FTSE 100 movers: Intercontinental buoyed by bullish brokers

7th Oct 2009 11:19

Intercontinental Hotels is the best performer on a quiet day on some bullish broker comment.Broker Panmure Gordon said the relaunch of the Holiday Inn has been driving a turnaround in the fortunes of InterContinental, which slipped into the red in the first half of the year. The broker is now expecting the hotel group's revenue per available room (revPAR) to hold steady in 2010, having previously pencilled in a 2.5% slide in revPAR from 2009 levels. 'This leads us to upgrade our 2010 EPS estimate by 12% to 72.7¢, and to increase our price target from 870p to 910p,' Panmure analyst Simon French said. The broker has a 'buy' recommendation on the stock. Citigroup has also joined the fan club, raising the stock from 'hold' to 'buy'. Supermarket J Sainsbury is lower on its latest trading update after it reported a slowdown in sales growth between the first and second quarters and predicted slower growth to come. Excluding the impact of the fuel and the VAT cut announced last November, like-for-like sales were up by 5.4% from the same period the previous year in the quarter, the second of the company's financial year. Sainsbury's chief executive Justin King said he expects market growth to slow in coming months due to reduced inflation. FTSE 100 - RisersInterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 825.50p +3.32%Kingfisher (KGF) 221.80p +2.69%Home Retail Group (HOME) 290.00p +2.15%British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 587.50p +2.09%Severn Trent (SVT) 972.50p +1.99%Rentokil Initial (RTO) 117.00p +1.92%Aviva (AV.) 459.00p +1.91%British Land Co (BLND) 484.30p +1.77%FTSE 100 - FallersLonmin (LMI) 1,555.00p -3.42%Admiral Group (ADM) 1,118.00p -3.20%Smith & Nephew (SN.) 535.00p -3.08%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,172.00p -3.06%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 314.20p -2.69%Tesco (TSCO) 382.20p -2.18%Cairn Energy (CNE) 2,769.00p -2.09%International Power (IPR) 289.10p -1.97%