London close: Late rally not enough

2nd Jun 2009 16:46

A rally in the afternoon session was not enough to lift the Footsie out of negative territory, though second-liners were moderately firmer on balance.Bank Barclays was the day’s worst performing blue-chip after news of the sale by IPIC broke overnight. Khadem Al Qubaisi, managing director of IPIC, said that the sale did not represent a lack of faith in Barclays, its management or current strategy. Elsewhere in the banking sector Lloyds falls back ahead of the closing of its open offer period at noon on Friday.Advertising giant WPP was another stock in the wars after it said like-for-like sales in the first four month of the year dropped 6.7% after trading worsened in April. On a reportable basis, worldwide revenues were up 33.7%. In constant currencies, revenues rose 10.3%, principally reflecting the weakness of the pound sterling against the US dollar and Euro.Retailers were a bright spot. Doubled profits at B&Q helped Kingfisher's first quarter profit jump by 40%. The retailer is also hopeful on prospects for the rest of the year. Total sales in the three months to end April rose by 9.6% to £2.64bn with like-for-like sales down by 1.7%. Fellow DIY retailer Home Retail rose in sympathy, helped by April’s rise in mortgage approvals, which also made housebuilding shares such as Barratt Developments look more attractive.Furniture and clothing retailer Laura Ashley sailed higher after some optimistic noises from the board. Like-for-like sales improved by 6.9% in the 17 weeks to the end of May compared to the same period last year despite the economic uncertainty impacting consumer confidence and spending patterns.Water company Pennon posted a 7% rise in underlying operating profit to £259.0m. Its final dividend has been boosted by 5.1% to 14.25p, giving a full-year dividend of 21p, up 6% on the preceding year.Meanwhile, smaller peer Dee Valley saw a sharp fall in profits for the year to March 31 after facing high electricity prices and failing to compensate by lifting prices for its own customers.Gas supplier Centrica took another step in its plan to reduce its dependence on the wholesale markets by agreeing to buy a stake in a gas development block in Trinidad.Talvivaara Mining leads the fallers in the FTSE 250 after it said it will place up to 22.2m shares to raise funds to expand and increase the capacity of its metals processing facility. The placing represents 10% of the existing share capital. The price of the shares will be agreed at the close of the book-building process.Mezzanine finance specialist Intermediate Capital is “disappointed” to post a loss for the year as net provisions surged. Pre-tax losses came in at £67m against £229.5m profit last year due to net provisions of £273m. Nevertheless, the stock was the best performer among FTSE 250 constituents, after stockbroker Noble pointed out the company trades at a 50% discount to net asset value. Positive comment from Nobel also lifted electronic payments processor Paypoint.Heavy write-downs on its stake in rival Aer Lingus sent Ryanair deep into the red last year, with underlying profits also sharply lower. The Irish no-frills carrier posted a loss of €180m after taking a €222m hit of its stake in Aer Lingus.Aerospace components and fitting out group Umeco revealed a 32% rise in pre-tax profit for the year but are planning for a year of more modest revenue growth. The group, whose customers include Boeing, Airbus and BAE Systems, said adjusted pre-tax profit rose to £29m in the year to 31 March 2009 from £21.9m while revenue from continuing operations rose to £415.3m from £335.2m.Hamworthy, manufacturer of marine and offshore fluid handling systems, posted a rise in full year profits as it rebuffed the effects of the economic downturn and said it is confident of meeting expectations for the year. Pre-tax profit rose to £22.3m from £17m before on revenue that increased by 9.1% to £252.8m, or a decrease of 1.5% on a constant currency basis.AIM-listed First Property joined its fellow property stocks in the red after an initially favourable response to its full-year results. The central and eastern European property fund’s assets under management increased to £310m at the end of March 2009 from £290m a year earlier. Marketing communications firm Media Square surged after it turned into profits of £456,000 following the loss of £17.1m last year. Turnover fell to £121m from £137m previously.FTSE 100 - RisersKingfisher (KGF) 190.70p +3.75%Lonmin (LMI) 1,568.00p +2.95%Xstrata (XTA) 778.00p +2.91%Home Retail Group (HOME) 249.00p +2.89%FTSE 100 - FallersBarclays (BARC) 273.50p -13.52%WPP Group (WPP) 453.50p -5.37%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 38.10p -5.22%Hammerson (HMSO) 290.75p -4.98%FTSE 250 - RisersIntermediate Capital Group (ICP) 560.00p +21.67%PayPoint (PAY) 514.50p +8.32%FTSE 250 - FallersGenus (GNS) 558.00p -6.30%Informa (INF) 234.75p -6.10%