UK Lower on Miners; Punch Tavern Surges

Mayank Mehta
22 Oct, 2009
New York City

Stocks in London closed lower after miners and commodities priced declined. China reported rising inflationary pressures as the economy expanded at 8.9% in the third quarter. September retail sales rose 2.4% from a year ago. Punch Tavern and Enterprise Inns surged on a favorable ruling.

[R]4:00PM London, 11:00 AM New York – Stocks in London closed lower after miners and commodities priced declined. China reported rising inflationary pressures as the economy expanded at 8.9% in the third quarter. Kazakhmys, Xstrata, Randgold, Antofagasta declined. Punch Tavern and Enterprise Inns surged on a favorable ruling from the regulators.[/R]

Stocks in London decreased after China reported rising inflation expectations. Third quarter gross domestic product surged 8.9% on the back of the recent economic stimulus but the statistics bureau also reported rising inflation expectations. Miners and resource stocks declined on the news.

Retail sales were flat in September compared to August according to the latest data from the Office of National Statistics. Sales increased 2.4% from a year ago as unemployment hovered near highs.

In London FTSE 100 Index closed lower 59.71 or 1.1% to 5,198.14 and the pound edged lower to close at $1.655 and at 1.105 euros.

Kazakhmys Plc declined 2.4%, Antofagasta fell 2.3% an Randgold Resources dropped 3.8%.

Gainers & Losers

Anglo American plc rose 0.6% to 2,291.00 pence and the mining giant reorganized management structure to focus on core business.

Aviva plc slipped 2.0% to 431.30 pence and the company is restructuring its European operations to consolidate its twelve separate units to a single pan-European group.

COLT Telecom Group S.A the telecom operator rose 1.9% to 127.00 pence.

National Express Group PLC decreased 3.0% to 403.00 pence after the bus and rail group said that for fiscal 2009, the board anticipates profit before tax will be slightly below its previous expectations. The transportation company also reported it revised agreement with lenders to reschedule the debt.

Lonmin PLC declined 0.9% to 1,675.00 pence after the platinum miner said fourth quarter platinum production declined 20% to 2.6 million tons.

Morse plc the IT services firm fell 0.7% to 35.50 pence.

Petrofac Limited dropped 2.8% to 1,033.00 pence after the international oil & gas facilities service provider said as the year progresses we are increasingly confident that the group will deliver earnings growth for the full year of at least 20%.

Pinewood Shepperton plc closed unchanged at 130.00 pence after the film studio said trading outlook to date is in line with market expectations.

Punch Taverns plc the pub company surged 13.3% to 96.05 pence after the Office of Fair Trading rejected the notion that exclusive supplier agreements prevented fair competition in the markets. Enterprise Inns Plc surged 23% to 147 pence.

Green King increased 1.9% to 420 pence and Marston’s increased 3% to 93.75 pence.

Smiths News PLC fell 3.5% to 122.50 pence after the newspaper and magazine wholesaler said full-year underlying net profit declined 43.6% to £30.5 million or 13.8 pence earnings per share compared to net profit of £32.6 million or 14.5 pence earnings per share a year ago.

Sports Direct International plc the sportswear retailer slipped 2.1% to 102.50 pence.

Stobart Group Limited the transport and logistics group declined 3.1% to 123.00 pence after it reported pre-tax profit in the first half ending in August of £12.4 million compared to £11 million a year ago period.

Vectura Group plc rose 0.5% to 88.00 pence after the respiratory inhaler firm said that the Phase III trials with NVA237, which commenced in June 2009, are proceeding to plan. Initiation of Phase III studies with QVA149 is now expected to occur during 2010. The chronic obstructive pulmonary disease study will receive $7.5 million payment but not until march 2011.

Receipt of the associated milestone payment of $7.5 million is expected during the financial year to March 31, 2011.

FTSE 100 Index Movers

Of the stocks in the FTSE 100 index, 11 increased, 90 declined and 1 were unchanged.

Carnival Plc decliners in the FTSE 100 index with a loss of 4.27% followed by losses in British Airways Plc of 4.12%, in Old Mutual Ltd. of 3.95%, in Randgold Resources Plc of 3.81%, in Prudential Public Limited Company of 3.29%.

Lloyds Banking Group Plc led gainers in the FTSE 100 index with a rise of 3.61% followed by increase in Vodafone Group Plc of 3.41%, in BT Group Plc of 1.45%, in Inmarsat Plc of 1.34%, in Bunzl Plc of 1.30%.