UK Home Possessions Slows; British Land Rises

Mayank Mehta
14 Aug, 2009
New York City

UK home possessions in the second quarter increased but at a slower pace compared to the first quarter. For the year the industry association still estimates possessions to rise to 65,000. Man Group sells remaining stake in MF Global to Nomura.

[R]4:00PM London, 11:00 AM New York – UK home possessions in the second quarter increased but at a slower pace compared to the first quarter. For the year the industry association still estimates possessions to rise to 65,000. Man sells remaining stake in MF Global to Nomura.[/R]

Stocks in UK edged lower after consumer confidence in the U.S. fell and UK home repossessions growth rate fell in the second quarter.

In London FTSE 100 Index closed declined 40.74 or 0.8% to 4,714.72 and the pound closed at $1.65 and unchanged at 1.16 euros.

UK Home Possessions Fall in Q2

The Council of Mortgage Lenders said that mortgage lenders repossessed 11,400 properties in the second quarter compared to 12,700 in the first quarter as interest rates declined. The repo rate increased 14% from a year ago period compared to 49% surge in the first quarter.

Roughly one in every 1,000 homes in the UK is repossessed. For the first half the 24,100 homes have been repossessed and the council estimated total to rise to 65,000 by the end of the year.

In all 11.1 million home owners have £1.2 trillion outstanding on mortgage loans.

Gainers & Losers

Allied Irish Banks Plc surged 6.2% to 2.23 euros after it confirmed preliminary interest from an unidentified investor for a minority stake.

BlackRock World Mining Trust Plc the investment trust jumped 1.4% to 445.50 pence.

British Land surged 3.9% to 512.50 pence after the Daily Telegraph said that the company may get £10 billion bid.

Chrysalis Group PLC climbed 7.5% to 71.50 pence after the music publisher which publishes Michael Jackson''s hit songs like ""Thriller"" and ""Rock With You,"" said the pop star''s death has led to an ""extraordinary surge"" in the sale of his work. The company also guided that the performance in the first has been in-line with management expectations.

Creston plc was unchanged at 62.00 pence after the marketing firm said the performance for the year is in line with management expectations after sales rising 4% in the previous year.

EG solutions plc surged 6.5% to 32.50 pence after the operations management software group guided half-year performance to be in line with expectation.

GoIndustry Plc the industrial auctioneer plunged 38.1% to 1.62 pence after it said it is considering rights offering or selling shares at a “considerable” discount.

Guinness Peat Group plc closed down 1.6% to 31.50 pence after the investment group said the current year results may be weaker than expected and the board is committed to returning value to shareholders by 2010 or soon after.

Harvard International plc rose 42.50 pence after distributor of consumer electronic products said that “Trading in the early months has been in line with the company''s expectations.” Sales since April 1 fell 38.4% to £18.8 million from £23.7 million a year ago. Net loss was £0.8 million compared to net loss of £4.5 million a year ago.

Man Group Plc added 1.7% to 267.00 pence after the fund manager today announces that the wholly owned subsidiary Man Group UK Ltd has entered into a forward sale agreement with Nomura International plc over its entire remaining stake in MF Global Ltd. for $112 million.

PayPoint plc advanced 3.5% to 550.50 pence after the mobile phone payment services said that trading for the period between April and last week in July has been satisfactory. The company also cited that top-up volumes in the UK, Ireland and Romania are lower than a year ago as mobile carrier offer higher air time.

Pixel Interactive Media Limited rose 15.3% to 15.00 pence after the Asia focused online advertising agency confirmed that it is confident in meeting market expectations for the full year earnings.

Renold plc gained 27.00 pence after the industrial chain maker says sales declines slowed in second quarter.

Southern Bear plc gained 38.6% to 2.60 pence after the support services company profits soar.

Sterling Energy plc climbed 13.1% to 3.10 pence to raise £62.5 million through equity issue.

Titan Europe Plc fell 4.7% to 30.00 pence after the manufacturer of steel wheels and undercarriages said first-half revenues fell 36% to £149.2 million from £233.4 million a year ago. Net loss for the first-half was £9.5 million or 11.47 pence per diluted share compared to net profit of £4.4 million or 5.33 pence per share a year ago.

Total Systems plc the software systems providers rose 26.50 pence.

FTSE 100 Index Movers

Of the stocks in the FTSE 100 index, 33 increased, 65 declined and 4 were unchanged.

Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation Plc decliners in the FTSE 100 index with a loss of 5.57% followed by losses in Old Mutual Plc of 3.62%, in Xstrata Plc of 3.09%, in HSBC Holdings Plc of 2.84%, in Petrofac Plc of 2.64%.

The British Land Company Plc led gainers in the FTSE 100 index with a rise of 3.93% followed by increase in British Airways Plc of 2.75%, in Tullow Oil Plc of 2.49%, in London Stock Exchange Group Plc of 2.26%, in The Sage Group Plc of 1.92%.

Europe Markets Review

In London FTSE 100 Index closed lower 41.49 or 0.87% to 4,713.97, in Paris CAC 40 Index decreased 29.12 or 0.83% to close at 3,495.27 and in Frankfurt DAX index lower 92.00 or 1.70% to close at 5,309.11. In Zurich trading SMI decreased 1.42 or 0.02% to close at 5,985.30.