Sector movers: Telcos, house construction keep London in the green
Telecommunications stocks spurred on by Fidelity’s bid for Colt, and home construction shares kept the London market in the green on Monday, as the possibility of settlement over Greece’s debt woes rose after the country’s government submitted fresh proposals for consideration.
African Eagle Resources
0.30p
14:39 11/02/15
COLT Group SA
189.75p
16:34 09/09/15
Crest Nicholson Holdings
186.50p
17:05 19/04/24
Fixed Line Telecommunications
1,784.13
17:09 19/04/24
Food & Drug Retailers
3,705.02
17:10 19/04/24
FTSE 100
7,895.85
16:59 19/04/24
FTSE 250
19,391.30
17:09 19/04/24
FTSE 350
4,341.08
17:09 19/04/24
FTSE AIM All-Share
745.67
17:08 19/04/24
FTSE All-Share
4,296.41
17:08 19/04/24
Household Goods & Home Construction
12,287.29
17:10 19/04/24
Mining
10,765.51
17:10 19/04/24
Persimmon
1,286.00p
16:35 19/04/24
Taylor Wimpey
130.75p
17:03 19/04/24
Thorntons
142.88p
16:30 19/08/15
Vistry Group
1,114.00p
17:03 19/04/24
The FTSE 100 closed up 1.72% or 115.22 points at 6,825.67, as construction sector shares rallied with Taylor Wimpey (up 3.61%) being the among the top blue chip risers for the trading session. Rivals Crest Nicholson (up 3.20%), Persimmon (2.55%), Barratt Development (up 2.48%), Berkeley Group (up 1.38%) and Bovis (up 1.32%) all rose.
Construction materials and engineering sector shares also rose in tandem with Morgan Sindall Group (up 5.18%), Balfour Beatty (up 3.46%) and Keller Group (up 1.84%). However, telecoms stocks continued to provide momentum to trading in London, following Fidelity’s bid to take over the remaining part of telecom and technology solutions provider Colt, that it doesn't already own.
On a day Fidelity said its offer of 190p was a final one, Colt shares closed up 1.38% up 2.6p at 190.60p. The company's direct rivals, both large and small, benefitted from the positive vibes. C&W (up 4.12%), BT Group (up 2.37%) and TalkTalk (up 1.59%) were all in the green, alongside Vodafone (up 2.42%) and Inmarsat (up 2.17%).
The utilities sector also saw an uptick, as report in The Times suggested that Canadian infrastructure investor Borealis was once again considering a bid for water company Severn Trent. It sent the company’s shares higher by 5.99% to 2,178p.
Two years ago, Borealis bid for Severn Trent as part of a consortium with Kuwait Investment Office and the UK’s University Superannuation Scheme. The bid then was 22p a share and was rejected by management as too low.
Commenting on the latest bid report, Exane BNP Paribas said that at 2,050p, the current Severn Trent share price implies a 20% premium to the group’s regulatory asset base.
Elsewhere, shares in Thorntons spiked 43% on news that Ferrero International will acquire the company for a 145p per share cash offer that values the fully-diluted capital of Thornton’s at approximately £111.9m.
Top five sectors
Construction & Materials 5067.45 +125.35 +2.54%
Personal Goods 26,588.330 +618.04 +2.38%
Mobile Telecommunications 5,428.690 +121.30 +2.29%
Fixed Line Telecommunications 5,313.490 +114.85 +2.21%
Household Goods & Home Construction 15,485.650 +312.02 +2.06%