Cadbury Rejects Kraft Bid; Whitbred Surges

Mayank Mehta
07 Sep, 2009
New York City

UK stocks surged after Cadbury rejected 10.2 billion bid from Kraft. The unsolicited bid offered 74 pence a share and Kraft is likely to return with a higher bid. Whitbred surged after it estimated net for the year at the upper end of the range and sales at Costa unit increased.

[R]4:00PM London, 11:00 AM New York – UK stocks surged after Cadbury rejected 10.2 billion bid from Kraft. The unsolicited bid offered 74 pence a share and Kraft is likely to return with a higher bid. Whitbred surged after it estimated net for the year at the upper end of the range and sales at Costa unit increased. Associated British Foods guided higher adjusted net for the second half.[/R]

UK stocks closed higher after Kraft bid for Cadbury and copper prices increased.

Cadbury Plc surged 39% after it rejected a 74 pence a share bid from Kraft and said the bid undervalues the company prompting analysts to speculate that other leading European companies may offer a higher price.

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 83.57 or 1.7% to 4,935.40 and the pound closed at $1.63 and unchanged at 1.14 euros.

A sharp rise in copper prices lifted mining companies stocks. Antofagasta, Lonmin, Xstrata and Kazakhmys surged between 3% and 5%.

Gainers & Losers

Aquarius Platinum Limited rose 1.6% to 277.30 pence

Associated British Foods plc rose 4.2% to 846.50 pence after the foods group said like for like sales at Primark, which accounts for about 40% of group profits were expected to grow 7% over the full year because of “a very strong performance” in the UK.

Balfour Beatty plc increased 3.2% to 348.00 pence after the engineering, construction and services group has secured a position on six construction frameworks through its contractor Mansell, with a total value of more than £250 million.

Mansell is one of eleven contractors selected by Devon County Council on the Construction Framework South West.

Cadbury plc soared 39.0% to 790 pence after it received unsolicited offer from Kraft Foods Inc. The Board of Cadbury rejected the offer and said the offer inadequately valued the company.

Craneware plc added 4.1% to 241.72 pence after hospital management software supplier said full-year revenues rose 23% to $23.0 million from $18.7 million a year ago. Net profit for the full-year rose 34.8% to $4.45 million or $0.170 per diluted share compared to net profit of $3.3 million or $0.130 per share a year ago.

Fenner Plc surged 15.4% to 135 pence after it said that last two months of improved sales will help it to meet its profit outlook for the quarter.

Goals Soccer Centres plc close unchanged at 193.00 pence after the five-a-side football centre operator said first-half revenues rose 12.2% to £12.85 million from £11.45 million a year ago. Net profit for the first-half rose 3.8% to £2.7 million or 6.2 pence per diluted share compared to net profit of £2.6 million or 60 pence per share a year ago.

Hansteen Holdings PLC closed unchanged at 83.00 pence after the Property group said its intention to move from AIM to the Official List on or around October 6, 2009 subject to approvals.

Healthcare Locums PLC fell 5.6% to 204.75 pence after medical staffing company said first-half revenues rose 8.5% to £86.5 million from £79.7 million a year ago. Net profit for the first-half rose 68.3% to £6.9 million or 6.6 pence per diluted share compared to net profit of £4.1 million or 4.0 pence per share a year ago.

Horizonte Minerals Plc increased 3.2% to 9.55 pence after the Brazil and Peru exploration and development firm said losses in the first six month ended June increased.

Kier Group plc added 6.4% to 1,182.00 pence has signed a contract with North Tyneside Council to repair and maintain its social housing stock and other council owned property for an initial ten year term. The contract has a potential value of over £600 million which could increase as the contract is extendable for additional five years.

Kofax PLC decreased 1.3% to 147.00 pence after the provider of document driven business process automation solutions said full-year revenues rose 9% to £185.8 million from £169.7 million a year ago. Net profit for the full-year rose 50% to £5.1 million or 6.2 pence per share compared to net profit of £3.4 million or 3.9 pence per share a year ago.

Salamander Energy plc fell 0.7% to 198.50 pence after the oil and gas explorer delayed testing at Phu Kheng-1 oil well.

Sabien Technology Group Plc surged 25.4% to 32.00 pence after the energy efficiency technology specialist said that it has obtained Underwriters Laboratories approval for M2G for the USA. Greffen Systems has placed an order with the company for £100,000 on the approval.

Theo Fennell plc plunged 12.5% to 35.00 pence after the jeweler said full-year revenues fell 22.3% to £21.82 million from £28.07 million a year ago. Net loss for the full-year was £2.95 million or 15.70 pence per share compared to net profit of £970,000 or 4.74 pence per share a year ago.

Whitbread PLC surged 17.3% to 1,204.00 pence after the hotel and restaurant group said first-half total sales rose 2.4% and like-for like sales fell 2.6%. Premier Inns' like-for-like sales fell 7.7% and total sales rose 0.2%. Costa’s total sales rose 18.4% and like-for like sales rose 2.7%. Pub restaurants total sales rose 18.4% and like-for-like sales rose 2.1%.

FTSE 100 Index Movers

Of the stocks in the FTSE 100 index, 98 increased, 4 declined and none were unchanged.

Thomson Reuters Plc decliners in the FTSE 100 index with a loss of 1.68% followed by losses in shire Plc of 0.67%, in Standard Life Plc of 0.56%, in Petrofac Plc of 0.22%.

Cadbury Plc led gainers in the FTSE 100 index with a rise of 37.85% followed by increase in Lonmin Plc of 5.89%, in TUI Travel Plc of 4.61%, in Lloyds Banking Group Plc of 4.45%, in Associated British Foods Plc of 4.13%.