UK Indexes Soar 2.5%; Essar Revenues Surge 37%

Arthi Gupta
22 Aug, 2011
New York City

The UK indexes surged after resource-linked stocks gained and the UK household finance index declined in August. Essar revenues soared 37% driven by higher refining revenues. Micro Focus slumped 4.3% after terminating bid talks.

[R]2:30 PM London – The UK indexes surged after resource-linked stocks gained and the UK household finance index declined in August. Essar revenues soared 37% driven by higher refining revenues. Micro Focus slumped 4.3% after terminating bid talks.[/R]

The UK indexes traded higher in early trading after a tumultuous last week.

Oil exploration companies edged higher on the news that NATO led aggression in Libya seized control of Tripoli early on Monday and took two of Colonel Moammar Qadhafi''s sons into custody.

Tullow Oil gained 2.33%, Royal Dutch Shell surged 4.53%, and BP gained 2.46%.

In London, FTSE 100 Index surged 123.54 or 2.45% to 5,165.59 and the pound edged higher to $1.6499.

UK Household Finance Index Falls

The headline household finance index for the UK fell to 33.2 in August from 34.4 in July, according to data released by Markit Economics today. . The index declined for the third month in a row and was at the lowest since the survey began in February 2009.

Bow Energy Receives Shell, PetroChina JV Offer

Bow Energy Ltd., the Australian gas explorer said it received a A$1.48 per share takeover offer from Arrow Energy Holdings Pty Ltd, a joint venture between PetroChina Co. Ltd. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc worth A$520.5 million or $543 million.

Gainers & Losers

Balfour Beatty Plc gained 2.04% to 234.80 pence after the infrastructure group said it acquired Office Projects Group Ltd. for £8 million.

Essar Energy Plc fell 2.99% to 250 pence after the India based integrated energy company said first-half revenue grew 37.2% to $6.53 billion from $4.76 billion the prior year. Pre-tax profit in the period surged 80.4% to $278.5 million versus $154.4 million last year.

GlaxoSmithKline plc soared 4.31% to 1,296 pence after the global healthcare group said its wholly-owned subsidiary Glaxo Group Ltd. will obtain a 25.4% minority equity stake, representing a £1.25 million investment in Autifony Therapeutics Ltd.

Lloyds Banking Group Plc plunged 5.64% to $1.84 after the lender is in discussions with the financial regulators to ease capital rules for the prospective buyers of its branches, the Financial Times reported.

Micro Focus International Plc slumped 4.33% to 251.60 pence after the software and information technology business firm said its board has terminated offer discussions with potential bidders and would resume share buybacks with immediate effect.

Petrofac Limited soared 4.62% to 1,222 pence after the energy services provider reported first-half revenues climbed 25.2% to $2.71 billion from $2.175 billion a year ago.

Half-year profit rose 6.6% to $246.3 million or 71.84 cents per share from $231 million or 67.31 cents per share last year. The company said its prior year''s results have been restated to exclude the gain on the EnQuest demerger in April 2010.