UK Pound Up, U. Business Media, Rentokil Rise

Mayank Mehta
31 Jul, 2009
New York City

UK stocks edged higher on a rise in pound. Energy companies declined after Royal Dutch and Eni reported a decline in earnings and revenues. British Airways increased after it reported wider loss but sounded optimistic outlook for the second half. United Business Media surged on dividend hike.

[R]4:00 PM London, 11:00 AM New York – UK stocks edged higher on a rise in pound. Energy companies declined after Royal Dutch and Eni reported a decline in earnings and revenues. British Airways increased after it reported wider loss but sounded optimistic outlook for the second half. United Business Media increased on dividend hike and Rentokil Group gained on lower than expected loss.[/R]

UK stocks closed higher but energy companies declined after Eni, Total and Royal Dutch Shell second quarter declined. BP fell nearly 2%.

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 15.38 or 0.35% to 4,361.84 and the pound closed at $1.67 an increase of 1.1% today and 14% for the year. The pound edged down 0.1% to 85.41 pence but for the year increased 11% against euro.

British Airways increased after it reported wider loss but sounded optimistic outlook for the second half. United Business Media increased on dividend hike and Rentokil Group gained on lower than expected loss. The casino operator Rank Group surged 11% after it reported net profit in the first half of the year.

Gainers & Losers

Anglo American plc declined 0.1% to 1,902.50 pence after the first-half revenues fell 38% to £11.1 billion from £17.9 billion a year ago. Net profit for the first-half fell 30.6% to £2.97 billion or 2.47 pence per diluted share compared net profit of £4.28 billion or 3.56 pence per share a year ago.

Balfour Beatty plc climbed 0.8% to 309.50 pence after the engineering firm said its subsidiary Gammon Construction, an infrastructure contractor in Hong Kong, has been awarded a HK$3.76 billion (£300 million) contract by the Hong Kong Government for the construction of a sewage conveyance system.

British Airways Plc added 5.5% to 141.80 pence after the airline said first quarter revenues fell 12.2% to £1.98 billion from £2.26 billion a year ago. Net loss for the quarter was £106 million or 9.6 pence per diluted share compared net profit of £27 million or 2.0 pence per share a year ago.

Coffee Republic PLC rose 22.00 pence after Coffee shop chain has been bought out of administration by property firm Arab Investment Ltd.

Hasgrove plc rose 7.9% to 72.83 pence after the marketing group is anticipating a stronger second half of the year.

Homeserve plc fell 2.8% to 1,431.00 pence after the home emergency service provider said that policy renewals rates across three core membership businesses.

Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc rose 0.4% to 443.25 pence an insurance broker said first-half net profit rose 14.6% to £42.5 million or 19.9 pence per diluted share compared net profit of £37.1 million or 17.3 pence per share a year ago.

Keller Group plc climbed 1.9% to 667.50 pence after the nation''s top wealth manager said first-half revenues fell 3% to £552.6 million from £568.7 million a year ago. Net profit for the first-half fell 18.3% to £26.9 million or 41.3 pence per diluted share compared net profit of £32.9 million or 49.6 pence per share a year ago.

Liberty International PLC increased 1.4% to 443.25 pence after the real estate firm said first-half revenues fell 0.7% to £306.2 million from £308.3 million a year ago. Net loss for the first-half was £470.1 million or 113.5 pence per diluted share compared net profit of £426.2 million or 112.9 pence per share a year ago.

Phoenix IT Group plc fell 1.8% to 222.00 pence after the IT services company said first quarter results are in line with expectations after cost control measures helped the company withstand a 5% fall in revenues.

Rentokil Initial plc rose 7.4% to 97.25 pence after the pest control specialist said first-half revenues fell 2.5% to £1.17 billion from £1.20 billion a year ago. Net profit for the first-half fell 50% to £6.6 million or 0.29 pence per diluted share compared net profit of £13.2 million or 0.66 pence per share a year ago.

Royal Dutch Shell plc lost 1.3% to 1578.00 pence after the company said that it is working on a restructuring program to lower operating cost.

SABMiller plc dropped 1.1% to 1,381.00 pence after the brewing giant said lager volumes were flat in the three months to 30 June, while soft drinks volumes climbed 2%.

Travelzest plc added 8.3% to 19.50 after the travel group returned to profitability in the first half of the year on strong growth in Canada and UK.

United Business Media Limited surged 12.3% to 417.00 pence after the global business media company said first-half revenues fell 2.4% to £435.0 million from £445.6 million a year ago. Net profit for the first-half fell 19.6% to £51.3 million or 19.6 pence per diluted share compared net profit of £63.8 million or 24.5 pence per share a year ago.

Vedanta Resources plc rose 1.1% to 1764.00 pence after the copper producer said first quarter revenues fell 32.8% to £1.36 billion from £2.02 billion a year ago. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization for the quarter fell 52% to £354.7 million compared net profit of £739 million a year ago.