LONDON (ShareCast) - Footsie is now flat with lower crude prices boosting fuel-guzzling transport stocks, but weighing on oil majors.

With crude now trading at just over $126 a barrel, having recently hit $135, British Airways is flying high and cruise operator Carnival is buoyant.

Tullow Oil leads oil majors lower, with BG Group, Cairn Energy and BP also slipping back.

Miners are also down in line with falling metal prices. Platinum specialist Lonmin and diversified miner Xstrata are in the bottom 10.

Shares in William Morrison moved higher after Credit Suisse upgraded the supermarket giant to ‘outperform’ from ‘neutral’ and lifted its price target to 340p from 320p. J Sainsbury moves up in sympathy.

JP Morgan has trimmed its price target on the B&Q owner Kingfisher to 134p from 138p, citing excess shop space in the UK and concerns of slower housing starts in France.

Offers are due in for RBS's insurance arm today, though one possible bidder has dropped out. Italy's Generali said the €9bn price being asked is too high.

Outages at its Hartlepool and Heysham 1 stations saw profits tumble at nuclear generator British Energy last year. Underlying profits fell to £882m from £1.22bn, while net profits dropped to £470m from £770m. The two stations are expected to restart over the second and third quarters of FY 2008/09. The dividend for the year is unchanged.

Fashion retailer and wholesaler Burberry upped profits by 25% to £196m in the year to March on revenues up 18% at £995m with "with consistent performance across our regions, channels and products," it said. Burberry added it expects wholesale revenue in the six months to September 2008 to increase by around 10% on an underlying basis, retail space to increase by 12-13% and licensing revenue to be flat.

Hi-tech defence group Qinetiq lifted annual profits by 20% to £127m, adding the current year has also started well. Revenue rose 19% to £1.37bn. Pre-tax profits fell to £51m from £89m. The full year dividend rises by 16%.

Internet sales drove revenue growth at electronics distributor Electrocomponents, with international markets performing especially well. Reported pre-tax profit in the year to 31 March 2008 rose 9% to £95.4m from £87.2m a year earlier. The Chinese market was the star performer, with revenues up 35%.

Tile and flooring retailer Topps Tiles trimmed its interim dividend by a fifth as underlying sales and profits both came under pressure in the first half. Topps said the decision to cut the interim payment to 3p, from 3.75p, and to pay out 50% of earnings in future would give it sufficient flexibility to support its growth plans.

Mezzanine finance provider Intermediate Capital made progress last year despite credit problems elsewhere and expects to benefit further as other sources of finance dry up. Profits in the year to March rose by 2% to £230m with underlying profits, which strip out investment gains, 22% higher at £136m. Gains on investments fell to £137m from £196m. Funds under management at the year-end stood at £7.3bn, up from £5.8bn.

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