UK Retail Sales Accelerate; Smiths News Soars 6.4%

Arthi Gupta
20 Oct, 2011
New York City

The UK indexes dropped with the European debt crisis looming large and prospects of a resolution fading. UK retail sales were better-than-estimated in September and Irish factory gate prices increased in the month. African Barrick Gold quarterly net surged 156%.

[R]3:00 PM London – The UK indexes dropped with the European debt crisis looming large and prospects of a resolution fading. UK retail sales were better-than-estimated in September and Irish factory gate prices increased in the month. African Barrick Gold quarterly net surged 156%.[/R]

The UK indexes fell after developments in Europe did not lift investor sentiment and UK retail sales were ahead of expectations.

An emergency meeting late on Wednesday by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy ended up without any major decision making ahead of the crucial euro-zone summit on October 23.

The Greek parliament votes today on fresh spending cuts demanded by the EU and IMF to release sixth instalment of the bailout funds.

In London, FTSE 100 Index declined 44.51 or 0.8% to 5,407.18 and the pound edged higher to $1.5783.

UK Retail Sales Accelerate

UK retail sales were better-than-estimated in September, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Retail sales volume, including automotive fuel, rose 0.6% and excluding auto fuel, increased 0.7% on a monthly basis in September.

Textile clothing and footwear sales fell 2.1%, the biggest fall in two-and-a-half years.

Irish Factory Gate Prices Up

Ireland''s manufacturing output prices rose 0.2% on an annual basis in September, after declining 1% in August, data from the Central Statistics Office showed on Thursday.

Food prices rose 2.8% annually in September.

On a monthly basis, manufacturing output prices rose 1.2% in September compared to the 0.4% decrease in August.

Autodesk Acquires Micro Application

Autodesk Inc. said it acquired Micro Application Packages Limited, a UK-based provider of CAD, CAM and estimating software that supports fabrication and construction for the mechanical, electrical and plumbing industry.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Gainers & Losers

Anglo American Plc fell 2.4% to 2,217.50 pence after the mining company reported third quarter iron ore production increased 3% to 12.18 million tons from 11.82 million tons last year. However, copper production decreased 9% to 139,900 tons.

African Barrick Gold Plc slumped 4% to 541.50 pence after the gold miner in Tanzania stated third quarter revenue increased 61.3% to $354.33 million from $219.61 million in the year-ago quarter. Net profit for the quarter surged 156% to $102.08 million compared to $39.87 million last year.

Basic earnings per share rose to 24.9 cents from 9.7 cents in the prior year.

Dragon Oil plc soared 3% to €5.73 after the exploration firm said third quarter average daily production was 61,500 barrels of oil per day.

Punch Taverns Plc gained 2.9% to 10 pence after the pub company reported fiscal year 2011 revenue fell 6.7% to £521.7 million compared with £559.0 million in the previous year. Loss for the period widened 442% to £866.7 million or 134.8 pence per share from £159.9 million or 24.9 pence per share in the year-ago period.

Smiths News PLC surged 6.4% to 91.25 pence after the newspaper and magazine distributor reported fiscal year 2011 group revenues fell 5.2% to £1.73 billion from £1.82 billion prior year. Net profit in the period rose 3.3% to £21.9 million or 11.9 pence per share compared to £21.2 million or 11.5 pence per share last year.