UK Mortgage Approvals Fall; Innovation Group Acquires Wintec

Arthi Gupta
23 Dec, 2010
New York City

The UK indexes traded sideways after mortgage approvals fell but services sector index rose. Irish retail sales edged higher in November. Innovation Group agreed to acquire Germany-based Wintec.

[R]4:00 PM London – The UK indexes traded sideways after mortgage approvals fell but services sector index rose. Irish retail sales edged higher in November. Innovation Group agreed to acquire Germany-based Wintec.[/R]

Paul Fisher, the Bank of England''s Executive Director for Markets commented that the UK economy may go through another period of negative growth in 2011 in an interview with Daily Telegraph.

""The output growth of UK tends not to be that volatile quarter to quarter but in this sort of situation when you are recovering from a deep recession it is not impossible,"" he said.

In London, FTSE 100 Index gained 3.42 or 0.04% to 5,986.62 and the pound edged higher to close at $1.5428.

UK Mortgage Approvals Fall, Services Sector Index Rises

The number of mortgages approved for home purchases in the UK fell to 29,991 in November from 30,689 in October, the British Bankers'' Association said on Thursday.

The average value of home purchase approvals was £145,000 in November and was 1.9% higher than a year ago.

British services sector output increased 0.6% in the three months to October compared to the previous three-month period, latest data from the Office for National Statistics showed.

Overall UK service sector index increased 1.9% in October from a year ago month. The largest contribution to the increase was 2.6% in the business services and finance.

Irish Retail Sales Climb 0.2%

Irish retail sales volume rose 0.2% on a monthly basis in November after rising 0.3% in October, figures released by the Central Statistics Office showed. That was the second consecutive monthly gain.

On an annual basis, retail sales growth eased to 0.9% in November from 1.9% in October. Retail sales grew for the fourth straight month.

In terms of value, retail sales fell 0.1% month-on-month following 0.6% increase in the preceding month. Compared to last year, retail sales dropped 1.1%, faster than a 0.3% decline in the previous month. Retail sales have been on the delcine since May on an annual basis.

Innovation Group Acquires Wintec

Innovation Group Plc, the business process outsourcing service provider acquired Wintec AG, a Germany-based franchised windscreen repair network, for an initial cash consideration of €1.25 million followed by €1.25 million payable on April 1, 2011.

An additional cash consideration of up to €500,000 will be payable in 2013 dependent upon Wintec''s post-tax profitability in the 12-month period from October 1, 2012 to September 30, 2013, the company noted.

bwin Interactive Merges with PartyGaming

bwin Interactive Entertainment AG, the Austrian online gambling provider and British gaming company PartyGaming Plc announced their merger plan to create a new online gaming group under the name bwin.party digital entertainment plc.

bwin shareholders are expected to hold 51.6% of the shares and current PartyGaming shareholders to hold 48.4%.

Gainers & Losers

Aurora Russia Limited gained 1.97% to 38.75 pence after the closed-ended investment company reported revenue for the six months ended September 30 soared 632% to £7.91 million from £1.08 million last year. Loss during the period was £6.32 million or 5.62 pence per share compared to profit of £1.99 million or 2.65 pence per share in the prior year.

Enegi Oil Plc surged 15.96% to 27.25 pence after the company engaged in the development and operation of hydrocarbon assets in Atlantic Canada said fiscal year 2010 revenue declined 23.6% to £107,000 from £140,000 prior year. Loss for the year and pre-tax loss narrowed 93% to £1.2 million from £17.2 million a year-ago.

HSBC Holdings PLC fell 0.13% to 668.50 pence after the commercial banker appointed Alan Keir as global head of Commercial Banking effective from New Year.

Indian Energy Ltd. slumped 4.88% to 19.50 pence after the company engaged in investing in and operating wind farms for electricity generation in India reported first-half revenues increased 63% to £2.31 million from £1.42 million in the same period previous year. Loss in the period narrowed 61% to £0.77 million or £0.03 per share from £1.98 million or £0.21 per share in the prior year period.

Red Rock Resources plc soared 5.26% to 15.00 pence after the gold explorer and producer said fiscal year 2010 revenue from management services surged 173% to £8,956 from £3,285 last year. Profit for the year was £3.45 million or 0.62 pence per share compared to a loss of £0.88 million or 0.23 pence per share a year ago.

Sable Mining Africa Ltd. declined 0.96% to 25.75 pence after the mining company stated loss for the six months ended September 30 narrowed 92.2% to $3.71 million from $47.68 million in the year-ago period. On a per share basis, loss was 0.4 cents versus profit of 0.4 cents last year.

WPP plc rose 0.38% to 794.50 pence after the world leader in advertising and marketing services said that its wholly-owned operating company, Hill & Knowlton agreed to acquire a majority stake in a public relations consultancy, Global Tanitim Halkla Iliskiler, a public relations consultancy in Turkey.