UK Mortgage Approvals Rise; RBS Annual Loss Widens

Arthi Gupta
23 Feb, 2012
New York City

The UK indexes climbed after manufacturers estimated output to grow over the coming three months. The UK mortgage approvals and Irish consumer price index increased in January. British American Tobacco fiscal year 2011 net and revenue rose.

[R]3:30 PM London – The UK indexes climbed after manufacturers estimated output to grow over the coming three months. The UK mortgage approvals and Irish consumer price index increased in January. British American Tobacco fiscal year 2011 net and revenue rose.[/R]

The UK indexes gained after manufacturers’ exuded optimism that output will grow over the coming three months.

The European Commission said the euro area is likely to see a mild recession in 2012 with the euro-zone economy contracting 0.3%this year compared to the 0.5% expansion estimated in the autumn forecast.

In London trading FTSE 100 Index gained 2.98 or 0.1% to 5,918.93 and the pound edged lower to $1.5684.

UK Manufacturers Optimistic

UK manufacturers have reported an encouraging improvement in total and export order books in February, the Confederation of British Industry said today.

Of the 471 manufacturers responding to the survey, 21% reported total order books to be above normal, while 23% said they were below. The resulting rounded balance of -3% is well above the long-run average of-18% and a significant improvement in the levels of recent months.

Export orders also saw a similar upturn, with 22% of respondents stating that levels were above normal and 24% saying they were below, giving a balance of -2%, compared to the long-run average of -21%.

The monthly Industrial Trends Survey showed that a balance of 15% expects the volume of output to grow over the next three months.

UK Mortgage Approvals Rise

The number of mortgage approvals for home purchase in the UK increased more than estimated in January, data released by the British Bankers'' Association showed today.

Mortgage approvals were 38,092 in January, up from an upwardly revised 36,553 in December.

Irish CPI Rises

Ireland''s consumer price index increased 2.2% annually in January following the 2.5% rise in December, data from the Central Statistics Office showed. The latest data is the lowest since January last year.

From a month ago, consumer prices decreased 0.5% in January after falling 0.3% in December.

Gainers & Losers

British American Tobacco Plc fell 1.3% to 3,093 pence after the tobacco company reported fiscal year 2011 revenues improved 3% to £15.4 billion from £14.88 billion in the prior year. Annual profit attributable to owners of the parent rose 7.6% to £3.1 billion or 156.2 pence per share for 2011 from £2.88 billion or 144.4 pence per share reported a year ago.

Further, the Board recommended a final dividend of 88.4 pence per ordinary share of 25 pence for the year ended December 31, 2011.

Bodycote PLC soared 17.2% to 395.10 pence after the metals and alloys treatment firm reported fiscal year 2011 revenue increased 14% to £570.7 million from £499.8 million the year before. Pre-tax for the year rose 68% to £75.8 million from £45.2 million previously.

G4S plc climbed 1.9% to 284.90 pence after the security firm acquired Chubb Emergency Response from UTC Fire & Security, a unit of United Technologies for £17 million in cash.

Kier Group PLC plunged 9% to 1,355 pence after the construction, services and property group sees a challenging medium-term.

Royal Bank Of Scotland Group plc soared 3.6% to 28.30 pence after the government-owned lender said fourth quarter revenue dropped 17% to £5.92 billion from £7.14 billion. Net loss in the quarter was £1.8 billion compared to a profit of £12 million a year-ago

Full-year 2011 revenue fell 11% to £26.6 billion. Net loss for the year widened to £2 billion compared with £1.1 billion a year earlier.