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London midday: Footsie trades sideways

Wed, 07th Oct 2009 12:06

Footsie has traded sideways all morning with traders cautious after yesterday's surge in share and commodity prices. Predictions of a quiet start on Wall Street have added to the low key mood.Supermarket Sainsbury's is off a few points after a 4.6% rise in like-for-like sales excluding fuel in the quarter to 3 October came in lower than expected. Excluding the impact of the VAT cut, like-for-like sales in the quarter, the second of the company's financial year, were up by 5.4%, marginally below the 5.5% level predicted by Numis Securities.Tesco and Morrisons, both weakened on the comments from Sainsbury boss Justin King who warned that he expects market growth to slow in the coming months due to reduced inflation.Also on the slide is insurer Admiral which is trading ex-dividend today.Intercontinental Hotels is one of the best risers after an upgrade from Citigroup to 'buy' from 'hold'. A new higher price target from Panmure Gordon of 910p also helped. The broker said that there were early signs of a recovery in the business travel market and it is hopeful over the relaunch of the Holiday Inn brand. Gold miner Randgold Resources is wanted after gold hit a new all-time high yesterday while silver specialist Fresnillo, which also has some gold interests, is also on the up.Elsewhere in the mining sector Kazakhmys is tending firmer after Goldman Sachs issued a bullish note on commodity prices; the Kazakh mining company is on Goldman's conviction buy list.Sausages and pork products supplier Cranswick said sales were strongly ahead at the interim stage, helped by a contribution from the recently acquired Bowes of Norfolk. Sales in the six months to 30 September rose by 19% from a year earlier, with 7% attributable to the contribution from Bowes, Cranwsick, one of whose main customers is Sainsbury's, said.White collar recruiter Michael Page made a third quarter operating profit and noted 'increasing degrees of stabilisation across our regions' in the last three months. Its Asia Pacific and Americas regions both recorded sequential growth.Defence outfit Cobham has won two orders from global security firm Northrop Grumman for digital vehicle intercom systems. The orders are worth $40m and are for the ongoing provision of Cobham's ROVIS (AN/VIC-3) digital intercom systems to the US army.Struggling Irish airline Aer Lingus is to cut a further 676 jobs as part of a swingeing cost cutting programme designed to reduce operating costs by €97m by the end of 2011. The job cuts are in addition to 100 staff on fixed term contracts who will leave at the end of the year. The shares are up on hopes Ryanair will make a third bid suggested analysts.With expensive home improvements low on most householders' list of priorities, luxury wallpaper and fabrics group Walker Greenbank posted a sharp drop in profits as revenues fell. Investors took heart, however, from chairman Terry Stannard's assertion that sales trends appear to be improving.Chocolate maker and retailer Thorntons had a solid three months to end September with sales up by 2.3% to £46.8m despite a big customer going under.Traders who took a punt on online bookmaker Sportingbet's results were rewarded when the company announced a surge in annual pre-tax profit after strong demand from Europe. The bookie, which has reinstated dividend payments, said the new financial year has started well.
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13 Oct 2010 16:36

London close: Strong gains for FTSE 100

Footsie moved up gear following a strong start on Wall Street, and was nearly posting triple-digit gains at trading's close. US stocks are going well following strong results from processor group Intel and banking giant JP Morgan and strong indications from the Federal Reserve that further stimulus

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13 Oct 2010 14:45

London afternoon: Still up over 1%

The leading index broke above 5,750 briefly ahead of the opening bell on Wall Street, its highest since the end of April, led by a powerful mining sector. US stocks have started well - the Dow Jones is up almost 70 points - following strong results from Intel and JP Morgan and strong indications fr

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13 Oct 2010 12:05

London midday: Footsie boards the Fed express

Hints from the US Federal Reserve that it will resume its bond buying programme sooner rather than later galvanised the UK market in the morning session with mining stocks going particularly well. Xstrata, Anglo American, Rio Tinto and Antofagasta are the pick of a mining sector buoyed by the pros

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13 Oct 2010 09:07

Walker Greenbank trumps pre-recession trade

Luxury interior furnishings firm Walker Greenbank is doing so well it's "comfortably" beating pre-recession levels, driven by growth at its wallpaper and fabric printing factories. Profit before tax for the six months ended 31 July leapt to £2.31m from £0.57m in 2009 on revenue up 16% to £33.67m.

