $383m from $394m on revenues of $2.34bn against $2.44bn.

Daily Mail publisher Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) ramped up adjusted profit during its first half and expects to achieve good growth in full-year earnings, but remains cautious on the outlook for advertising.

Sportswear retailer JJB Sports said like-for-like sales revenue in the first quarter was 7.5% higher than last year. The group also said John Clare, who has been the interim chairman since David Jones stepped down in January, will assume the role permanently, effective immediately. Total group revenue was 15% lower.

Iron ore producer Ferrexpo expects iron ore pellet prices will remain well above 2009 levels for the remainder of this year, while profitability should also be boosted by ongoing improvements in operating efficiency, notwithstanding higher cost pressures.

Payment services provider PayPoint said profit in 2010 declined 5.7% but is trading in line with company forecasts this financial year. The group, which bought payments by mobile phone company PayByPhone in March, said pre-tax profit declined to £32.6m in the year ended 28 March 2010 from £34.6m the year earlier. Revenue for the period dropped to £196.6m from £224.4m.

Media Square, the international marketing communications firm, slumped into losses for the year due to writedowns. The group posted pre-tax losses of £20.8m from profit of £1m the previous year after exceptional items of £19.1m. The group said because of the recession certain businesses could no longer justify their goodwill carrying value.

Engineer Weir Group and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has signed a cooperation agreement to jointly develop activities in the UK nuclear new build market under the brand WEIR-MHI. Under the joint cooperation agreement, MHI will design and manufacture nuclear pumps for nuclear power generation and pumping equipment.

Alliance Pharma said trading in the first four months of 2010 has been ahead of its expectations and significantly ahead of last year.

Non-executive director John Leach is to take over as non-executive chairman at struggling nightclub operator Luminar after current incumbent Alan Jackson announced his intention not to seek re-election to the post.


FTSE 100 - Risers
Man Group (EMG) 230.50p +7.06%
Aviva (AV.) 318.50p +6.20%
Prudential (PRU) 543.50p +6.05%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 2,292.00p +5.48%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 77.70p +5.43%
SEGRO (SGRO) 278.10p +5.30%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,195.00p +4.26%
Fresnillo (FRES) 877.50p +4.09%
British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 574.50p +4.08%
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,194.00p +3.92%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
National Grid (NG.) 491.30p -1.23%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 521.00p -0.86%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 736.00p -0.41%
Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CW.) 79.15p -0.38%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 260.40p -0.34%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,216.00p -0.28%
International Power (IPR) 283.90p -0.21%
Serco Group (SRP) 597.50p -0.17%