FTSE 100 movers: Burberry beats expectations

19th Jan 2010 14:25

Strong third quarter trading figures from luxury women's clothing supplier Burberry helped it buck the downward trend of the FTSE 100. Sales were £380m in the three months to December 2009, which is well ahead of Nomura's estimate of £336m. Retail sales were higher than expected and wholesale sales improved instead of declining. However, wholesale revenues are expected to be between 10% and 12% lower in constant currency for the year as a whole. The previous estimate was a 15% decline. The strength of the Yen helped licensing revenues to improve although in constant currency terms they were lower. Burberry's main growth came in Europe and Asia Pacific. Burberry is confident that it will continue its profitable growth in 2010-11. Brewer SABMiller reported flat lager sales in the third quarter. Some markets showed signs of recovery but this was offset by weaker performances elsewhere. Analysts had expected lager volumes to rise by 1% during the quarter. Nine month lager volumes are 1% lower. Two of the company's main markets - the US and South Africa - are weak at the moment. Latin American markets are showing more strength. Soft drink volumes did improve by 2%. FTSE 100 - RisersBurberry Group (BRBY) 637.50p +6.34%Severn Trent (SVT) 1,129.00p +3.67%Rexam (REX) 303.80p +3.62%Cadbury (CBRY) 836.00p +3.53%United Utilities Group (UU.) 505.00p +2.87%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 38.25p +2.71%British Airways (BAY) 199.10p +2.26%Smith & Nephew (SN.) 652.50p +2.19%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,286.50p +2.10%Xstrata (XTA) 1,238.00p +1.77%FTSE 100 - FallersSABMiller (SAB) 1,779.00p -2.25%Barclays (BARC) 311.60p -1.94%Pearson (PSON) 894.50p -1.60%Wolseley (WOS) 1,466.00p -1.48%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 57.72p -1.47%WPP Group (WPP) 597.00p -1.32%Compass Group (CPG) 459.70p -1.25%Randgold Resources (RRS) 5,035.00p -1.18%Amec (AMEC) 764.50p -1.04%Alliance Trust (ATST) 331.00p -0.96%