London close: Blue chips rally near close

24th Feb 2011 16:40

Shares rallied near the close despite the ongoing turmoil in Libya as Saudi Arabia indicated it would boost production to meet any shortfall caused by the unrest. Libya only produces about 2% of global output, but traders are worried the turmoil could spread to bigger oil producers, such as Algeria.Brent crude jumped to $119.79 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange, up by nearly 18% since the unrest began. The April contract for US light crude rose to $103.41 a barrel. British Airways owner IAG and a big fuel user is down again, taking its losses for the week to 10%. Oil companies are higher led by Tullow and Cairn Energy.Taxpayer-owned Royal Bank of Scotland lost ground after it stayed in the red last year, though lower impairment charges meant the deficit was sharply reduced. Pre-tax losses came in at £239m in 2010, down from £1.93bn, with the bank posting a small profit in the last three months of the year.RSA Insurance Group's net written premiums rose 11% (8% at constant exchange rates) to £7.46bn in 2010 from £6.74bn in 2009, with profitable top line growth seen in all regions. The combined operating ratio deteriorated to 96.4% from 94.6% in 2009, with 3.5 points of the ratio being attributed to bigger than usual losses related to adverse weather conditions. Profit before tax eased 14% to £474m from £554m the year before.Profits soared at British Gas owner Centrica in the year to 31 December as the cold weather towards the end of last year forced homeowners to crank up the heating. Pre-tax profits climbed to £2.8bn from £996m the previous year on revenues that rose to £22.4bn from £22bn. The results have failed to impress the market though and the shares are down.British American Tobacco, the maker of Lucky Strike cigarettes, is lower today even after it squeezed out a higher profit in the 2010 as price increases and emerging market growth helped it offset sluggishness in some markets. Pre-tax profits rose to £4.39bn from £4.08bn the previous year on revenues that rose to £43.9bn from £40.7bn. Capita, the provider of outsourced services that depends on the government for much of its turnover, is bucking the downward trend after it lifted revenues and profits in the year to December despite the coalition government's cost-cutting drive. Pre-tax profits climbed to £364m from £325m on revenues that rose to £2.74bn from £2.69bn. Capita, whose activities include collecting the TV licence, said it is strongly positioned despite having faced a slowdown in decision making on major outsourcing contracts. The bid pipeline stands at a record £4.7bn, up from £3.7bn at the same time last year. Fellow outsourcer Serco is up in sympathy.Engineer Invensys has won its third long term contract with China Nuclear Power Engineering. The latest contract is for the provision of safety and distributed control systems and solutions for the Fuqing Nuclear Power Plant being built in the Fujian province in southeast China.Growth in its construction arm helped housebuilder and contractor Kier lift half-year sales by 9% to £1.1bn. On a like for like basis, underlying profit before tax grew by 26% to £31.3m.Shares in Mouchel jumped after the outsourced services provider said it is in 'advanced discussions' with a potential bidder. Engineer Costain has bid for Mouchel, whose activities include providing CCTV-equipped cars used by local authorities to nab traffic offenders, twice in the past three months, but said today that it is not in discussions with Mouchel. Soft drinks group Britvic has turned sour after saying that recent price rises forces it to revise its input-cost inflation guidance upwards.Sportingbet is in demand after the online sports betting firm said amounts wagered in the three months to 31 January rose 10.6% to £555m from £502m a year earlier, down from a 10.9% growth rate in the preceding three month period.Rail and bus operator National Express returned to profit for the year, restored its dividend payment and said it was confident in the year ahead. The transport group, which expects to complete its Business Recovery programme in 2011, said it made a pre-tax profit of £40.2m last year compared with losses of £83.5m the year before. Housebuilder Barratt Developments benefitted from higher selling prices in the second half of 2010 and said 2011 has started well though the market remains fragile. Pre-tax losses in the half year to 31 December narrowed to £4.6m from £178.4m over the same period the previous year, as revenues edged up to £877.6m from £872.4m.FTSE 100 - RisersCapita Group (CPI) 717.00p +7.01%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,387.00p +2.82%Serco Group (SRP) 543.50p +2.64%Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,345.00p +2.44%FTSE 100 - FallersEssar Energy (ESSR) 490.20p -4.82%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG) 225.10p -3.97%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 45.57p -3.70%Prudential (PRU) 681.00p -3.54%FTSE 250 - RisersEnQuest (ENQ) 144.00p +6.75%Sportingbet (SBT) 47.28p +5.07%Sports Direct International (SPD) 180.30p +3.21%Kier Group (KIE) 1,314.00p +2.74%