London afternoon: British Airways soars on ACAS news

15th Jun 2010 14:35

Shares have largely moved sideways in the afternoon session, with the sharp rise by British Satellite Broadcasting (BSkyB) more than offsetting the loss on BP, which is once again featuring high on traders' sell lists after ratings agency Fitch downgraded the oil giant's credit rating.News Corporation, the vehicle of media magnate Rupert Murdoch, is fed up being a 39.1% minority shareholder in BSkyB and wants to gain full control of the satellite broadcaster. The initial bid of 700p per share has been knocked back by BSkyB's independent directors who say that an offer somewhere north of 800p per share is more likely to get their approval. Fitch has cut its rating of BP debt by six notches to "BBB" from "AA", barely above junk status, as the cost of tackling the oil spill and recompensing injured parties grows.There is good news for British Airways, however, as ACAS, the conciliation service, has put new proposals on the table in the hopes of getting union officials and the airline's management back for talks.Tesco said it is continuing to see evidence of a steady consumer recovery in Britain as it reported UK like for like sales (lfl) growth of 1.1%. With the effects of January's VAT increase stripped out, UK lfl sales growth was 0.1% in the thirteen weeks ending 30 May. Total group sales increased by 8.2%, while growth excluding petrol was 6.9%. Satellite company Inmarsat is the worst performing blue-chip, and it is not because the company has launched its new global handheld satellite phone, the IsatPhone Pro, which the company said will retail for "as little as" $500. Bank of America Merrill Lynch is the reason for the share price weakness; the broker has cut its rating on the shares from "neutral" to "underperform", saying the company will have to spend piles of cash to replace its older satellites. In contrast broker comment from Morgan Stanley and Societe Generale is prompting demand for hotels chain Intercontinental Hotels.Housebuilder Bellway said uncertainty surrounding the new government's fiscal policy has resulted in a slight reduction in visitor site visits and weekly sales rates. "Nevertheless, with a strong forward order book, net cash in the bank of £55 million and expected future margin improvement, Bellway remains well positioned to continue to deliver earnings growth," it said. Fashion retailer Ted Baker has seen a spurt in sales in the year to date, with its wholesale business also seeing a marked upturn. Total group revenue jumped by 18% in the 19 weeks from 31 January to 12 June. Gross margins were maintained in line with expectations, it added.Things were not so cheery at fellow fashion retailer Alexon, which said recent like-for-like sales were down due to volcanic ash cloud disruptions and the general election. Group like-for-like sales for the 19 weeks ended 12 June 2010 fell 5.4%.Healthcare staff supplier Healthcare Locums today confirmed that all discussions in relation to its recent bid approach have now ended. Meanwhile, Cinven Limited confirmed that it made an approach to Spice but it was rejected by the support service group. The group said it made the approach on 24 May 2010, indicating an offer price of 56p per share, a 51.4% premium to the share price at the close of business on 21 May 2010.CML Microsystems, which manufactures semiconductors, narrowed losses for the year as the value of its semiconductors increased. Pre-tax losses came in at £386,000 against the loss of £2m last year as revenues rose 12% to £18.02m.Crash repair and accident administration firm Nationwide Accident Repair Services said trading since the beginning of the current financial year to date has been encouraging.TV shopping channel Ideal Shopping said it expects to report a "substantial" profit in the first half of 2010. The group also said that it feels it can reintroduce a sustainable dividend policy when the interim results are announced in September.Instant service equipment group Photo-Me International said it expects pre-exceptional, pre-tax profits to top current market forecasts by at least 20%.Oxford Instruments, which supplies tools for industry and research, saw profits rise for the year as it continued to see growth in its research and industrial markets. Pre-tax profit for the year to March rose to £27.4m from £18.1m before on revenue that rose 2.4% to £211.5m.African Eagle spread its wings and took off after tripling the tonnage and more than doubling the contained nickel equivalent at its flagship Dutwa nickel project in Tanzania.Environmental engineer Tinci has struck a RMB 54.5m (£5.4m) deal to let a unit of China's Xinfa Aluminium Industry Group use its Flue Gas Desulpherisation (FGD) technology.Bulk transportation specialist Interbulk Group saw a return to revenue growth in the first half of its financial year though profits were down sharply after being boosted substantially last year by exceptional items.Shares in Global Energy Development plummeted after the Latin America focused oil and gas producer reported that it had failed to find commercial quantities of hydrocarbons from the Rio Verde 2 exploration well.Kazakhstan focused peer Max Petroleum is also sharply lower after it said it would plug and abandon its KZI-1 well.GMA has begun a reverse circulation (RC) drilling programme at the Amesmessa gold mine in Southern Algeria and is still in talks with potential backers about an injection of fresh cash. The group, which said in May it had enough cash to meet its operating obligations until the end of June, is in advanced talks with both holders of loan stock and a potential provider of new equity capital.