London midday: Footsie posts good gains

15th Jul 2009 12:17

London's blue chips are now pushing on strongly ahead of what is expected to be a strong start on Wall Street after the good numbers last night from chipmaker Intel.Over here, it is the turn of insurer RSA to enter the frame as a takeover target, with Italy's life assurance group Generali touted as the likely predator. Elsewhere in the sector Prudential and Legal & General move higher as investors cover their bets in case a new wave of consolidation is underway. Fund managers F&C Asset and Henderson are also in demand on sector consolidation hopes. Land Securities is going well after it said it is beginning to assess acquisition opportunities and is in the process of firming up plans for a start during 2010 on two major London West End developments at Park House, W1, and Selborne House, SW1.The property giant, which raised £756m in a March rights issue to rebuild its balance sheet after huge write-downs, says growing investor interest is now evident for both prime and mid-quality properties.Miners are also in favour, especially on the second line. Fresnillo and Kazakhmys lead the way.Rio Tinto is also up even though it revealed "difficult" conditions at its aluminium business during the second quarter, with production there down 5% on the same time last year. The row with China over the arrest of four of its employees is also becoming serious, with the Australian PM now involved.Production jumped 19% at Hochschild during the second quarter, putting the Latin America-focused miner "firmly on track" to hit its full year production target of 28 million silver equivalent ounces.Pub group JD Wetherspoon said like-for-like sales in the 50 weeks to July increased 1.2% and that it is "optimistic" about prospects for the new year. In the period to period to 12 July, overall sales rose 5.2% thanks to an encouraging sales performance from both its existing pubs and new openings. Q4 lfl sales fell 0.8% and total sales 3.1%.London Stock Exchange's revenues rallied quarter on quarter in the three months to June, but are still running well below levels seen last year. Against a strong prior year comparative quarter, revenue in first quarter fell 8% to £161.9m and by 12% on a constant currency basis. But revenue was up by 5% and by 7% respectively compared with the previous three months.Interdealer broker ICAP expects underlying profit for the year to March 2010 to be in line with expectations, providing exchange rates remain at current levels for the remainder of the year. Revenue grew by over 10% in the quarter ended 30 June 2009 compared with the same period in the previous year.Higher prices and better volumes kept Northern Foods on track in the first quarter with the hot weather giving its sandwiches and salads arm a seasonal lift. Underlying revenue for the first quarter to June grew by 5.5% on this time last year, reflecting price increases of 1.3% and volumes ahead by 4.2%.Social housing firm Connaught has made a £13.3m recommended offer for environment services firm Fountains. The group, which said today that it was confident of delivering full-year results in line with expectations, also confirmed it is in final negotiations to acquire two compliance services businesses.