London close: Footsie advances as takeover activity excites

6th Dec 2010 16:56

Shares closed with decent gains as bid activity and higher oil prices whetted investor appetites.There has been no shortage of takeover news to keep traders occupied on an otherwise fairly quiet day.FTSE 250-listed De La Rue was the star performer. The banknote printer enjoyed a second wind Monday afternoon after the company that bid for it announced it had offered over 905p a share.Shares in the company jumped this morning after it said it had rejected an offer from an unnamed bidder. They then climbed higher after France's Oberthur, which prints euros and other currencies, said it had bid 905p a share for De La Rue.Punch Taverns, Britain's biggest pub company, is on the rise on press reports that private equity group CVC has the debt-heavy group in its sights. Enterprise Inns rises in sympathy.Mobile phone network operator Vodafone was wanted as news filters out that it is close to selling its 44% stake in SFR, the French mobile phone group, for £7bn.With crude trading near a 26-month high, oil stocks were in demand. Big hitters such as BP, BG and Cairn Energy posted gains.In mining, Rio Tinto has offered £2.2bn (A$3.5bn) for Riversdale Mining, a Sydney-based firm with interests in African coal. Riversdale confirmed Monday it had held talks with the Anglo-Australian mining giant about a deal valuing the business at A$15 a share.Among today's fallers was African gold miner Randgold Resources, amid concerns over the political turmoil in Ivory Coast, where two prime ministers have been appointed following the elections. Randgold said its recently commissioned Tongon mine in the north of Côte d'Ivoire was operating normally but that it was closely monitoring the political and security situation in the country. Contractor Mouchel is mulling a share issue and wholesale disposals to fend off takeover approaches sparked by the recent collapse in its share price.Nestor Healthcare's patience has been rewarded with a £124m bid from the owners of the AA and Saga, almost three months after it rejected an initial approach worth just £102m. Saga Group, a subsidiary of Acromas oldings, is paying 110p a share in cash for the social care firm.Engine designer Rolls-Royce has announced a clutch of contract wins for energy projects across the globe. The contract wins are worth $110m in total. Defence group Cobham is further beefing up its US surveillance division with the acquisition of RVision for $28m in cash, plus up to a further $20m. Vision specialises in electro-optical and infra-red imaging systems to protect vital installations such as military bases, border security posts, law enforcement, nuclear and chemical plants, ports and harbours and various transport applications. International engineering group IMI is teaming up with the Shanghai Automation Instrumentation Company (SAIC) to form a joint venture to serve the nuclear energy market in China. The proposed joint venture will produce control valves for critical applications for new nuclear power generation plants. The drilling programme of North Falklands oil explorer Desire Petroleum continues to frustrate, as the company has plugged and abandoned the 14/15-2 Rachel North well. Desire's share price virtually halved in early trading, while Rockhopper Exploration, which has a 7.5% interest in the well, also takes on a few dents.A lack of insolvencies means that first half underlying profit will be £700,000 lower for Begbies Traynor. In contrast, filtration and environmental technologies supplier Porvair says that its full year figures will be better than expected due to strong fourth quarter trading.FTSE 100 - RisersCapita Group (CPI) 669.50p +5.35%BP (BP.) 450.00p +3.40%Xstrata (XTA) 1,437.00p +3.38%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,109.00p +2.78%BG Group (BG.) 1,267.00p +2.63%Cairn Energy (CNE) 408.00p +2.56%Compass Group (CPG) 585.50p +2.09%Rolls-Royce Group (RR.) 640.50p +2.07%Wolseley (WOS) 1,830.00p +2.06%Inmarsat (ISAT) 666.00p +1.99%FTSE 100 - FallersCobham (COB) 194.50p -2.41%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,885.00p -2.40%Vedanta Resources (VED) 2,143.00p -2.24%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 914.00p -2.04%Barclays (BARC) 263.00p -1.87%Reed Elsevier (REL) 516.00p -1.62%Tesco (TSCO) 420.00p -1.62%Pearson (PSON) 978.50p -1.61%RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 122.90p -1.60%Investec (INVP) 506.50p -1.36%FTSE 250 - RisersDe La Rue (DLAR) 841.00p +29.88%ITE Group (ITE) 231.60p +10.02%Punch Taverns (PUB) 69.25p +6.62%International Personal Finance (IPF) 340.00p +6.25%Heritage Oil (HOIL) 400.00p +5.26%PZ Cussons (PZC) 409.00p +4.60%Go-Ahead Group (GOG) 1,300.00p +4.42%Ashtead Group (AHT) 150.00p +4.17%Afren (AFR) 140.00p +4.09%Hunting (HTG) 655.00p +3.80%FTSE 250 - FallersOcado Group (OCDO) 164.70p -3.12%ITV (ITV) 68.50p -3.11%Hiscox Ltd. (HSX) 359.90p -2.55%Yell Group (YELL) 12.12p -2.49%Supergroup (SGP) 1,581.00p -2.11%Kesa Electricals (KESA) 170.40p -2.07%Laird (LRD) 154.80p -2.03%CPP Group (CPP) 270.00p -1.82%St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 140.50p -1.68%AG Barr (BAG) 1,088.00p -1.63%