FTSE 100 movers: Essar surges after increasing resource estimates

23rd Jan 2012 15:10

The share price of India-focused integrated energy company Essar Energy increased by over a tenth on Monday afternoon after the firm increased its best estimate contingent resources at the Raniganj coal bed methane exploration block.Total proven and probable reserves at the block came in at 113bn cubic feet (bcf) gross, or 18.8m barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe). As such, best estimate contingent resources are now 445 bcf gross, or 74.1mmboe, compared with the previous evaluation, carried out in December 2009, which showed 201bcf gross, or 34mmboe. Defence contracting giant BAE Systems was rising on the news it is in discussions with the government of Oman to supply multiple Typhoon fighter aircraft. If a contract is signed, the aircraft will be completed within three years.On Monday a spokesman from the company said: "This announcement will not affect the job losses announced last year; however in the long term it could well create jobs in the future as such a contract would positively impact the supply chain."Nationalised lender Royal Bank of Scotland was also performing well on unconfirmed reports that Chief Executive Officer Stephen Hester has waived his bonus, which was expected to be around £1.6m this year.International Consolidated Airline Group (IAG) was flying high after it said the first flight of its new low cost airline, Iberia Express, will take off on March 25. Meanwhile, engineers Weir and IMI were leading the downside after both stocks were hit with broker downgrades. The former was cut from overweight to neutral by JP Morgan Cazenove while the latter was cut from buy to neutral by UBS. FTSE 100 - RisersEssar Energy (ESSR) 134.90p +10.12%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG) 173.50p +3.52%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 28.32p +3.21%Standard Life (SL.) 220.50p +3.18%Prudential (PRU) 716.00p +3.17%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,181.00p +3.05%BAE Systems (BA.) 322.70p +2.87%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,774.00p +2.84%Aviva (AV.) 360.60p +2.76%SABMiller (SAB) 2,392.50p +2.70%FTSE 100 - FallersWeir Group (WEIR) 1,888.00p -3.38%IMI (IMI) 857.00p -2.34%Tate & Lyle (TATE) 663.00p -1.78%BG Group (BG.) 1,440.00p -1.17%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,370.00p -1.17%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,341.00p -1.03%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 731.00p -1.02%Aggreko (AGK) 2,069.00p -0.96%Man Group (EMG) 120.10p -0.91%Next (NXT) 2,634.00p -0.87%NR