London midday: QE increase boosts Footsie

6th Aug 2009 12:13

Footsie has reacted calmly to a surprise £50bn increase to £175bn in the Bank of England's quantitative easing programme. Interest rates, as expected, remained on hold at 0.5%.Insurer Aviva is the best performer and leads a life sector rally despite a 31% cut in the interim dividend. A plan for a partial IPO of its Dutch arm has encouraged buyers. Legal & General and Prudential are also going well.Banks continue to rise with Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking and Barclays all up. RBS reports its interim figures tomorrow. Food and household goods giant Unilever is ahead despite posting a fall in earnings as recession-hit shoppers cut back on branded products. Turnover at the maker of Surf washing powder and Knorr soups in the second quarter of 2009 climbed to €10.46bn from €10.37bn over the same period a year previously but pre-tax profits slipped to €1.20bn from €1.35bn. Fresnillo, the world's largest primary silver producer, said the board has approved the pre-feasibility study for the development of the first stage of Saucito project in Mexico. RSA Insurance is down. Although net written premiums rose 4% to £3.5bn at non-life insurer RSA, on a constant exchange rate it was down 2%. Operating result was also down 11% to £392m, while pre-tax profit slumped to £301m from £395m before. Broadcaster ITV posted a fall in revenues and continued losses in the six months to June 30 as advertising revenues slumped. Pre-tax profits for the period totalled £105m, compared with £1.53bn over the same period , but it is the £145m loss on the sale of Friends reunited that catches the eye. Defence firm Cobham's profits and revenue surged over the past half-year thanks to acquisitions made last year and favourable currency rates. Profit plunged by 56% during the first half at fund manager Schroders and by 73% after exceptional items due in part to falling performance fees, but funds under management rose and should go higher still the firm said. Satellite communications firm Inmarsat is on target for solid revenue growth this year following a strong half-year performance from the maritime business. Profit before tax for the six months ended 30 June 2009 jumped 10.5% to $97m following a 4.9% increase in revenue to $508.7m and lower operating costs. Bookmaker Ladbrokes dropped its half-year dividend by 31% following a slip in profits and the "uncertain" outlook. Profit before tax for the six months ended 30 June 2009 fell 3.9% to £131.3m from £136.6m a year ago on group net revenue down 6.6% to £504.4m. Budget airline EasyJet crammed more passengers onto its planes and lifted traffic in July as demand for cheap flights held up in the recession. The group flew 4.66m passengers during the month, compared with 4.47m over the same month the previous year Hotel operator Millennium & Copthorne saw profits fall by nearly half in the second quarter as the global recession hit demand, but said it was beginning to see signs of stability sending its share price shooting ahead.Carpets retailer Carpetright continues to make big gains after its bullish update yesterday.