UK Jobless Claims Drop; Arriva Surges

Mayank Mehta
17 Mar, 2010
New York City

UK stocks edged higher and the benchmark index traded near one and a half year high as expectations of low interest rate for the near future dominated the sentiment. Arriva Plc soared on a takeover offer and February unemployment claims fell at the fastest pace since 1997.

[R]4:00 PM London, 11:00 AM New York – UK stocks edged higher and the benchmark index traded near one and a half year high as expectations of low interest rate for the near future dominated the sentiment. Arriva Plc soared on a takeover offer and February unemployment claims fell at the fastest pace since 1997.[/R]

UK stocks edged higher and the benchmark index traded near one and a half year high as expectations of low interest rate for the near future dominated the sentiment. Arriva Plc soared on a takeover offer and February unemployment claims fell at the fastest pace since 1997.

The UK unemployment rate fell by 0.1% and on the three months to January was 7.8% according to the survey meeting the International Labour Organization guidelines and released by the Office for National Statistics.

The number of unemployed people fell by 33,000 over the quarter to reach 2.45 million.

UK jobless claims decreased 32,300 from January to 1.59 million according to the agency after the January revised claims increased 5,300 from the previous estimate of an increase of 23,500.

The ONS also said that weekly pay increased in the quarter to January by 0.9% to 442 pounds.

The number of employed people in the UK in the three months to January fell by 54,000 to 28.9 million, a four-year low. The number of people who are no longer looking to work increased 149,000 to 8.16 million or 21.5% of the people in working age range.

In London FTSE 100 Index closed higher 24.20 or 0.43% to 5,644.63 and the pound edged higher to close at $1.535 and edged higher to close at €1.116.

Gainers & Losers

Arriva Plc surged 16.8% to 677 pence after the operator of long distance railroad was approached by an unidentified buyer according to the company. The deregulation in the European transportation is likely to benefit UK based operators. The news lifted shares of Go-Ahead Group, National Express and Stagecoach Group between 4% and 6%.

The Times yesterday speculated that Deutsche Bahn and Singapore based ComfortDelGro Corp may be the likely bidders.

Avocet Mining plc dropped 4.9% to 105.00 pence after the gold mining company said nine months revenues rose 16.4% to $82.9 million to $71.2 million a year ago. Net loss for the nine months was $13.0 million or 7.63 cents per diluted share compared to net profit of $23.3 million or 20.15 cents per share a year ago.

BHP Billiton plc rose 0.6% to 2,200.00 pence.

British Airways Plc rose 0.5% to 247.40 pence after the company today published contingency plans to allow 60% of customers to keep flying through Unite''s strike period of March 20, 21 and 22.

Chemring Group PLC fell 2.4% to 3,312.00 pence after the military decoy specialist maker said sales in the first four month period to the end of February was 5% higher than for the same period in 2009 on a constant currency basis. Severe adverse weather conditions in the first few weeks of 2010 disrupted production in most of US and UK subsidiaries, which affected deliveries in January and February.

Derwent London Plc fell 0.9% to 1,326.00 pence after the real estate investment trust said 2009 net property income rose 20% to £114.8 million to £95.5 million a year ago. Net loss for the year was £26.8 million or 26.59 pence per diluted share compared to net loss of £586.4 million or 58.19 pence per share a year ago.

Hikma Pharmaceuticals Plc dropped 4.3% to 569.00 pence after the specialty pharmaceutical company said 2009 revenues rose 9.7% to $636.9 million to $580.7 million a year ago. Net profit for the year rose 36% to $77.7 million or 40.1 cents per diluted share compared to net profit of $57.1 million or 29.6 cents per share a year ago.

Mecom Group plc fell 6.6% to 183.75 pence after the operator of content and consumer businesses said 2009 revenues fell 17.5% to €1.46 billion from €1.77 billion a year ago. Net loss for the year was €125.5 million or €1.94 per diluted share compared to net loss of €1.16 billion or €73.92 per share a year ago.

Neovia Financial Plc plunged 10.4% to 58.00 pence an online payments company said 2009 revenues fell 15% to $64.5 million to $75.9 million a year ago. Net loss for the year was $9.8 million or $0.08 per diluted share compared to net loss of $8.1 million or $0.07 per share a year ago.

Northgate plc added 1.3% to 196.90 pence after the vehicle rental group in UK said utilization rates increased to 91% for the four months to February 28, a 5% improvement compared to a year ago. In Spain utilization rates averaged 86% for the four months to February 28, a 6% improvement on the 80% average achieved for the same period last year.

Playtech Limited the gaming software specialist rose 1.6% to 512.00 pence.

The TEG Group Plc rose 1.4% to 44.65 pence after the compost technology provider said 2009 revenues rose 21% to £15.4 million to £12.7 million a year ago. Net profit for the year was £243,000 or 0.48 pence per diluted share compared to net loss of £1.5 million or 3.06 pence per share a year ago.

Xaar plc rose 0.6% to 81.00 pence after printer ink technology specialist said 2009 revenues rose 0.2% to £42.1 million to £42.0 million a year ago. Net profit for the year fell 88% to £399,000 or 0.6 pence per diluted share compared to net profit of £3.4 million or 5.5 pence per share a year ago.

FTSE 100 Index Movers

Of the stocks in the FTSE 100 index, 67 increased, 33 declined and 2 were unchanged.

G4S Plc decliners in the FTSE 100 index with a loss of 4.83% followed by losses in Man Group Plc of 3.65%, in Standard Life Plc of 3.65%, in Thomas Cook Group Plc of 2.74%, and in Marks and Spencer Group Plc of 2.24%.

Autonomy Corporation Plc led gainers in the FTSE 100 index with a rise of 4.15% followed by increase in Fresnillo Plc of 3.45%, in Resolution Limited Plc of 3.42%, in Kazakhmys Plc of 2.41%, and in Kingfisher Plc of 2.29%.