Legal & General Loss; Standard & Chartered Falls

Mayank Mehta
04 Aug, 2009
New York City

Standard & Chartered declined after it plans to raise capital

[R]4:00PM London, 11:00 AM New York – Standard & Chartered declined after it plans to raise capital £1 billion. Legal & General cut dividend by 45%. GKN cuts more jobs after loss. Weir lifts dividend after profit hike.[/R]

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 15.38 or 0.35% to 4,361.84 and the pound closed at $1.69 and 1.17 euros.

Gainers & Losers

BHP Billiton plc slipped 2.0% to 1,592.00 pence and company appointed Jac Nasser, former chief executive of Ford Motor Company as chairman when Don Argus retires after ten years as the board leader early in 2010.

Cookson Group plc added 4.7% to 359.10 pence after the materials science company said first-half revenues fell 12% to £929.4 million from £1.06 billion a year ago. Net loss in the first-half was £96.6 million or 42.6 pence per diluted share compared to net profit of £49.6 million or 34.2 pence per share a year ago.

Drax Group plc advanced 2.9% or 423.40 pence after the power generator said first-half revenues fell 11.8% to £707 million from £802 million a year ago. Net profit in the first-half fell 80% to £23.5 million or 7 pence per diluted share compared to net profit of £118.2 million or 35 pence per share a year ago.

Elementis plc plunged 1.3% to 38.00 pence after the chemical group profits slumped in the six months to June 30 as the global downturn affected the business.

GKN plc gained 5.0% or 110.50 pence after the automotive and aerospace parts maker said first-half sales fell 9.3% to £2.06 billion from £1.27 billion a year ago. Net profit in the first-half fell 95% to £5 million compared to net profit of £97 million or 13.7 pence per share a year ago.

Legal & General Group Plc plunged 6.8% to 61.00 pence after the insurer said first-half revenues fell 6% to £3.1 billion from £3.3 billion a year ago. Net loss in the first-half was £71 million or 1.22 pence per diluted share compared to net loss of £14 million or 0.23 pence per share a year ago. The insurer also cut dividend by 45% to 1.11 pence.

Marston’s PLC rose 1.9% to 97.05 pence after the brewer and pub group estimated business improvement since April despite the current warm weather spell.

Moneysupermarket.com Group PLC fell 3.0% to 70.10 pence after the price comparison website saw first half profits slump from a year ago.

SDL plc plunged 5.4% to 346.70 pence after the data management specialist boosted half-year profit by 29% in line with expectations on favorable currencies and positive organic growth.

Spirent Communications plc slipped 0.6% to 70.05 pence after the telecoms testing firm said first-half revenues rose 15% to £139.1 million. Pre-tax profit in the first-half rose 1% to £23.6 million e compared to net profit of £23.4 million a year ago.

Standard Chartered PLC sank 4.4% to 1,372.00 pence after the bank said first-half net interest income fell 0.3% to £3.70 billion from £3.71 billion a year ago. Net profit in the first-half rose 5.5% to £1.99 billion or 98.0 pence compared to net profit of £1.89 billion or 109.5 pence per share a year ago. The company also plans to raise capital to bolster its balance sheet.

TeleCity Group Plc decreased 1.1% to 337.90 pence after the data centre operator saw half-year profits post good gains and estimated “substantial” growth for the year.

The Weir Group PLC surged 6.0% to 616.50 pence after the chairman Lord Smith of Kelvin reiterated the pump and valve maker’s strategy to focus on sectors that are not vulnerable to discretionary spending cuts as it posted a rise in profits and revenues and lifted its dividend.

William Hill PLC dropped 7.7% to 171.90 pence after the bookmaker shares slumped as it warned that business in July was and its core retail betting arm revenues will be lower than previous estimate.

Xstrata plc declined 3.0% to 839.50 pence after the global diversified mining company said first-half sales fell 40.7% to £9.54 billion from £16.1 billion a year ago. Net loss in the first-half was £445 million or 0.21 pence compared to net profit of £2.96 billion or 1.60 pence per share a year ago.