London close: Late rally lifts stocks

28th Jul 2011 16:41

Stocks finished in positive territory after a choppy day, with US economic data helping to spark a late rally.Weekly Initial jobless claims in the world's biggest economy fell below 400,000 for the first time since April and homes sales data also came in ahead of expectations.The rush of company updates investors had to wade through got a mixed reception. Anglo-Dutch integrated oil company Royal Dutch Shell finished flat after it reported net income on a current cost of supplies (CCS) basis, excluding specific items, of $6.6bn, compared to $4.2bn in the second quarter of last year. The figure was in line with market estimates. Phone company BT advanced after pre-tax profits rose 20% in the first quarter. "Our super-fast broadband network has now passed over 5m premises and the customer base has almost trebled in the last six months," said chief executive Ian Livingston.Drugs giant AstraZeneca finished flat despite seeing second quarter profit before tax slide 2%, or 4% on a constant exchange rates (CER) basis, to $2.86bn from $2.92bn the year before. Revenue rose 3% (but fell 2% on a CER basis) to $8.43bn from $8.18bn. But its smaller rival Shire continued to close the gap on Astra, growing revenues by 25% in the second quarter. Total revenues climbed rose by $1.07bn (£652.9m) from $849m over the same period the previous year. Diluted earnings per share climbed to $1.08 from $1.03. Rolls-Royce motored slightly ahead after it revealed record orders in the first half while profits jumped 28% to beat expectations, enabling the aerospace, power systems and defence group to up its payout to shareholders.Catering giant Compass failed to whet appetites despite organic revenues rising 4.5% to beat expectations. While the group is seeing "modest signs of recovery" in Japan, it has been able to limit the impact on profit to £20m in the second half after reducing costs. In the FTSE 250, speciality chemicals group Croda International reacted negatively to a 30% surge in half year profit, bolstered its dividend and expects to make further progress through the remainder of the year.Sitting in the red was Kofax, the scanning software solutions provider, after reporting slower sales cycles for the fiscal year ended on the 30th of June 2011.Car dealer Inchcape motored ahead after it reported a 10.1% increase in half year pre-tax profit as demand from Asia Pacific and the Emerging Markets outweighed sluggishness in the UK and Europe.Scottish soft drinks firm AG Barr lost some fizz. It said it remains on track for a first half sales rise despite being hit by disappointing weather in the four weeks to 9 July. The maker of Irn-Bru, Tizer and a host of other drinks said sales for the six months to 30 July are expected to be up by about 3.5% from the same period the previous year at £123m. Broadband provider TalkTalk moved ahead after it added more customers in the first quarter and said it is experiencing less "churn" - customers moving to other operators. The shares are higher. Total revenue was down to £423m from £444m in the same quarter the previous year, with the unusual pattern of holidays among the reasons for the decline, according to Talk Talk.National Express is in the fast-lane. It said it sees "evidence that the UK recession is encouraging passengers to seek more cost effective modes of transport" as it posted a rise in interim profits and revenues. The bus and train operator saw revenues in the half year to 30 June rise by 6% from the same period the previous year to £1.12bn. Pre-tax profits rose by 26% to £95.5m. Bodycote is wanted after saying it expects its full-year results to come in ahead of forecasts after a strong first half for the metals and alloys treatment company. In the six months to 30 June, pre-tax profits at the company, which works in the aerospace, car, defence and other sectors, climbed to £40.3m from £19.1m the previous year on revenues that rose to £288.2m from £246.3m. Turning to small companies, Sarantel, the maker of high-performance GPS antennas for mobile phones and other devices, has won its "most significant" military contract to date, an order to make antennas for radios used by the US army. Sarantel's GeoHelix GPS antenna will be used in the US military's "Rifleman radio", which is to be used as part of the US Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) programme.FTSE 100 - RisersBAE Systems (BA.) 306.80p +4.89%Shire Plc (SHP) 2,136.00p +4.20%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 45.00p +4.08%Inmarsat (ISAT) 537.00p +3.87%BT Group (BT.A) 197.90p +3.78%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 36.28p +3.63%Barclays (BARC) 227.90p +3.12%ITV (ITV) 71.05p +3.12%Admiral Group (ADM) 1,550.00p +1.84%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,532.00p +1.76%FTSE 100 - FallersCarnival (CCL) 2,161.00p -2.96%Lonmin (LMI) 1,285.00p -2.80%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 578.00p -2.28%Centrica (CNA) 313.00p -2.28%Weir Group (WEIR) 2,124.00p -1.89%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,768.00p -1.72%Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,140.00p -1.64%Kingfisher (KGF) 254.70p -1.55%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,555.00p -1.42%Xstrata (XTA) 1,320.50p -1.31%FTSE 250 - RisersInchcape (INCH) 390.00p +8.42%Bodycote (BOY) 388.00p +8.02%National Express Group (NEX) 261.30p +4.39%Domino's Pizza UK & IRL (DOM) 494.40p +3.45%Debenhams (DEB) 67.25p +3.38%TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 142.40p +3.19%St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 179.80p +3.04%Laird (LRD) 182.90p +3.04%Cable & Wireless Communications (CWC) 37.03p +2.95%Telecity Group (TCY) 553.50p +2.88%FTSE 250 - FallersKofax (KFX) 393.00p -17.35%Elementis (ELM) 165.30p -4.95%Renishaw (RSW) 1,614.00p -4.50%Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 138.40p -4.35%Spectris (SXS) 1,565.00p -3.75%Afren (AFR) 141.00p -3.56%Mondi (MNDI) 606.00p -3.43%Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 287.10p -3.27%Exillon Energy (EXI) 423.70p -3.26%Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 400.50p -3.24%