London open: Mining stocks weigh

30th Nov 2011 08:39

London's leading stocks are trimming early losses after the weakness of mining stocks pushed the Footsie below 5,300 at one point.With resource stocks excluded from the picture, the index would be little changed, although downbeat consumer confidence data from market research firm GfK NOP has not helped sentiment.The Consumer Confidence index for November rose by one point from October's level to -31, but October's reading was the lowest since February 2009 and the November reading hardly counts as the first sighting of the green shoots of recovery.BUILDING A CAIRN TO TWO MORE ABANDONED WELLSOil firm Cairn Energy's miserable run of drilling off the coast of Greenland continues. The company said the AT7-1 and AT2-1 wells in the Atammik Block have been plugged and abandoned. Putting a brave face on things, Simon Thomson, chief executive of the group, said: "Whilst we have yet to make a commercial discovery we remain encouraged that all of the ingredients for success are in evidence." The shares are down by almost one-third over the last year, while the Oil and Gas Producers sector over the same period has risen by 6.80%, suggesting that the market does not share Thomson's confidence. TURNING TO DRINKBrewer and pubs group owner Marston's underlying profit before tax in the year ended October 1st rose 9.4% to £80.4m from £73.5m the year before. That was ahead of market expectations of £79.8m. Group revenue was also ahead of expectations at £682.2m, up 4.8% from £650.7m last year; the market had pencilled in a figure of £678.8m. As for current trading, in the 8 weeks to November 26th, like-for-like (LFL) sales in the managed estate were up 3.0%, while tenanted, leased and franchise profits are estimated to be up 2.0%. Own-brewed volumes have been in line with our expectations.Soft drinks maker Britvic posted a 15% increase in full year revenue and said it remains confident about trading for the year ahead despite the challenging economic backdrop.CASH IS KINGAccountancy software group Sage saw underlying pre-tax profit from continuing operations rise 8% to £352.6m in the year to the end of September from £326.6m the year before. The market had been expecting profits of £354.4m. Sales improved by 4% to £1,334.1m from £1,277.6m, with 3% growth in software and software-related service revenues (2010: 3% contraction) and 5% growth in subscription revenues (2010: 3%* growth). The group has proposed a rebasing of its dividend, and for once this is not code for a drastic cut; the full-year dividend rises to 9.75p from 7.80p.Balfour Beatty, the infrastructure firm, has signed a five-year £850m syndicated revolving credit facility, refinancing a number of bi-lateral agreements which were due to expire in the next 12-15 months. FTSE 100 - RisersSage Group (SGE) 278.00p +1.09%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,378.50p +0.84%Shire Plc (SHP) 2,061.00p +0.78%British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,894.00p +0.35%Diageo (DGE) 1,331.50p +0.23%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,259.00p +0.22%Experian (EXPN) 819.00p +0.18%Compass Group (CPG) 572.00p +0.18%Capital Shopping Centres Group (CSCG) 305.00p +0.16%Unilever (ULVR) 2,088.00p +0.10%FTSE 100 - FallersCairn Energy (CNE) 263.90p -4.04%Vedanta Resources (VED) 969.00p -2.86%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 845.50p -2.65%National Grid (NG.) 624.50p -2.57%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 618.00p -2.37%Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,059.00p -2.31%Amec (AMEC) 847.00p -2.25%Xstrata (XTA) 934.60p -2.14%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,606.00p -2.01%Lonmin (LMI) 999.50p -1.82%--jh