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Date: Wednesday 30 Apr 2008

  • Market Movers
  • techMARK 1,425.24 +1.11%
  • FTSE 100 6,087.30 -0.03%
  • FTSE 250 10,122.30 +1.15%

LONDON (ShareCast) - UK investors adopted a wait-and-see posture ahead of the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates, with the Footsie closing little changed.

Retail chain owner Home Retail Group was the top performer after it raised underlying annual profits by 15% to £433m. Broker Panmure Gordon said the results came in at the top end of market expectations and reiterated its “buy” recommendation.

Admiral sailed higher after Citigroup upgraded its recommendation on the car insurer to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ following yesterday’s full-year results, accompanied by a bullish outlook for 2008.

Vedanta, Kazykhmys and Eurasian Natural Resources all featured prominently among the laggards. Kazakhmys this morning said copper ore output rose 7% on the preceding quarter as new mines came on stream.

Chilean miner Antofagasta was wanted, however, after announcing it produced 114,600 tonnes of copper in the first quarter of 2008, down on the previous three month period but 7.1% above the quarterly average for 2007.

BG also slipped back even after first quarter net profit rose to £767m from £432m driven by strong oil and gas prices and higher production and just ahead of forecasts. Investors were more concerned about the cash draining $12bn approach to buy Origin of Australia, the country's second-biggest electricity and gas retailer.

Satellite broadcaster BSkyB rose after it met forecasts in the third quarter with nine-month adjusted operating profit of £521m, down 6%, and revenues of £3.71bn, up 10%. The group added 56,000 net new customers with churn at 10.5%.

Standard Life saw life and pensions sales rise by 8% in the first quarter to £4.48bn with the UK chipping in £3.52bn, up 6%. Savings and investment sales rose by 43%. Pension sales were 2% lower than a strong prior year comparator and individual SIPP sales fell by 14% after last year's exceptional boost.

Pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca was up on hopes that its asthma drug might win US regulatory approval to be used in the treatment of emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

Bodycote, the engineering firm, said organic sales growth is running at about 6% in the year to date, with operating margins and cash flow in line with management expectations. The board has decided to seek a buyer for its Testing Strategic Business Unit to enable it to focus on the further development of the Thermal Processing. The news attracted buyers hoping the sale would spark a cash payout to shareholders.

Aircraft services group BBA Aviation's first-quarter revenue was 12% higher than last year, of which about 7% was due to increased fuel prices.

Online gambling house PartyGaming fell back even though it revealed a 21% hike in first quarter revenues.

A mysterious long term strategic investor from the United Arab Emirates is flying to the rescue of cash strapped business-class only airline Silverjet.

Consultant and outsource firm Tribal Group said it expects profits for the six months of the year to be significantly ahead of the same period last year. The group also announced the appointment of Andy Field as chief operating officer from Fujitsu.

Womenswear clothing retailer Jacques Vert said profit for the year will fall below current expectations due to deterioration in trading in the last few weeks.

Internet protocol (IP) telecoms services provider BNS Telecom Group saw half year profits dwindle but is anticipating improved trading in the second half now it has rid itself of its loss making Network Services Division to concentrate on its fast-growing IP-related products.

Shares in consumer mobile e-mail specialist Axis Mobile crashed after the company said it is considering its options, including the disposal of certain or all assets of the business or additional funding from strategic investors, after its cash position deteriorated due to a slower than anticipated increase in revenue.

Health and wellness group ADDLeisure shed pounds of unsightly losses at the interim stage as revenues more than doubled.

FTSE 100 - Risers
Home Retail Group (HOME) 264.00p +8.75%
Admiral Group (ADM) 871.00p +6.15%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 3,134.00p +4.47%
Carphone Warehouse Group (CPW) 271.75p +3.52%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 655.00p +3.48%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 380.50p +3.26%
Old Mutual (OML) 128.20p +2.72%
Tesco (TSCO) 429.00p +2.69%
British Airways (BAY) 226.50p +2.49%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 802.50p +2.49%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
BG Group (BG.) 1,231.00p -5.89%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 2,245.00p -4.47%
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,582.00p -4.00%
Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC) 1,200.00p -3.77%
HBOS (HBOS) 470.50p -3.34%
Wolseley (WOS) 507.50p -3.06%
Bunzl (BNZL) 739.50p -2.31%
Alliance & Leicester (AL.) 517.00p -2.27%
Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,419.00p -1.83%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 1,897.00p -1.81%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Bodycote International (BOY) 241.75p +14.30%
Telecity Group (TCY) 237.00p +12.86%
Cattles (CTT) 239.75p +10.36%
Aegis Group (AGS) 126.00p +7.69%
Melrose Resources (MRS) 400.00p +7.67%
BBA Aviation (BBA) 157.25p +7.16%
Brit Insurance Holding (BRE) 245.25p +6.75%
Benfield Group (BFD) 264.00p +6.45%
Renishaw (RSW) 750.50p +5.56%
Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 141.75p +5.19%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
PartyGaming (PRTY) 24.25p -8.49%
Drax Group (DRX) 602.00p -3.83%
Mondi (MNDI) 401.50p -3.72%
William Hill (WMH) 386.00p -3.56%
Morgan Crucible (MGCR) 223.00p -3.04%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 359.75p -2.64%
Randgold Resources (RRS) 2,254.00p -2.47%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 355.00p -2.20%
Keller Group (KLR) 675.50p -2.10%
BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) 713.50p -1.79%

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