UK Retail Sales Fall, Irish Economy Shrinks; Next Surges 5%

Arthi Gupta
24 Mar, 2011
New York City

The UK indexes gained and retail sales fell more than estimated in February. Irish economy contracted in the fourth quarter. Afren agreed to buy stake in Tanga Block from Petrodel. Kingfisher and Next soared after improved fiscal year 2010 performance.

[R]3:00 PM London – The UK indexes gained and retail sales fell more than estimated in February. Irish economy contracted in the fourth quarter. Afren agreed to buy stake in Tanga Block from Petrodel. Kingfisher and Next soared after improved fiscal year 2010 performance.[/R]

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, announced in his 2011 budget statement on Wednesday that he will cut fuel duty and introduce a host of measures to steady the recent surge in petrol prices.

The stabilizer will be funded by an increase in the supplementary charge levied on oil and gas production in the North Sea from 20% to 32%.

In London, FTSE 100 Index gained 57.36 or 0.99% to 5,853.32 and the pound edged lower to close at $1.6161.

UK Retail Sales Drop

UK retail sales volume, including automotive fuel declined 0.8% in February reversing a 1.5% rise in January, due to weak department store sales, the Office for National Statistics said on Thursday.

Food stores sales declined 0.4% and non-food stores fell 1.6%. There were decreases across all predominantly non-food sectors, the largest being non-specialized stores at 3.2%.

Retail sales recorded an annual growth of 1.3% in February. It slowed sharply from last month''s 5.1% expansion.

Irish Economy Contracts

The Irish economy contracted 1.6% sequentially in the fourth quarter compared to a revised 0.6% increase in the third quarter, the Central Statistics Office said on Thursday.

Preliminary estimates showed an annual decline of 1% in 2010 GDP.

Afren Buys Stake in Tanga Block

Afren plc agreed to acquire a 74% operated working interest in the Tanga Block, located onshore and offshore Tanzania, from Petrodel Resources Ltd. Petrodel will retain a 26% interest in the block.

In consideration for the acquisition of the interest, Afren agreed to reimburse Petrodel a percentage of the back costs in relation to the block.

Gainers & Losers

BrainJuicer Group Plc surged 4.22% to 247.00 pence after the international online market research agency reported fiscal year 2010 revenues climbed 38% to £16.36 million from £11.81 million in the previous year. Profit for the full year increased 24.4% to £1.48 million or 11.3 pence per share versus £1.19 million or 9 pence per share last year.

Imperial Tobacco Group Plc fell 2.39% to 1,876.00 pence after the tobacco company estimates about a 2% rise in first-half tobacco net revenues at constant currency and excluding other income growth in its Moroccan business.

Kingfisher Plc soared 7.75% to 262.70 pence after the home improvement retailer reported fiscal year 2010 sales edged down 0.5% to £10.45 billion from £10.50 billion in the previous year. Profit for the year improved 27.3% to £494 million or 20.7 pence per share from £388 million or 16.4 pence per share in the comparable period.

Next Plc gained 5.29% to 2,069.00 pence after the retailer reported fiscal year 2010 revenue rose 1.2% to £3.45 billion versus £3.41 billion a year ago. Pre-tax profit for the period increased 9.1% to £551.4 million compared to £505.3 million a year ago.

Stagecoach Group plc rose 1.36% to 208.00 pence after the international public transportation company, said that the company is shortlisted by the Department for Transport to bid for the Greater Anglia passenger rail franchise.