UK Indexes Rise; Sainsbury, Balfour Beatty Up

Mayank Mehta
11 Nov, 2009
New York City

UK stocks closed higher on a rise in commodities prices. J Sainsbury first-half profits beat expectations. Reed CEO departs as recession bites. October jobless claims increased at the slowest pace in eighteen months. The unemployment rate increased to 7.8% in the quarter ending in September.

[R]4:00 PM London, 11:00 AM New York – J Sainsbury first-half profits beat expectations. Reed CEO departs as recession bites. IT spending key to competitive gains during recession. Orders steady at Balfour Beatty.[/R]

UK stocks closed as commodities gained after China reported a sharp rise in industrial production and machinery orders in Japan increased. Great Portland Estate and J Sainsbury increased on better than expected earnings. Balfour Beatty gained on new contract wins.

October jobless claims increased 12,900 according to the release from the Office for National Statistics and the smallest monthly increase in claims since April 2008.

The unemployment rate was 7.8% in the period between July and September as 2.46 million people are unemployed. The unemployment rate increased one percentage point from the previous quarter ending in June.

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 64.88 or 1.2% to 5,295.43 and the pound edged lower to close at $1.665 and to €1.108.

Gainers & Losers

Avocet Mining plc rose 0.2% to 90.00 pence after the gold miner said first-half revenues rose 5% to $54.2 million from $50.6 million a year ago. Net loss for the first-half was $4.10 million or 2.55 cents per diluted share compared to net profit of $22.44 million or 18.32 cents per share a year ago.

Balfour Beatty plc rose 1.6% to 268.20 pence after the contractor said there has been a strong overall performance in the building sector in both the UK and US and the company has recently won contracts in Texas, Georgia and the Carolinas total $400 million.

Corac Group plc plunged 16.4% to 29.26 pence.

Cobra Biomanufacturing Plc surged 56.8% to 4.90 pence an international provider of contract manufacturing services for the global biopharmaceutical industry said that the company is in merger discussions.

Great Portland Estates plc increased 6.8% to 282.70 pence after the property investor said first-half net assets increased 22.7% to £697.6 million.

Hays plc the recruitment group rose 2.1% to 102.30 pence.

International Power plc added 4.5% to 269.00 pence after the power generator said it expects 2009 earnings per share to be broadly in line with 2008.

Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group plc climbed 1.9% to 451.90 pence.

J Sainsbury plc added 2.9% to 337.30 pence after the grocery and related retailer said first-half revenues rose 5% to £10.4 billion from £9.9 billion a year ago. Net profit for the first-half rose 48% to £252 million or 13.8 pence per diluted share compared to net profit of £170 million or 9.6 pence per share a year ago.

John Menzies plc increased 6.8% to 342.00 pence after the aviation and distribution group said the Group focus remains on cash generation and debt reduction. Cash raised during the year from the sale and re-financing of assets is now expected to be around £15 million. Year end net debt, at current exchange rates, will continue to reduce in line with expectations.

Johnston Press plc rose 3.7% to 28.00 pence after the company said it expects to cut costs from a year ago by £50 million.

Micro Focus International plc surged 18.5% to 405.50 pence.

National Express Group PLC declined 0.8% to 335.00 pence after the bus and train group announces 7 for 3 rights Issue to raise net proceeds of approximately £360 million.

Reed Elsevier plc fell 5.5% to 457.80 pence after the publisher and information provider said that Ian Smith has resigned as chief executive.

Scottish and Southern Energy plc decreased 1.9% to 1,058.00 pence said first-half revenues fell 12.6% to £8.04 billion from £9.2 billion a year ago. Net profit for the first-half rose 195% to £377.9 million or 40.9 pence per diluted share compared to net profit of £128.2 million or 14.7 pence per share a year ago.

Stagecoach Group plc rose 1.5% to 141.00 pence.

Tullow Oil plc fell 1.1% to 1,255.00 pence.

Ultra Electronics Holdings plc the manufacture of electronic systems for the international defense and aerospace markets decreased 1.9% to 1,333.00 pence.

Wilmington Group plc closed unchanged at 145.00 pence after the professional information and training group said that first half results will be below the year ago period.