London afternoon: Shares crawl higher

16th Jun 2009 14:19

London's blue-chip index edged higher over the lunch-time session, helped by expectations of a moderately firmer start on Wall Street. Tesco's first quarter trading update has been well received. Like-for-like (LFL) sales growth came in at the top end of expectations, helped by a resumption of growth in non-food sales. Excluding petrol and VAT, UK LFL sales in the 13 weeks to the end of May rose 4.3% from a year earlier. Analysts predicted 3.5% to 4.3%. Sainsbury's is up in sympathy ahead of its trading update tomorrow.Lloyds Banking, one of the few blue-chips to advance yesterday, is leading the pack again today only this time it has some sector peers for company, with Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays both in the blue.BT Group is firmer after broker Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to "overweight" and increased its price target. Outsourcing firm Serco is also better after UBS raised it to "buy" from "neutral". Recession bit hard into Whitbread's latest quarter with sales at Premier Inns tumbling as businessmen stopped travelling. Like-for-like sales in the 13 weeks to 28 May fell by 2.7% as Premier struggled. Total sales rose by 2.5%. Tullow Oil's Kigogole-3 exploration well in the Butiaba region of Uganda Block 2 has found oil. The well encountered over 20 metres of net oil pay in two separate zones, with a 5 metre total net reservoir section above the 15 metre main reservoir interval. Mike Hussey, the managing director of the London portfolio of property giant Land Securities is to leave the company at the end of June. The company said the decision for Husssey to step down from the board and leave the company was by mutual agreement, after the company abandoned plans to demerge the division Hussey was in charge of. The shares fall back, despite JP Morgan raising its target price for LandSecs to 510p from 480p. The US bank has, however, cut its earnings forecasts for LandSecs and also for sector peer Liberty International.Rolls-Royce has edged higher after it won a $190m (£115m) share in an order from United Arab Emirates airline Etihad for V2500 engines to power a total of 20 Airbus A320s.Full-year profit from health and sensor group Halma came in, as expected, towards the bottom end of forecasts, following weaker order intake during the second half. Profit before tax and amortisation of acquired intangibles on continuing operations rose to £79.1m in the 12 months to 28 March 2009, up from £72.8m a year ago. Kesa Electricals, best known in the UK for its Comet electricals stores, has confirmed it is in talks to sell off its Swiss operation. The company is in exclusive negotiations with Swiss electrical retailing chain FUST, which is interested in buying Kesa's Swiss operations for SF20m (£11.4m). Kesa said the sale will not result in a paper loss for the group.US focused oil group Nighthawk has scrapped the $10.9m deal to sell finance group San Severina a 20% working interest in the Jolly Ranch prospect in Colorado. Nighthawk said payment of the initial consideration was due by 15 June 2009 and no payment from San Severina had been received.Elsewhere in the sector Papua New Guinea-focused oil and gas explorer Rift Oil has agreed terms of a takeover bid from Talisman Energy worth £108m, or 13p a share in cash.Fashion chain Ted Baker expects weak first half figures after a tough time for its wholesale division, though retail sales fared better helped by sales in the UK.Specialist computer and video games retailer Game Group said overall trading since the start of February remains in line with company expectations.