LONDON (ShareCast) - London’s top stocks look on course to build on yesterday’s strong gains with traders predicting Footsie is expected to rise 10 points.
Property search website Rightmove saw interim revenue surge 49% despite the tough conditions in the UK housing market and reiterated that it will meet market expectations for the year.
Revenue increased from £25.4m to £37.8m, driven by strong growth in revenue per advertiser and sales to new members. Pre-tax profit rose to £19.7m from £12.1m before. Interim dividend was hiked to 3.0p per share from 2.0p previously.
“The board reiterates its confidence in meeting market expectations for the current year,” said the group.
Troubled mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley said its half year results are "disappointing" as it posted statutory losses before tax of £26.7m, mainly reflecting losses on Treasury assets.
British office rental firm Regus saw first-half profits rose 39% to £74.5m on revenue that increased 23% to £507.5m and paid a maiden dividend of 0.6p. “Whilst we remain alert to the impact of difficult economic conditions, our outlook for the remainder of 2008 remains unchanged,” it said.
Irish drinks group C&C said revenue for the first half is expected to be down 8% though operating margin is seen around 1.5 percentage points higher, which will results in unchanged operating profit for period.
The group said it expected the tough condition to persist in the second half, which will put continued pressure on revenue and operating profit
In the press, Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee member David Blanchflower has criticised the Bank for complacency and "wishful thinking", predicting that two million people will be out of work by Christmas and that house prices will fall by more than 30 per cent, reports the Independent.
Speculation of a takeover bid for J Sainsbury sent shares in Britain's third-biggest supermarket chain up nearly 8 per cent yesterday as the FTSE 100 enjoyed its highest close for two months, according to the Times.
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