FTSE 100 movers: Pension decision boosts BT

21st Oct 2010 14:42

BT is higher after the courts ruled that the UK government has to guarantee all BT employees in the BT pension scheme not just the ones that joined prior to privatisation in 1984. The government argued that the Crown Guarantee only covered members of the pension scheme before BT was privatised and not subsequent employees. The courts disagreed and said that it covers members that joined before and after privatisation. The guarantee only comes into play if BT becomes insolvent. British Airways is ahead on news that its cabin crew will be balloted on a new offer. No details of the offer have been released. GlaxoSmithKline said that the operating environment is challenging when it released third quarter figures. Revenues were similar to expectations at £6.81bn in the three months to September 2010, against £6.76bn in the same period last year. Underlying sales growth is estimated at 6%. Pre-restructuring earnings were 28.2p a share, slightly down on the 28.5p a share reported last year. Including restructuring costs of £171m, the earnings figure is 25.3p a share. Strong cash flow enables GSK to increase its third quarter dividend by 7% to 16p a share. The shares fell back after the figures but they are starting to recover. TUI Travel, owner of tour operator Thomson, is sharply lower as it restated results for 2008-09 and took an extra £88m charge linked to the integration of IT systems in its UK business following the merger with First Choice Holidays in 2007.Oil explorer Tullow is also down, after its Onyina-1 exploration well in the Deepwater Tano licence offshore Ghana hit water.FTSE 100 - RisersInterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 1,223.00p +4.35%Diageo (DGE) 1,195.00p +3.02%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,511.00p +2.78%BT Group (BT.A) 154.30p +2.73%British Airways (BAY) 284.70p +2.37%Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,059.00p +2.32%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 418.80p +2.30%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 1,997.00p +2.10%HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 673.60p +2.06%National Grid (NG.) 593.50p +1.98%FTSE 100 - FallersTUI Travel (TT.) 205.80p -10.68%Autonomy Corporation (AU.) 1,467.00p -2.52%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,226.00p -2.15%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,269.00p -1.78%Serco Group (SRP) 612.00p -1.53%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,917.50p -1.26%Shire Plc (SHP) 1,497.00p -1.06%BP (BP.) 431.50p -0.90%Vedanta Resources (VED) 2,209.00p -0.90%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 926.00p -0.75%