LONDON (ShareCast) - London leading shares ended the day in lacklustre fashion as solid performance from tobacco stocks were offset by weak financials and oil majors.

Reports that Imperial Tobacco is planning a £4bn rights issue to fund its acquisition of Altadis has not stopped investors picking up more shares in the tobacco giant.

Talk is now that Philip Morris may also be considering an offer for Imperial before it gets too large. British American Tobacco rose in sympathy.

Plumbing giant Wolseley was the worst performing blue chip though, as it tumbled on fears about a slowdown in the US housing market.

Banking giant HSBC continued its decline as concern about the US mortgage eats away at investor confidence. HBOS also fell.

Meanwhile, life insurers Standard Life, Friends Provident and Aviva were heavily lower, while oil firms such as Cairn Energy and Royal Dutch Shell were also down.

Cruises giant Carnival said this afternoon that cruise revenue yields from the European cruise brands offset weakness in the Caribbean.

Profit after tax for the three months to 28 February jumped to $283m from $251m a year ago on revenue up over 9% to $2.69bn, driven mainly by a 7.4% hike in cruise capacity.

Shares in Unilever were well ahead on M&A talk. The consumer goods giant is now being widely tipped as a likely private equity target.

Reporting today, department store group Debenhams said like-for-like sales in the UK declined by 4.5% in the 26 weeks to end February. Total sales increased by 5.8%.

Self storage firm Big Yellow Group also rallied Friday after it said it has converted to a REIT following the withdrawal of opposition from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Cooker maker Aga is to pay a special dividend of 43p per share, bringing the total dividend payable for the year just ended to 50p per share, after profits rose by 7.7% to £46m in 2006. Operating profits rose by 15% to £47.7m on sales of £529m, also up 15%.

ATM operator Paypoint says trading has been ahead of analysts' forecasts with transaction volumes and revenues to the end of February 29% and 32% ahead of the same period last year respectively.

Management has agreed to buy Computer Software Group for £99.6m cash, equivalent to 150p per share, a premium of 37.6% to yesterday's close.

Graphic brand management services provider Imagelinx suffered hefty declines today after describing the group’s financial performance as “disappointing”.

Quarrying firm Water Hall has performed better than expectations as demand for landfill remains strong.

In-car entertainment firm Designer Vision Group has had its shares suspended after its nominated adviser (NOMAD) resigned with immediate effect.

FTSE 100 - Risers
Imperial Tobacco (IMT) 2,330.00p +4.86%
Hammerson (HMSO) 1,600.00p +3.63%
Unilever (ULVR) 1,525.00p +2.76%
Sainsbury (SBRY) 556.00p +2.44%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 1,596.00p +2.18%
Drax (DRX) 745.00p +2.12%
Slough Estates (SLOU) 752.00p +1.90%
William Morrison (MRW) 318.50p +1.76%
Compass Group (CPG) 308.25p +1.73%
Vodafone (VOD) 139.25p +1.64%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Friends Provident (FP.) 194.00p -1.90%
Wolseley (WOS) 1,199.00p -1.88%
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,106.00p -1.78%
Standard Life (SL.) 293.75p -1.76%
Cadbury Schweppes (CBRY) 610.50p -1.53%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,618.00p -1.34%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,400.00p -1.20%
Northern Rock (NRK) 1,110.00p -1.16%
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) 1,964.00p -1.16%
Experian (EXPN) 578.50p -1.11%

FTSE 250 - Risers
PayPoint (PAY) 678.00p +18.53%
Premier Farnell (PFL) 189.25p +5.73%
Regus Group (RGU) 129.25p +5.08%
First Choice (FCD) 284.00p +4.80%
Soco International (SIA) 1,423.00p +4.48%
TNS (TNN) 235.50p +4.20%
Workspace Group (WKP) 487.00p +4.06%
Big Yellow Group (BYG) 640.00p +3.81%
Mapeley (MAY) 3,684.00p +3.43%
Charter (CHTR) 885.00p +3.39%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Premier Foods (PFD) 287.00p -3.12%
Aga Foodservice (AGA) 398.00p -2.69%
Warner Estate (WNER) 780.00p -2.50%
Abbot Group (ABG) 280.00p -2.44%
Northern Foods (NFDS) 123.00p -2.38%
Jardine Lloyd (JLT) 434.00p -2.14%
Wincanton (WIN) 356.00p -2.13%
Speedy Hire (SDY) 1,121.00p -2.10%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 156.00p -2.04%
JJB Sports (JJB) 254.50p -2.02%

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