London afternoon: Vedanta falls after yanking flotation

Date: Tuesday 30 Nov 2010

Though the majority of its constituents are lower, the FTSE 100 index is little changed on the day. Financials remain unnerved by worries over the future of the eurozone but otherwise the picture remains mixed, as it has been for most of the day.

In a mixed mining sector Vedanta heads lower after it postponed the flotation of its Zambian copper division, Konkola Copper Mines. “With year end approaching and the current stock market volatility, the boards of Vedanta Resources and Konkola have decided to pursue such listing in 2011,” a company statement said.

BG is in fine fettle after Barclays upgraded the oil and gas giant to ‘overweight’ from ‘equal-weight’, but British Airways hit turbulence as industrial action could hit the New Year holiday period and extend into 2011.

BP has agreed to invest $2.5bn in the Sunrise oil sands project in Alberta, Canada, its first major investment since the Gulf of Mexico spillage. The UK firm, which owns 50% of the project in northern Alberta, said it was “a significant milestone” for the company and represented a “40-year secure and stable source of production for North America”.

Birmingham City Council has extended and expanded its existing contract with outsourcing titan Capita in a deal worth about £300m to Capita.

Wood Group, the provider of support services to the oil and gas industry, has won an $875m engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for Israel’s largest private power plant.

An increase in net new business helped fund manager Aberdeen Asset chalk up a meaty profit rise last year as it took 'full advantage' of the stock market revival. Underlying profits in the year to September rose to £210 from £85.1m, on revenues of £639m against £422m. Funds under management rose to £178.7bn.

Tile and flooring specialist Topps Tiles posted higher profits in the year to October 2 as sales recovered and said it is confident in spite of subdued consumer confidence. On a like-for-like basis, sales increased by 1.7%, against a 13.1% fall the previous year.

Sensor technology group Halma saw increased revenue and profit in all three of its divisions in the 26 weeks to 2 October. Group revenue rose 12% to £249.1m from £222.1m at the interim stage last year. Organic revenue growth on a constant currency basis was 10%. The company warned, however, that customer visibility “is still shorter-term than before the credit crunch”.

Travel group Holidaybreak pointed to the resilience of its education division in the face of reduced consumer spending as it posted a rise in profits despite lower sales. Pre-tax profits in the year to September 30 rose to £30.7m from £28.2m, even as revenues fell to £461.7m from £473.4m.

Cake and bread maker Finsbury Food served up a 4.9% increase in like for like sales in the first 17 weeks of the current financial year ending 30 June 2011 as it continues to drive down costs. Its Bread and Free From division saw robust organic growth of 12.3% year on year, with its fresh gluten free bread ranges driving demand.

Exhibitions group ITE said a recovery is now underway in all of its core markets and most notably in its key Moscow market.

Northumbrian Water reported steady demand among domestic and industrial customers as it posted higher revenues and profits in the half year to 30 September.

Jonathan Lane, Shaftesbury's veteran chief executive, is to retire next year after more than 25 year years at the West End-focused property group. Lane's final year in charge saw Shaftesbury lift diluted net asset value per share by 23.6% to £4.14, with the unadjusted NAV up 20% (63p) to £3.78.

Shares in Associated British Engineering surged after it moved into profit on the back of a jump in orders in its only subsidiary, the diesel engine maintenance specialist and spare parts supplier British Polar Engines, over summer. Pre-tax profits totalled £341,000, against a loss of £43,000 the previous year on revenues that climbed to £2.15m from £1.41m.

PhotonStar LED is reversing into fellow LED lighting technology developer Enfis Group. Enfis is paying £5.1m in shares for PhotonStar.

Environmental engineering group Tinci Holdings jumped after it announced contracts worth 45.4m Chinese Renminbi (£4.34m) to provide paper desulfurisation technology to two subsidiaries of the Dongguan Jiulong Paper Group. These projects are expected to start shortly and last for about six months.

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