London Stocks Drop; Weak LSE Volume

123jump.com Staff
24 Sep, 2009
New York City

UK stocks edged lower after U.S. home sales fell in August. LSE reported 43% decline in average trading value in the first five months ending in August. JJB Sports Plc first half loss widened. Great Portland Estate acquires Central London building for

[R]4:00PM London, 11:00 AM New York – UK stocks edged lower after U.S. home sales fell in August. LSE reported 43% decline in average trading value in the first five months ending in August. JJB Sports Plc first half loss widened. Great Portland Estate acquires Central London building for £46 million.[/R]

In London FTSE 100 Index closed lower 59.22 or 1.1% to 5,079.32 and the pound edged down to close at $1.614 and at 1.093 euros.

Gainers & Losers

3i Group plc fell 2.9% to 279.60 pence and the private equity group has avoided having to inject large amounts of capital into its buyout portfolio in order to hold onto its investments during the recession, while many of its peers cede control of companies. In the first five months the company invested £155 million compared to £622 million a year ago period.

BAE Systems plc advanced 0.6% to 344.30 after the defense firm said that it agreed to buy VT Group''s 45% stake in BVT Surface Fleet Ltd. for £346 million ($568 million).

Great Portland Estates plc declined 1.2% to 271.60 pence after the property group said that it has exchanged contracts to purchase 90 Queen Street, London EC4 for £45.8 million.

Hansard Global plc fell 0.9% to 156.50 pence after the life insurance products provider said full-year net profit fell 13.7% to £20.1 million or 14.7 pence per diluted share compared to net profit of £23.3 million or 17.0 pence per share a year ago.

Homeserve plc declined 1.6% to 1,516.00 pence after the home maintenance specialist said it has sold its emergency services division for up to £11 million as it looks to focus on its higher-margin membership businesses.

JJB Sports plc fell 5.0% to 37.50 pence after the sports retailer said first-half sales fell 21% to £167 million. Net loss for the first-half was £27.2 million compared to net loss of £263,000 a year ago.

London Stock Exchange Group Plc fell 3.9% to 844.50 pence and said its average daily value traded on its SETS systems declined 43% year-on-year to £4.6 billion and trading volume at Borsa Italiana was up 4% on last year at 262,000 trades per day.

Recently the exchange acquired Sri Lanka based MillenniumIT to gain access to rapid processing of trades and the exchange is looking to provide trading for bonds for retail investors.

Chief executive Xavier Rolet said that 133 people or 12% of the staff has been to cut and the exchange will save £11 million a year beginning second half of this year.

M J Gleeson Group plc decreased 3.0% to 102.75 pence a home renovation service provider said full-year revenues fell 42% to £55.0 million from £94.6 million a year ago. Pre-tax loss for the full-year was £54.3 million compared to pre-tax loss of £20.8 million a year ago.

M&C Saatchi Plc fell 0.6% to 82.00 pence an advertising group said first-half revenues fell 3.8% to £49.8 million from £51.8 million a year ago. Net profit for the first-half fell 25% to £3.6 million or 5.75 pence per diluted share compared to net profit of £4.8 million or 7.50 pence per share a year ago.

Mitchells & Butlers plc decreased 2.7% to 276.40 pence after the pub group said that the earnings for the current year are likely to be ahead of market consensus as same store sales are up 2.6% in the ten weeks ending on Sept 19.

Northamber Plc dropped 2.2% to 44.50 pence after the computer hardware supplier said full-year revenues fell 22.5% to £139.3 million from £179.7 million a year ago. Net profit for the full-year fell 87% to £52 million or 0.18 pence per diluted share compared to net profit of £405 million or 1.36 pence per share a year ago.

NWF Group plc added 1.0% to 97.00 pence after the oil, animal feeds and grocery products distributor said business is in line with management expectations.

Premier Farnell plc rose 0.9% to 149.80 pence after the electronic components distributor acquired CadSoft Computer GmbH electronic design software developer.

smartFOCUS Group plc the marketing software provider plunged 15.6% to 11.80 pence.

Songbird Estates plc plunged 92.7% to 2.40 pence after the real-estate company said first-half net rental income rose 39% to £244.7 million from £176.2 million a year ago. Net loss for the first-half was £80.9 million or 17.8 pence per diluted share compared to net loss of £267.3 million or 58.9 pence per share a year ago.

Vedanta Resources plc rose 1.3% to 1,986.00 pence after the diversified metals and mining companies said aluminum production unaffected at company’s Korba, India plant after chimney under construction fell.

FTSE 100 Index Movers

Of the stocks in the FTSE 100 index, 13 increased, 87 declined and 2 were unchanged.

Wolseley Plc decliners in the FTSE 100 index with a loss of 4.46% followed by losses in Rexam Plc of 4.28%, in British Airways Plc of 4.22%, in Land Securities Group Plc of 4.00%, in Kazakhmys Plc of 3.81%.

Autonomy Corporation Plc led gainers in the FTSE 100 index with a rise of 3.33% followed by increase in Old Mutual Plc of 3.02%, in Intertek Group Plc of 2.41%, in Carnival Plc of 2.30%, in Imperial Tobacco Group Plc of 1.07%.