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28 Jul 2010 16:00

UK SMALLCAP ROUNDUP: Allergan's Ozurdex Gets Agency Approval

Dow Jones smallcap news is now on Twitter, allowing you to catch up on the news away from your desk. Go to http://twitter.com/DJ_UK_Smallcaps ALLERGAN INC. (AGN), a drug maker, Wednesday said the European Medicines Agency has granted marketing approval to Ozurdex, a treatment for an eye conditi

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28 Jul 2010 12:29

UK SMALLCAP ROUNDUP: JJB's Former Chairman Retires As Director

Dow Jones smallcap news is now on Twitter, allowing you to catch up on the news away from your desk. Go to http://twitter.com/DJ_UK_Smallcaps JJB SPORTS PLC (JJB.LN), a sportswear retailer, Wednesday said its former chairman who steered it away from the brink of administration late last year ha

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28 Jul 2010 07:58

Walker Greenbank: 1H Profit Significantly Ahead Of Expectations

LONDON (Dow Jones)--Luxury furnishings company Walker Greenbank PLC (WGB.LN) Wednesday said first-half pretax profit is expected to nearly quadruple on the year, boosted by a return to growth of its premium brand Zoffany. The firm said it performed "significantly ahead" of management expectation

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15 Apr 2010 16:46

Chief exec's wife sells Charles Taylor shares

The wife of insurance services consultancy Charles Taylor Consulting's chief executive has raised £126,000 from a share disposal. John Rowe's wife, Janet, sold 60,000 shares at 210p each. The shares were sold on the day that they went ex-dividend. The dividend of 9.01p a share is being paid on 25

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14 Apr 2010 12:08

Sector movers: Upbeat Alterian lifts software

Investors breathed a sigh of relief after marketing software firm Alterian said it expects full year results to be in line with expectations, helping lift the software & computer services sector higher. "Following contract slippage in the third quarter, the business has performed in line with expec

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14 Apr 2010 08:20

Walker Greenbank encouraged by revenue momentum

Luxury interior furnishings group Walker Greenbank revealed a decline in annual pre-tax profit but said it was encouraged by revenue momentum going into the second half. The group, whose brands include Sanderson and Morris & Co, said profit before taxation fell to £1.6m for the 12-month period ende

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15 Dec 2009 09:05

Small caps round-up: Plexus, Independent Media, Interbulk...

Oil and gas engineering services firm Plexus Holdings has won a three year contract with a further two year option clause with Maersk Oil to supply its High Pressure/ High Temperature POS-GRIP wellhead technology. The value of the initial contract is estimated at £3m with revenues commencing in May

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7 Oct 2009 17:03

London close: Sainsbury leads retreat

After yesterday's 2.26% gain on the Footsie the blue-chip index took a small step backwards today, with half an eye on the US market where the third quarter results season is about to get underway. Supermarket chain Sainsbury was the worst performing blue-chip as sales growth figures disappointed.

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7 Oct 2009 14:48

London afternoon: Weak Wall St. undermines Footsie

A soft opening by Wall Street prompted London's blue chips to take a step back, though plenty of firm features are still to be found. Supermarket Sainsbury's is off a few points after a 4.6% rise in like-for-like sales excluding fuel in the quarter to 3 October came in lower than expected. Exclud

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7 Oct 2009 08:40

Walker Greenbank profits slump

With expensive home improvements low on most householders' list of priorities, luxury wallpaper and fabrics group Walker Greenbank posted a sharp drop in profits as revenues fell. In the six months to July 31, the firm reported a pre-tax profit of £568,000 compared with £1.72m over the same period

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