London close: Footsie ends up

18th May 2010 16:42

Footsie finished with good gains but edged down from earlier highs after a poor start on Wall Street.Man Group was the best performer on reflection of yesterday's deal to buy GLG for $1.6bn. Inter-dealer broker ICAP was also in demand, ahead of its full year results tomorrow, while mezzanine finance lender Intermediate Capital did well too.In today's company news, mobile giant Vodafone expects to see revenues in its core business grow again in the current year despite problems in India, where it took a £2.3bn impairment hit after intense competition. Underlying profits were £11.5bn accompanied by a promise of a 7% annual dividend increase for the next three years. Property shares were among the biggest risers following results from British Land. The group said it had a "good" year despite the challenging and volatile markets, lifting net asset value (NAV) by 27%, more than many analysts had predicted. The real estate giant revealed net asset value per share at 31 March 2010 was 504p, while the portfolio valuation grew 13.5% Land Securities also finished up.The pharmaceutical sector was down with Shire, GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca lower. AstraZeneca signed a deal with Teva Pharmaceuticals USA to settle patent litigation regarding Teva's proposed generic version of Astra's Entocort EC (budesonide) capsules used to treat Crohn's disease. The Anglo-Swedish drug giant has granted Teva a license to enter the US market with its generic version of oral budesonide on 15 February 2012, subject to regulatory approval, or earlier in certain circumstances.Prudential was another faller following the announcement of its rights issue to finance the $35.5bn acquisition of AIG's Asianbusinesses (AIA) yesterday.Directories group Yell announced the departure of its chief executive and chief financial officer at the same time as unveiling a move into profit. Chief executive John Condron and chief financial officer John Davis are to step down. Condron will retire by May 2011, while Davis will leave the company once a successor is in place.The underlying improvement in revenues and margins at medical and engineering group Smiths continued in the three months to end April. "Smiths Group delivered margin improvement and strong cash generation through its programme of operational improvement in the nine months to 1 May 2010," it added.North Sea oil group Enquest is also in demand after yesterday's trading update was largely overlooked. Milk and cheese producer Dairy Crest served up a 5% increase in adjusted annual pre-tax profit, posted a 19% reduction in year end net debt and said trading at the start of the new year is in line with company expectations. The group, whose key brands include Cathedral City, Country Life and Clover, said adjusted pre-tax profit rose to £83.5m for the year ended 31 March 2010 from £79.5m the same time a year earlier.A pre-AGM statement from serviced office group Regus has smacked its share price. "Trading conditions remain tough which is likely to impact our pace of recovery. The UK remains our most difficult region and the early signs of improvement seen in the first quarter have lost some momentum in a fragile market," it said.Telecoms hardware group BATM crashed as it warned it will only break-even this half due to a slow-down in orders from its major OEM customer.Soft drinks firm Britvic confirmed that it is to buy syrups and fruit juice company Fruité Entreprises for €237m and said it is confident of meeting full year expectations.Book publisher Bloomsbury said trading has been 'excellent' in the UK in the first quarter.FTSE 100 - RisersMan Group (EMG) 220.30p +9.11%ICAP (IAP) 389.60p +4.96%British Land Co (BLND) 452.00p +4.32%London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 672.00p +3.46%SABMiller (SAB) 2,076.00p +3.28%United Utilities Group (UU.) 541.00p +3.24%Experian Group (EXPN) 609.00p +3.05%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,125.00p +2.93%Investec (INVP) 505.00p +2.91%Severn Trent (SVT) 1,168.00p +2.82%FTSE 100 - FallersCable & Wireless Worldwide (CW.) 83.00p -1.01%Randgold Resources (RRS) 6,050.00p -0.90%Autonomy Corporation (AU.) 1,769.00p -0.90%Prudential (PRU) 530.00p -0.84%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,173.00p -0.59%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 1,808.00p -0.50%Tesco (TSCO) 414.85p -0.49%Admiral Group (ADM) 1,287.00p -0.46%Vedanta Resources (VED) 2,344.00p -0.42%Shire Plc (SHP) 1,442.00p -0.41%FTSE 250 - RisersIntermediate Capital Group (ICP) 269.20p +7.12%EnQuest (ENQ) 102.30p +6.56%Heritage Oil (HOIL) 493.00p +6.04%Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 151.90p +4.76%Renishaw (RSW) 706.50p +4.59%PartyGaming (PRTY) 303.00p +4.41%Britvic (BVIC) 458.70p +4.37%Afren (AFR) 97.00p +4.30%International Personal Finance (IPF) 248.10p +4.07%Big Yellow Group (BYG) 334.90p +4.01%FTSE 250 - FallersYell Group (YELL) 36.76p -21.97%Regus (RGU) 94.00p -16.74%Capital & Counties Properties (CAPC) 115.30p -5.49%Trinity Mirror (TNI) 107.90p -4.26%SThree (STHR) 338.90p -3.23%Cookson Group (CKSN) 498.40p -3.22%SVG Capital (SVI) 152.00p -2.88%Electra Private Equity (ELTA) 1,295.00p -2.63%Hansteen Holdings (HSTN) 67.60p -2.52%Inchcape (INCH) 320.30p -2.38%