London close: Meek end to bumper week

31st Jul 2009 16:23

Blue chips ended a near-record breaking week on a low note. Footsie closed down sharply after disappointing second quarter consumer spending figures in the US. Insurers lead the market lower ahead of the sector's results season. Standard Life, Old Mutual, RSA Insurance, Friends Provident and Legal & General are the worst performers among life assurance stocks. UK oil stocks are also out of favour after poorly received corporate announcements by European counterparts. Italian oil company ENI has cut its interim dividend while Total of France saw its second-quarter profits more than halved. BG Group, Royal Dutch Shell and Cairn Energy are the worst affected, while oilfield support services firm Petrofac is also lower.British Airways was a bright spot after making some positive noises to accompany its first quarter results. "While traffic volumes are down considerably compared to last year, they have stabilised during the quarter and show some signs of improvement for the peak summer months. However, yields remain volatile," the company said.Elsewhere in the travel sector holiday firms TUI Travel and Thomas Cook, cruise operator Carnival and hotels group InterContinental floated higher.Brewer SABMiller sank lower after chief executive Graham Mackay said at the firm's AGM today that the global economic slowdown continues to dampen consumer demand.Bid-threatened miner Anglo American saw underlying earnings slump by nearly 70% in the first half of 2009 as the impact of the global downturn on demand for commodities took its toll. Pre-tax profits fell to $3.63bn from $6.47bn on revenues of $11.1bn, down 38%, but underlying earnings picture showed a much steeper fall to $1.1bn from $3.48bn.The shares fall back while Anglo's suitor, Xstrata moves higher. Elsewhere in the sector Vedanta saw EBITDA in the first quarter slid e52% to $354.7m from $739m on revenue that fell 32.8% to $1,358.2. Lower commodity prices more than offset the benefit from higher production rates at the Indian miner and refiner.Real estate firm Liberty said results for the six months to June reflect a continuation of the "very difficult" retail environment and reductions in property values. Pre-tax losses narrowed slightly to £452m from £458m last year, while group net rental income fell 2% to £190m.Hedge fund manager Man Group is weaker after UBS downgraded the stock to "sell" from "neutral" on fears that the US commodities regulator, CFTC, will carry through its threat to introduce measures to reduce commodity price volatility. Man's flagship fund, AHL, has 30% of its portfolio assigned to commodities.Homeserve said the year has started well with continuing policy growth and high renewals rates across its three core membership businesses. The group's expectations for the full year remain unchanged.Two dividend cutters are among the best performing second liners. Bingo group Rank plans to resume dividend payments in the future, once trading conditions and market outlook improve. Underlying pre-tax profits rose to £24.7m in the six month ended 30 June compared with £17.6m last time, while revenue came to £266m from £257m previously. Pest control group Rentokil, meanwhile, posted figures littered with more one-off charges. Investors have chosen to focus on operating profits, which, on actual exchange rates and stripping out one-off charges, rose by 1.5% to £69.2m.Business publisher United Business Media saw profits fall in the first half due to weaker performance from its events and publishing businesses, but the group said it was satisfied with the result, considering the tough economic conditions. The market agreed, chasing the share price higher.Night club operator Luminar is to raise £37.5m through a placing and open offer at 95p, a near third discount to yesterday's closing price. The shares have responded well to the news as the funds will ease the pressure on its banking covenants.Software firm Logica remains in demand after better than expected results yesterday from European competitor CapGemini prompted broker Panmure Gordon to upgrade the stock from "hold" to a "buy". Marketing group Hasgrove is anticipating a much stronger second half of the year after gaining momentum following a slow start to the year. Business wins picked up in May and June, the firm said.