UK Home Prices Edge Up; BP Net Plunges

123jump.com Staff
28 Jul, 2009
New York City

UK home prices in June edged 0.1% higher from May but declined 14% from a year ago. London prices increased 2% in the month and fell 12.5% from a year ago. BP Plc second quarter net profit dropped 53%. Investec plans to raise

[R]5:00 PM London, 12:00 PM New York – UK home prices in June edged 0.1% higher from May but declined 14% from a year ago. London prices increased 2% in the month and fell 12.5% from a year ago. BP Plc second quarter net profit dropped 53%. Investec plans to raise £90 million.[/R]

UK home prices in June increased 0.1% from May to £153,046 according to the data released by Land Registry on its Web site. The average price of home across UK declined 14% from a year ago.

The first monthly increase is reported after more than a year but home sales are still on the decline. The number of monthly sales averaged 30,997 between January and April compared to 59,948 a year ago in the same period.

The price in London increased 2% to £301,859 but still fell 12.5% from a year ago.

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 15.38 or 0.35% to 4,361.84 and the pound closed at $1.64 and 1.16 euros.

Gainers & Losers

Altitude Group PLC declined as much as 40% but closed down 28.7% or 2.30 pence to 5.70 pence after promotional merchandise company 2008 results turned a £338,000 profit into a loss of £33,000.

ARM Holdings plc declined 4.1% or 5.50 pence to 126.75 pence after the chip designer said second quarter revenues fell 0.3% to £64.8 million from £65.0 million a year ago. Net profit for the quarter fell 26% to £6.42 million or 0.5 pence per diluted share compared net profit of £8.66 million or 0.7 pence per share a year ago.

BP Plc slid 1.5% or 7.85 pence to 511.05 pence after second quarter revenues fell 49% to $56.6 billion from $111 billion a year ago. Net profit for the quarter fell 53% to $4.39 billion or $23.16 per diluted compared net profit of $9.36 billion or $49.23 per share a year ago.

Croda International Plc dropped 4.0% or 23.50 pence to 549.00 pence after the manufacturer of specialty chemicals said first-half revenues fell 3.6% to £447.5 million from £464.1 million a year ago. Net loss for the first-half was £8.9 million or 6.8 pence per diluted share compared net profit of £29.2 million or 21.3 pence per share a year ago.

Games Workshop Group PLC sank 1.0% after tabletop war games publisher repaid most of its debt last year as profits soared despite a disappointing performance over Christmas. Revenues in the year increased 13% to £125.7 million and were flat on constant currency basis. Pre-tax profits surged to £7.5 million from £1.1 million. The debt at the end of May decreased 90% to £1.6 million.

Imaginatik plc fell 7.8% or 55 pence to 6.45 pence after it predicted a half-year loss following a slow start to the new financial year.

Investec, the South Africa based asset manager decreased 3.7% to 393 pence after it planned to raise £90 million through offering of 22 million shares. The funds will be used to repay debt.

Mondi plc fell 1.8% or 4.75 pence to 250.75 pence after the paper and packaging firm said that “group underlying operating profit for the first quarter of 2009 was similar to that of the final quarter of 2008 and it had been further impacted by a special item charge of €80 million in the first-half. It expects underlying earnings per share for the first half to be 5 to 10 euro cents.”

Provident Financial plc plunged 5.2% or 45.00 pence to 808.50 pence after the financial services group said first-half revenues rose 8.4% to £401.2 million from £370.1 million a year ago. Net profit for the first-half rose 4.1% to £38.2 million or 29.2 pence per diluted share compared net profit of £36.7 million or 28.1 pence per share a year ago.

PZ Cussons plc decreased 5.1% or 12.00 pence to 223.00 pence after the soap and shampoo maker said full-year revenues rose 27% to £838.1 million from £660.9 million a year ago. Net profit for the year rose 9.2% to £60.4 million or 11.56 pence per diluted share compared net profit of £55.3 million or 10.96 pence per share a year ago.

Randgold Resources Ltd slid 2.0% or 81.00 pence to 3953.00 pence after the gold miner said second quarter revenues rose 10% to $114.2 million. Net profit for the quarter fell 17% to $14.7 million or 19 cents per diluted share compared net profit of $17.9 million or 14 cents per share a year ago.

The Sage Group PLC surged 5.4% or 10.10 pence to 195.00 pence after the accounting software supplier said that “market conditions in the quarter ended 30 June 2009 have remained challenging but largely unchanged. It expects results for the fiscal year to be in line with market forecasts. Net debt fell to £491 million at the end of June from £558 million at the end of March.”

Wolfson Microelectronics plc plunged 4.5% or 5.25 pence to 110.50 pence after Semiconductor group cut losses in the last three months as sales picked up but end-consumer demand visibility continues to be poor and order patterns volatile it cautioned.

Losses in the three months to June fell from $2.2m from $4.7m in the previous quarter but that compared to a profit of $6m this time last year.

Hallin Marine increased 7.7% to 108 pence after the provider of subsea solutions to the oil and gas industry signed a $6.5 million contract for the Hallin operated vessel the Sanko Angel with a natural resource company.

FTSE 100 Index Movers

Of the stocks in the FTSE 100 index, 25 increased, 76 declined and 1 were unchanged.

Randgold Resources Ltd. decliners in the FTSE 100 index with a loss of 8.65% followed by losses in Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation Plc of 6.85%, in Kazakhmys Plc of 6.79%, in Xstrata Plc of 6.53%, in Antofagasta Plc of 6.51%.

The Sage Group Plc led gainers in the FTSE 100 index with a rise of 3.40% followed by increase in Land Securities Group Plc of 2.35%, in Next Plc of 1.75%, in Marks and Spencer Group Plc of 1.52%, in National Grid Plc of 1.15%.