London afternoon: Stocks still sleepwalking

5th Apr 2011 14:16

London is still in a somnambulant mood on a day that is light on big company news, with Footsie still in the red despite a moderate revival over the lunch time session.Music and film retailer HMV continues to struggle against tough conditions on the high street and competition from supermarkets and digital downloads. It said it expects profits before tax for the full year to come in at £30m. In a trading update last month HMV predicted pre-tax profits would be "moderately below" market expectations of £45m. The company has also been given more headroom by its lenders though, and the share price fall is not as severe as it might have been.Elsewhere in retail though, shares in Home Retail Group are higher after some stake-building by US private equity group Madison Dearborn Capital Partners stoked takeover talk.M&A chatter also lifted TUI Travel, the owner of Thomson and other holiday brands. Its parent group, Germany's TUI AG, is said to be considering selling its stake in the shipping group Hapag-Lloyd. Shares in EnQuest are higher. The UK-focused oil and gas group said it was "very disappointed" with the government's decision to increase taxes on North Sea oil firms, though it remains confident of delivering on its 2011 targets. The high oil price and increased production helped push the company's revenues up to $614.4m in 2010, from $319m the previous year. Pre-tax profits soared to $71.5m from $24.6bn.The London Stock Exchange is to sell Servizio Titoli, a provider of shareholder management services to listed companies in Italy, to Computershare for €30m. A further consideration, up to a maximum of €2.4m, may be payable on completed of the deal, which is expected in May. Advertising giant WPP is buying a minority stake in Canadian firm Vice Holdings, a global youth media brand that operates in more than 30 countries. Specialist healthcare company BTG said results for the year to end-March will be in line with previously stated guidance. Revenue is expected to fall somewhere in the range of £108m to £114m, with recurring revenue accounting for around £98m to £102m of that. The recent natural disasters in New Zealand, Japan and Australia could result in Amlin facing claims of as much as £275m, according to estimates released by the underwriter. Amlin estimates that the second earthquake in New Zealand will result in it facing claims of £110m, while claims resulting from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan are likely to come in at between £80m and £150m. Net claims from the floods in Queensland, Australia, are seen amounting to about £15m. Online marketing group Asia Digital - which operates through two digital advertising divisions, DGM and AKTIV, saw shares tumble by a quarter on Tuesday after offloading an Australian unit of DGM that accounted for 70% of revenues in 2010.