London midday: Footsie drifts back

15th Dec 2009 12:12

Footsie has drifted slightly lower as banks and miners join British Airways among the heaviest fallers.The airline is in focus amid expectations of a 12-day strike over Christmas.BA said it is mulling "all options" to cope with the planned action by cabin crew over the Christmas period. BA is reportedly trying to rework flight schedules and is considering a possible injunction to stop the walkout that could leave 1m passengers stranded over the holiday period.Banks are lower as the distance between the government and the industry over bonuses seems to get no nearer. Barclays and HSBC are the worst performers today.But RBS, whose chairman today insisted it needed to pay 'commercial' bonuses to reward staff, posts slight gains.Silver miner Fresnillo leads miners lower after prices for the precious metal fell back.Costa Coffee owner Whitbread has offered to buy Eastern European coffee shop operator CoffeeHeaven for about £36m. The recommended offer of 24 pence in cash represents a premium of around 25%.Serco is confident enough about prospects to repeat forecasts for 2009 ahead of meetings with analysts prior to its financial year end on 31 December. The outsourcing group predicts double-digit revenue growth this year and a 30 basis point increase in adjusted pre-tax profit margin, excluding SI International which should increase growth by some 10%.National Express has received 90.47% acceptances for its £360m rights issue, the bus and trains operator confirmed Tuesday. Shareholders owning more than 323m shares subscribed for the fully underwritten 7 for 3 cash call at 105p a share.Elsewhere in the sector, bus and train group Go-Ahead expects interim profits from its rail business to halve though its bus business is doing better. Rail profits are expected to slide as growth in passenger numbers across its three franchises will not be sufficient to offset the reductions in net franchise subsidies from the government. Lloyd List publisher and exhibitions group Informa is still on track to hit forecasts this year. In a very brief statement, the group, which ended its interest in buying German publisher Springer earlier this month, it continues to trade in line with management expectations.A return to sales growth in the UK & Ireland helped carpets and floor coverings group Carpetright increase pre-tax profit by 16% and double the dividend. Profit before tax for the 26 weeks ended 31 October grew to £11m from £9.5m a year ago, which includes a £2.9m loss on the exit from Poland. Revenue rose 9% to £258m.Credit lender International Personal Finance (IPF) anticipates that full year results will slightly exceed expectations.FTSE 100 - RisersUnited Utilities Group (UU.) 511.00p +1.49%Severn Trent (SVT) 1,057.00p +0.96%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 77.90p +0.91%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 31.21p +0.73%SEGRO (SGRO) 332.70p +0.67%Standard Life (SL.) 209.20p +0.67%Unilever (ULVR) 1,902.00p +0.63%Carnival (CCL) 2,158.00p +0.61%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 55.48p +0.58%Land Securities Group (LAND) 642.00p +0.55%FTSE 100 - FallersFresnillo (FRES) 787.00p -3.91%London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 744.00p -2.55%British Airways (BAY) 195.90p -2.54%Barclays (BARC) 284.35p -2.50%HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 702.60p -2.40%Amec (AMEC) 756.50p -2.26%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,541.00p -2.16%Cairn Energy (CNE) 3,045.00p -2.12%Man Group (EMG) 310.60p -2.08%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,266.00p -1.86%FTSE 250 - RisersInternational Personal Finance (IPF) 218.00p +8.13%Misys (MSY) 209.00p +4.29%Rank Group (RNK) 81.30p +4.10%Brit Insurance Holding (BRE) 187.50p +3.59%Atkins (WS) (ATK) 634.00p +3.51%BlueBay Asset Management (BBAY) 317.00p +3.26%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 2,729.00p +2.98%Morgan Sindall (MGNS) 565.00p +2.73%JD Wetherspoon (JDW) 457.70p +2.62%Aveva Group (AVV) 971.00p +2.10%FTSE 250 - FallersBrewin Dolphin (BRW) 139.80p -6.05%Ashmore Group (ASHM) 265.70p -2.92%HMV Group (HMV) 99.10p -2.84%Morgan Crucible (MGCR) 144.80p -2.82%Persimmon (PSN) 414.60p -2.68%F&C Asset Management (FCAM) 67.30p -2.68%Moneysupermarket.com (MONY) 71.55p -2.45%Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 411.20p -2.17%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 178.90p -2.13%Mothercare (MTC) 649.50p -2.04%