UK Mortgage Approvals Fall to 18-Month Low; BP, Marubeni Deal

Arthi Gupta
25 Oct, 2010
New York City

The UK indexes gained after G20 finance chiefs vowed to reduce global fiscal imbalances. The BoE noted Asset Purchase Facility usage declined in the third quarter. The UK mortgage approvals fell in September.

[R]4:30 PM London – The UK indexes gained after G20 finance chiefs vowed to reduce global fiscal imbalances. The BoE noted Asset Purchase Facility usage declined in the third quarter. The UK mortgage approvals fell in September.[/R]

BP agreed to sell interests in four Gulf of Mexico fields to Marubeni for $650 million.

In London, FTSE 100 Index traded higher 16.76 or 0.27% to 5,759.67 and the pound edged higher to close at $1.5730.

The Group of 20 financial chiefs vowed to avoid competitive currency devaluations. Financial chiefs from the G-20 advanced and major developing economies agreed on Saturday to ''''refrain from competitive devaluation of currencies'''' and ''''move towards more market determined exchange rate systems,'''' according to a statement issued after their two-day meeting in South Korea.

The Bank of England said in its Asset Purchase Facility report released today that conditions in the UK corporate funding markets continued to stabilize during the third quarter of 2010.

Purchase Facility to the Debt Management Office''s during the three months to September 30, was £279 million, less than the £2.1 billion lent on average during the previous quarter.

In another report, the Bank of England Deputy Governor for Financial Stability Paul Tucker said the British economic recovery would be bumpy and uneven as it faces strong headwinds. Speaking at the Confederation of British Industry Annual Conference, Tucker said he now believes that the monetary policy tightening would come later than he had expected.

The Confederation of British Industry said that the UK is facing increasing competition as a destination for business investment and must do more to maintain its status as a top business destination but it has lost ground in recent years, and is lagging behind the U.S., China and India.

""Having acted fast to tackle the deficit, the government must focus on how to attract more investment to the UK, if we are to create new jobs and grow the economy,"" said the CBI director general Richard Lambert.

The number of mortgages approved for home purchase in the UK fell further in September, the British Bankers'' Association said today with the number of loans approved by main banks falling to an 18-month low. The number fell to 31,104 in September from 31,781 in August. In value terms, mortgage approvals fell to £4.6 billion in September from £4.7 billion in August.

The number of remortgaging approvals also dropped in September, to 23,820 from 23,981 in August.

Gross mortgage lending dropped to £8 billion in September from £8.1 billion recorded in August. Net mortgage lending also dropped to £1.6 billion in September from £2.5 billion in August.

According to a survey from property Web site Rightmove, home prices in the UK are projected to ease over the coming year. Around 32% of respondents forecast home prices to fall and 27% expect it to increase over the coming 12 months. Nearly 36% expect house prices to be ""about the same.""

Respondents cited lack of confidence in the economy or concerns about a squeeze on household income as reasons for lower house price assessment.

Goodrich Corp. received a follow-on contract worth more than £7 million or about $10 million from the UK Ministry of Defense for Performance Based Logistics. The contract continues a decade of support for a number of legacy instruments used on a range of UK jets and helicopters in operational service.

BP plc reached an agreement to sell its recently-acquired interests in four mature producing deepwater oil and gas fields in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico to Marubeni Oil and Gas for $650 million. The assets included in the agreement comprise, a 25% interest in the ConocoPhillips-operated Magnolia oil and gas field in the Garden Banks area of the Central Gulf; a 50% interest in the Anadarko Petroleum-operated Merganser gas field in the Atwater Valley area of the Central Gulf.

The assets also include a 50% interest in the Anadarko Petroleum-operated Nansen oil and gas field in the Western Gulf; and, a 65% operating interest in the Zia oil and gas field in the Mississippi Canyon area of the Central Gulf.

Warner Chilcott plc, the Ireland-based specialty pharmaceutical company said the United States Food and Drug Administration approved its oral contraceptive, Lo Loestrin FE. The company anticipates the commercial launch of the contraceptive in early next year.

Gainers & Losers

IMI plc gained 2.77% to 836.00 pence after the engineering company agreed to acquire Zimmermann & Jansen, or Z&J, for an enterprise value of €135 million.

Impax Asset Management Group PLC soared 9.09% to 60.00 pence after the provider of investment services to funds said that the Board expects 2010 revenues to be ahead of 2009 and in line with market expectations, and profitability for the year to be ahead of market expectations.

In its pre-close trading statement, Impax noted that assets under management and advisory improved 45% from £1,260 million to £1,823 million.

Ingersoll-Rand plc rose 1.47% to $39.93 after the Ireland-based diversified industrial company reported third quarter net revenues grew 8% to $3.73 billion from $3.46 billion in the same quarter last year. Net earnings in the quarter increased 7.2% to $232.2 million, or 68 cents per diluted share, compared with net earnings of $216.6 million, or 65 cents per share in the year-ago quarter, as demand for air conditioning in China boosted sales.

InterContinental Hotels Group plc climbed 0.99% to 1,225.00 pence after the international hotel business announced details of revenue per available room or RevPAR for its brands in the Americas for the third quarter. RevPAR growth in the Americas region accelerated through the third quarter to 6.7% driven by occupancy growth of 3.8 percentage points and rate growth of 0.8% as business travelers continued to return in greater numbers.

Pearson PLC fell 2.05% to 956.00 pence after the media company in its nine-month interim management statement said it now expects full year adjusted earnings per share to increase by approximately 10% on the 2009 base of 65.4 pence. This guidance includes the profit contribution from Interactive Data for seven months of 2010 and assumes that the current exchange rate of for one pound of $1.57 prevails in the fourth quarter.

Westminster Group PLC surged 9.52% to 23.00 pence after the company specializing in fire and safety services said it issued 4 million new ordinary shares at 25 pence per share to a new strategic investor raising £1 million, representing 16.49% of the Westminster''s enlarged issued share capital.