UK Stocks Settle; Gartmore Group Listing

Mayank Mehta
20 Nov, 2009
New York City

UK stocks struggled. Nationwide Building Society estimated tougher home market outlook in 2010. Home builder stocks declined. The pound decreased against the yen and the dollar on the rising deficit. Gartmore Group Ltd prepares public offering to raise

[R]4:00 PM London, 11:00 AM New York – UK stocks struggled. Nationwide Building Society estimated tougher home market outlook in 2010. Home builder stocks declined. The pound decreased against the yen and the dollar on the rising deficit. Gartmore Group Ltd prepares public offering to raise £250 million.[/R]

UK stocks struggled as housing market stocks led the decliners and commodities prices closed mixed. Investors are increasingly challenging stock valuations that reflect speedy recovery and healthier economic climate in 2010.

In London FTSE 100 Index closed lower 13.61 or 0.2% to 5,254.09 and the pound edged lower to close at $1.649 and edged lower to close at €1.111.

Nationwide Building Society said home prices are expected to decline in 2010 as homes for sale inventory rises and job markets remains weak.

Gartmore Group Ltd plans to raise £250 million in a public offering that will list the asset manager controlled by the private equity investor Hellman & Friedman LLC. Employees are expected to sell 20% of their stake in an offering co-managed by Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and UBS AG.

Gartomore manages approximately £22 billion in mutual funds, hedge funds and separately managed accounts. Gartmore is known for its absolute return investment strategy funds.

Hellman & Friedman acquired Gartmore for £500 million from Nationwide Mutual Life Insurance in 2006.

Gainers & Losers

Anite plc fell 5.7% to 33.00 pence after the wireless specialist said adjusted operating profit in the first half is expected to be approximately £3.5 million compared to £12.4 million a year ago.

Angel Biotechnology Holdings Plc rose 5.6% to 0.33 pence after the contract bio-manufacturing company had been named as a contractor on three independent grants that have been awarded to three separate consortia of UK companies active in the field of regenerative medicine.

Caledonia Investments plc dropped 0.9% to 1,650.00 pence after the investment company appointed Stephen King as Finance Director with effect from December 9.

Chemring Group plc declined 0.3% to 2,811.00 pence after the weapons group said that it has completed a $280 million private placement of fixed interest loan notes with a number of institutional investors.

Cyprotex PLC the drug discovery technology developer decreased 7.9% to 3.80 pence.

Fuller, Smith & Turner PLC gained 6.0% to 510.00 pence after the pub group said first-half adjusted profits before tax increased to 18% to £14.1 million from £12.0 million a year ago.

Headlam Group plc closed unchanged at 315.00 pence after the floor coverings distributor said the board remains confident about achieving their expectations for 2009. Moreover, trading during November to date, in the UK, appears to be a continuance of the recent trend with revenue up 0.5% compared with the previous year.

Intertek Group plc fell 1.5% to 1,240.00 pence after the product quality and safety tester said that it is in discussions with Det Norske Veritas in relation to acquiring the significant majority of its business assurance division with the revenue of approximately £200 million in 2009.

Infoserve Group plc the online search marketing group closed unchanged at 9.00 pence.

Matchtech Group plc the technical recruitment firm slipped 2.2% to 215.00 pence.

Nichols plc closed unchanged at 300.00 pence after the drinks group appointed Tim Croston as Group Finance Director with effect from January 1 2010.

RIT Capital Partners plc climbed 0.9% to 957.50 pence after the popular investment trust said on Friday that a profit for the first-half period, as compared with a loss in comparable period last year, reflecting gain on portfolio investments held at fair value.

Rotork p.l.c the valve actuator and gearbox maker declined 0.4% to 1,204.00 pence.

Sportech PLC the football pools firm closed unchanged at 60.25 pence.

Staffline Recruitment Group plc the Blue-collar HR firm surged 14.3% to 58.32 pence.

Tesco PLC decreased 0.6% to 422.30 pence.