UK Revises GDP Estimate; Gartmore Plunges

Mayank Mehta
30 Mar, 2010
New York City

UK revised its estimate of the fourth quarter GDP growth to 0.4% from 0.3% and current account deficit declined sharply. Gartmore Group Ltd plunged 31% after it suspended a key fund manager. Kazakhmys Plc 2009 profit dropped 39% on lower metals price. Mouchel Group plc swung to a loss in first-half.

[R]4:00 PM London, 11:00 AM New York – UK revised its estimate of the fourth quarter GDP growth to 0.4% from 0.3% and current account deficit declined sharply. Gartmore Group Ltd plunged 31% after it suspended a key fund manager. Kazakhmys Plc 2009 profit dropped 39% on lower metals price. Mouchel Group plc swung to a loss in first-half. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 2009 profit declined.[/R]

UK revised its estimate of fourth quarter GDP increase to 0.4% from the previous estimate of 0.3%. The GDP declined 3.1% in the fourth quarter from a year ago compared to the previous estimate of 3.3% decline.

The latest revision released by the Office for National Statistics also said in a separate report that the current account deficit narrowed to £1.7 billion from £5.9 billion in the third quarter.

In London FTSE 100 Index closed lower 38.34 or 0.67% to 5,672.32 and the pound edged higher to close at $1.509 and to €1.119.

Gartmore Group Ltd plunged 31% to 116 pence after it suspended a fund manager that managed 37% of assets. Guillaume Rambourg, 38 was suspended based on the internal investigation related to directing trades to certain brokerages.

Gartmore spokesperson Caroline Villiers stressed that neither Rambourg nor any of its employees are investigated by the FSA, regulatory authority.

Ramourg co-manages $2.2 billion Alphagen Capella fund with Roger Guy and also the pair co-managed 8.1 billion.

Gainers & Losers

Aer Lingus Group Plc the low-fare airline said 2009 revenues fell 11% to €1.2 billion from €1.36 billion a year ago. Net loss for the year was €130.1 million or 24.6 cents per diluted share compared to net loss of €109.9 million or 20.7 cents a year.

AMEC plc rose 2.6% to 786.00 pence engineering consultant agreed to acquire Entec Holdings Ltd for an initial consideration of £61.2 million.

Babcock International Group PLC rose 1.1% to 587.00 pence after the defense services group said trading in the second half of the year remains in line with its expectations outlined in its February 2010 interim management statement.

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc closed unchanged at 113.50 pence after the book publisher said 2009 revenues fell 12.7% to £87.2 million from £99.9 million a year ago. Net profit for the year fell 36% to £5 million or 6.74 pence per diluted share compared to net profit of £7.8 million or 10.67 pence per share a year.

Cranswick plc fell 0.1% to 814.50 pence after the food group trading performance for the year to March will be towards the upper end of market forecasts.

Hikma Pharmaceuticals Plc rose 0.2% to 631.50 pence.

Investec plc dropped 2.4% to 548.50 pence after the South Africa-focused bank said that Rensburg Sheppards and the company agreed on the terms of acquiring remaining shares on the company.

JKX Oil & Gas plc rose 2.1% to 288.00 pence after the focused oil and gas firm reported profit climbs 9.1% on higher output and gas prices.

Kazakhmys Plc rose 0.2% to 1,553.00 pence an international natural resources company said 2009 revenues fell 27% to $2.4 billion from $3.3 billion a year ago. Net profit for the year fell 39% to $554 million or $1.04 per diluted share compared to net profit of $909 million or $1.85 per share a year.

Ladbrokes plc rose 1.3% to 158.20 pence after the bookmaker announce the appointment of Richard Glynn as its next chief executive. He joins Ladbrokes from Sporting Index, where he has been Chairman since May 2008 and Chief Executive from 2001.

Melorio plc the training and assessment services group surged 19.2% to 155.00 pence.

MITIE Group PLC slipped 2.7% to 225.00 pence after the outsourcing and asset management firm reaffirmed the earnings for the year ending in 2010.

Mouchel Group plc dropped 4.2% to 199.00 pence after the consulting and business services company said first-half revenues fell 14.6% to £312.4 million from £365.6 million a year ago. Net loss for the first-half was £2.16 million or 1.9 pence per diluted share compared to net profit of £12.2 million or 10.9 pence per share a year.

Punch Taverns plc added 2.9% to 83.65 pence and Giles Thorley has informed the board of his intention to step down as Chief Executive and leave the board.

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc fell 2.1% to 43.83 pence.

Robert Wiseman Dairies PLC rose 0.3% to 517.00 pence after the company said its board is confident that the company will deliver profits for the year that are ahead of its previous expectations.

Standard Chartered Plc fell 1.1% to 1,771.00 pence after the company announces that it is considering an issue and listing in India.

FTSE 100 Index Movers

Of the stocks in the FTSE 100 index, 23 increased, 76 declined and 3 were unchanged.

Inmarsat Plc decliners in the FTSE 100 index with a loss of 5.64% followed by losses in Investec Plc of 3.74%, in The Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc of 3.39%, in Standard Life Plc of 3.12%, and in Lloyds Banking Group Plc of 2.99%.

Amec Plc led gainers in the FTSE 100 index with a rise of 3.20% followed by increase in Legal & General Group Plc of 1.09%, in Schroders Plc of 1.00%, in United Utilities Group Plc of 0.89%, and in Fresnillo Plc of 0.84%.