UK Home Prices Slide; BSkyB Profit Soars, AstraZeneca Net Rises

Arthi Gupta
27 Jan, 2011
New York City

The UK indexes edged higher after home prices fell for the seventh straight month and retail sales growth slowed in January. Ireland retail sales dropped in December. WPP acquired majority stake in Ogilvy South Africa. BSkyB profit soared and AstraZeneca net rose.

[R]3:30 PM London – The UK indexes edged higher after home prices fell for the seventh straight month and retail sales growth slowed in January. Ireland retail sales dropped in December. WPP acquired majority stake in Ogilvy South Africa. BSkyB profit soared and AstraZeneca net rose.[/R]

In London, FTSE 100 Index gained 15.75 or 0.26% to 5,984.96 and the pound edged higher to close at $1.5958.

UK Home Prices Drop

Home prices in England and Wales fell for the seventh month in a row in January, according to Hometrack.

The average cost of a home fell 0.5% in January to £153,600, after declining 0.4% in December, Hometrack’s survey of more than 5,000 estate agents showed.

Hometrack said the fall in demand for homes was outstripping shrinking supply.

UK Retail Sales Growth Slows

Retail sales in the UK increased in January but the growth rate eased, according to survey results released from the Confederation of British Industry today.

Around 61% of retailers said the volume of sales rose in January, while 24% reported a fall, the latest Distributive Trades Survey from the Confederation of British Industry showed. The resulting balance of 37% was smaller than December''s 56%.

However, full-time jobs in the UK retail rose by 3,900 or 0.6% in the fourth quarter from the previous year, a report released by the British Retail Consortium showed on Thursday.

The BRC-Bond Pearce Retail Employment Monitor showed that 58% of the sample indicated that they would keep staffing levels unchanged in the next three months, the same percentage in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Ireland Retail Sales Decline

Irish retail sales volume fell 1.1% on a monthly basis in December after a downwardly revised 0.1% growth in November, the Central Statistics Office said.

On an annual basis, retail sales dropped 3.1% annually in December compared to the downwardly revised 0.5% growth in November.

Regal Petroleum Signs Deal With Apache

Regal Petroleum PLC entered into a conditional sale and purchase agreement with Apache East Ras Budran Corporation LDC in respect of its 25% non-operated interest in the East Ras Budran Concession in Egypt.

The consideration payable under the sale agreement is $1.1 million, subject to accounting adjustments under the current joint venture between Regal and Apache, which will result in net receipts to Regal of $649,402 at closing of the sale.

WPP Buys Majority Stake in Ogilvy South Africa

WPP Plc agreed to acquire a majority stake in Ogilvy South Africa (Pty) Limited. Ogilvy SA and its group companies form part of the Ogilvy Worldwide network.

WPP noted that this investment continues WPP''s strategy of investing in fast growing markets and sectors and its commitment to developing its businesses throughout the African markets.

Metminco Completes Acquisition of Hampton Mining

Metminco Limited completed the acquisition of Hampton Mining Limited to gain 100% of Los Calatos copper/molybdenum project in Peru.

Metminco started a 50,000 meter diamond drilling program at its Los Calatos copper-molybdenum project to extend the Los Calatos resource which currently stands at approximately 4.7 million tons of copper equivalent metal, or over 10 billion lbs of CuEq.

Gainers & Losers

Alexon Group plc surged 10.42% to 13.25 pence after the retailer of ladies clothing provided a trading update for the five week period to January 22, 2011 and the 25 week period to January 22, 2011.

The company stated that like-for-like sales rose 13.3% during the five week period as trading recovered following the extreme weather conditions in December 2010. Cumulative like-for-like sales fell 1.1% for the 25 week period.

AstraZeneca Plc gained 0.78% to 3,097.50 pence after the biopharmaceutical company said fourth quarter revenue declined 3.6% to $8.62 billion from $8.945 billion in the comparable period. Profit in the quarter advanced 4.5% to $1.62 billion from $1.55 billion a year ago. Earnings per $0.25 ordinary share for the quarter were $1.14, higher than $1.07 in the prior year period.

The company also announced a $4 billion share buyback during 2011.

British Sky Broadcasting Group plc climbed 1.45% to 768.50 pence after the provider of pay TV broadcasting services reported second quarter revenues increased 15.3% to £1.66 billion from £1.44 billion in the same period last year. Profit rose 40% to £179 million or 10.2 pence per share compared with £128 million or 7.3 pence per share last year, helped by net product growth, higher average revenue per user and lower churn rate.

Colefax Group plc gained 3.00% to 257.50 pence after the designer and distributor of luxury furnishing fabrics and wallpapers stated first-half revenue increased 16% to £35.68 million from £30.77 million last year. Profit in the period gained 63% to £2.02 million or 13.8 pence per share compared to profit of £1.24 million or 8.4 pence per share last year.

Eaga plc soared 5.59% to 75.50 pence after the green support services company reported revenue for the six months ended November 30, 2010 declined 21.3% to £308.1 million compared to £391.5 million for the same period last year. Loss during the period was £3.79 million or 1.52 pence per share compared to a profit of £11.05 million or 4.39 pence per share in the year-ago period.

London Stock Exchange Group plc edged higher 0.58% to 872.50 pence after the bourse operator said third quarter total revenue declined 1% to £3149.1 million from £3151.3 million in the prior year. Total income increased 6% to £165.9 million from £156.3 million in the previous year.

Park Plaza Hotels Limited fell 1.01% to 147.50 pence after the closed-ended investment company reported that its Group hotel revenue for the year increased about 80%, reflecting first time contributions from the three additional hotels and the Park Plaza Leeds and Park Plaza Nottingham. Group RevPAR for the year was €86.4, an increase of 11.7% annually.

Tullow Oil Plc rose 1.19% to 1,362.00 pence after the oil explorer said total revenue for 2010 is expected to be about $1.1 billion, compared to $916 million in 2009, owing to higher realized commodity prices during the year.