FTSE 100 movers: Man hammered on profit slide

28th May 2009 11:30

Hedge fund manager Man slumped over 10% at one point today as troubles in the global financial markets in the past year dragged on profits. Funds under management at 31 March slumped to $46.8bn against $74.6bn last year. The figure was $0.9bn lower than the trading update it announced in March due to "negative performance and negative FX" in the final week of March.Pre-tax profit slumped to $743m from $2.1bn last year on revenue that slid to $2.4bn from $3.2bn before.The outlook for sugar and sweeteners group Tate & Lyle remains uncertain and the shares should be sold, according to Panmure Gordon."The headline number of profit before tax down just 2% is flattered by the strength of the dollar. In constant currencies PBT fell by 18%, and the outlook remains 'difficult to predict'," the broker said.Tate & Lyle is taking a £97m (£60m cash) hit to mothball its US sucralose plant, though this will help protect adjusted profits in 2010. Panmure Gordon has a price target of 250p for the stock.Management was putting a brave face on things at building supplies group Wolseley after the group announced trading profit more than halved in the first nine months of its financial year, but brokers seem united in predicting further problems ahead for the group.'The numbers were quite poor,' opined Sanjay Jha, an analyst at Pali International, 'If you assume the US plumbing business made a profit, it seems to me that they probably made a loss in Europe,' Jha said.Panmure Gordon has cut its rating on Wolseley from 'buy' to 'sell' after the stock doubled in price during March and April. 'While the shares remain a potential early beneficiary of any US stimulus boost, it is time to take profits, therefore we downgrade our recommendation to Sell,' said Panmure analyst Andy Brown.FTSE 100 - RisersCairn Energy (CNE) 2,424.00p +2.15%Invensys (ISYS) 238.00p +1.38%Randgold Resources (RRS) 4,313.00p +1.32%Intertek Group (ITRK) 1,057.00p +1.05%Fresnillo (FRES) 685.50p +0.96%Shire Plc (SHP) 861.50p +0.58%Inmarsat (ISAT) 516.50p +0.49%Tullow Oil (TLW) 998.00p +0.35%FTSE 100 - FallersMan Group (EMG) 230.75p -7.70%British Land Co (BLND) 390.50p -3.40%Schroders (SDR) 842.50p -3.27%Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 226.50p -3.10%Balfour Beatty (BBY) 345.50p -2.81%Compass Group (CPG) 352.25p -2.76%Schroders NV (SDRC) 735.50p -2.65%HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 536.50p -2.63%