London close: Late dip slows Footsie's progress

21st Oct 2010 16:42

A late sag pulled Footsie back after it seemed destined for its highest close since the middle of April.Good company news and a bright start on Wall Street, with the Dow up 100 points at the start, meant a strong afternoon session in London, but blue chips eased back as the day ended.BT was the best performer after a favourable court ruling. The UK government has to guarantee all BT employees in the BT pension scheme, not just the ones that joined prior to privatisation in 1984, it was decided. It is estimated that four-fifths of the pension scheme's liabilities relate to employees who joined before privatisation. The pension fund has 337,000 eligible members. GlaxoSmithKline was off colour. The drug giant reported better than expected earnings per share before restructuring costs but it says that the operating environment is challenging.TUI Travel, owner of the Thomson travel agent brand, took a whacking as it restated results for 2008/09 and took an extra £88m charge linked to the integration of IT systems in its UK mainstream business following the merger with First Choice Holidays in 2007. Oil explorer Tullow was also down, after its Onyina-1 exploration well in the Deepwater Tano licence offshore Ghana hit water.Defence giant BAE expects to see a reduction in growth in 2010 due to the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) that was announced on Tuesday, it said today. While it can help the government to achieve efficiency targets, the company expects the SDSR to have a "modest impact" on its UK business, resulting in a reduction in earnings of about 1p a share.German broker Commerzbank remains keen on British Airways and expects the airline to benefit from a 'dynamic rebound in the revenue environment'. Based on the expected very strong results for the second quarter, the German broker sees clear upside to current market expectations for full-year earnings and to the company's most recent guidance (currently: breakeven at the PBT level). In the FTSE 250, Debenhams is going well after reporting full year results. In the year to August 28, pre-tax profits climbed by 20.6% from the previous year to £151m. Afren moved ahead after buying a stake in a Nigerian oil field from Shell and Total, helping cement its position in the country.Britvic is fizzing after the soft drinks group served up a 33.4% rise in fourth quarter revenue after a robust performance particularly from its French division.Bookmaker William Hill is wanted after a strong third quarter as a string of football results went in its favour. Sporting results have continued to go its way since the end of the period.Colt Group, the business communications and IT managed services firm, grew third quarter earnings by 5% despite a 2% dip in revenue and is spending up to €40m on simplifying its business. It's expected the idea will increase efficiencies to about €35m in a full year, with 35% to be invested in new customer facing roles, providing recurring annual cost savings of around €20m. Car dealer Inchcape expects results for 2010 to be ahead of expectations after a better than expected performance in the third quarter. Revenues in the nine months to September 30 were up by 7.6% from the same period the previous year, the company said.Inkjet printing technology firm Xaar traded above 200p for the first time in over two years on news it has conditionally raised £15m and that trading in the third quarter has beaten forecasts.FTSE 100 - RisersBT Group (BT.A) 156.30p +4.06%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,550.00p +3.92%Invensys (ISYS) 320.50p +3.72%InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 1,215.00p +3.67%FTSE 100 - FallersTUI Travel (TT.) 205.00p -11.02%Autonomy Corporation (AU.) 1,461.00p -2.92%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,045.00p -2.11%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,227.00p -2.08%FTSE 250 - RisersAfren (AFR) 132.40p +14.24%Debenhams (DEB) 76.50p +6.99%Mcbride (MCB) 172.40p +5.70%Britvic (BVIC) 497.30p +5.70%FTSE 250 - FallersForth Ports (FPT) 1,312.00p -4.16%Lamprell (LAM) 356.00p -4.04%Centamin Egypt Ltd. (CEY) 168.50p -3.71%Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CW.) 70.00p -3.51%