Ireland Ratings Lowered; Ladbrokes Surges 6.6%

Arthi Gupta
15 Apr, 2011
New York City

The UK indexes traded volatile after Ireland''s sovereign ratings were cut by two levels. The Bank of England policymaker Andrew Sentence forecasted inflation may exceed 5%. SSE sold its 100% interest in three UK wind farms for

[R]4:00 PM London – The UK indexes traded volatile after Ireland''s sovereign ratings were cut by two levels. The Bank of England policymaker Andrew Sentence forecasted inflation may exceed 5%. SSE sold its 100% interest in three UK wind farms for £173.6 million.[/R]

The Irish government''s economic program is on track, according to a joint statement released by the staff teams from the European Union, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund today.

The ECB staff has been on a visit to Dublin during April 5 to 15 for the first quarterly review of the country''s economic program. Ireland had received an €85 billion EU-IMF bailout last year.

Inflation in the UK may exceed 5% during this summer on weak pound, Bank of England policymaker Andrew Sentance said in an interview with Bloomberg on Friday.

In London, FTSE 100 Index gained 21.53 or 0.36% to 5,985.31 and the pound edged lower to close at $1.6336. For the week, the FTSE 100 Index declined 1.16%.

Ireland''s Sovereign Ratings Lowered

Moody''s Investors Service on Friday downgraded Ireland''s sovereign ratings by two notches citing weakening fiscal situation amid subdued economic activity.

The foreign and local-currency government bond ratings were lowered to Baa3 from Baa1. The outlook on the ratings remains negative. It also lowered the short-term issuer rating by one notch to Prime-3.

SSE Sells Wind Farms

Scottish & Southern Energy Plc sold its 100% interest in three wind farms with a total capacity of 96.8MW to Infinis, a Terra Firma company, for a cash payment of £173.6 million.

Dalswinton and Minsca in Scotland, and Slieve Divena in Northern Ireland are the three wind farms.

Gainers & Losers

Capita Group Plc rose 1.75% to 727.00 pence after the provider of business process outsourcing solutions acquired Right Document Solutions Holdings Limited for a consideration of £30 million on a cash-free, debt free basis, plus a deferred consideration of up to £10 million.

DDD Group plc soared 12.52% to 36.85 pence after the company that developer and licensor of software and hardware intellectual property and technologies signed a two-year license agreement with a leading PC chip manufacturer to bundle DDD''s TriDef 3D PC conversion software products with the manufacturer''s next generation PC processors.

GlaxoSmithKline plc rose 1.49% to 1,259.50 pence after the drug giant said its weight-loss, over-the-counter drug alli is “safe and effective when used as directed.”

Ladbrokes Plc surged 6.60% to 143.80 pence after the retail gaming group reported first quarter, profit before tax, finance costs, and non trading items, or operating profit, excluding high rollers increased 1.9% annually to £49.2 million.

Mondi PLC fell 0.87% to 568.50 pence after the paper and packaging firm signed a new €750 million five-year revolving multi-currency credit facility to refinance its existing €1.55 billion credit facility that was due to mature in June 2012.

William Hill Plc surged 4.84% to 194.80 pence after the betting and gaming company’s unit reached an agreement to acquire 100% of the equity interests of American Wagering Inc. and to acquire the Club Cal Neva Satellite Race and Sportsbook Division. The total cost of the two acquisitions is around $39 million.