London close: Strong finish for FTSE 100

1st Mar 2010 16:30

The leading share index finished on a strong footing as strength in the mining sector and gains on the back of company updates helped offset a weak performance from financial stocks. Miners were in demand following a rise in copper prices following the earthquake in Chile, the world's number one producer of the red metal.The earthquake shut down up to a fifth of the South American country's copper mining operations, but mines have already resumed operations.Kazakhmys, Fresnillo, Xstrata and Chile-focused copper miner ENRC went well. Rio Tinto was also on the upturn after spending C$244.7m to up its stake in Canadian mining firm Ivanhoe to 22.4% from 19.7%.Educational and financial information publisher Pearson climbed after it bumped up sales and profits in 2009 helped by favourable exchange rate movements. Sales in 2009 at £5,624m were 17% higher than 2008's £4,811m but were up just 4% at constant exchange rates. Adjusted pre-tax profit also rose 13%, to £761m from £674m. Market expectations were for a pre-tax profit of around £725.68m.Aggreko surged after the temporary power supplier announced a contract to provide temporary power and temperature control for broadcast and technical services for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.Shares in Prudential slumped as the UK life insurer confirmed it has agreed a deal to buy troubled US life group AIG's Asian business for $35.5bn.The acquisition will be funded by a $20bn rights issue, the largest ever seen in the UK. The terms of the issue will be announced with the prospectus in April.Prudential will also issue $5bn of senior debt, while AIG will receive $5.5bn in new Pru shares plus $3bn of convertible shares and $2bn of preferred shares. Fellow insurers Aviva, Legal and General, RSA Insurance Group and Standard Life are among today's heavy fallers and are joined by part-nationalised lenders Lloyds Banking and Royal Bank of Scotland plus Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered after disappointing figures from HSBC. HSBC fell after the bank released worse than expected profits of $7.1bn. Underlying profits were $13.3bn but loan impairments rose again.Shares in Shire moved up after the speciality drugs group said the US Food and Drug Administration granted marketing approval for VPRIV, a treatment Gaucher disease. 'The FDA designated VPRIV for Priority Review and granted marketing approval in just 6 months,' Shire said.Engineer Tomkins moved modestly back into profit last year, but cautioned that conditions remain challenging and any sustained recovery will be towards the latter half of the year. The group posted a pre-tax profit of $38.4m in 2009 against a loss of $8.1m the previous year, but remained in deficit after tax with a net loss of $15.6m against $64.6m. Sales tumbled from $5.52bn to $41.28bn.Underwriter Amlin enjoyed a bumper 2009 with profits rising by more than 300% as low claims combined with a record performance from its investment arm.A pre-tax profit of £509.1m "blew away" the consensus estimate of £454m, says KBC Peel Hunt. "Amlin rightly trades at a premium to the sector and, given the extent and consistency of the returns, it deserves to trade substantially above its current 1.20x 2010E NTA."Defence industry supplier Ultra Electronics returned to the black in 2009 boosted by acquisitions and the weak pound. The group, which supplies pneumatic compressors for weapons release and missile cooling, reported a pre-tax profit of £107.9m for the year ended 31 December 2009 compared with a loss of £2.9m a year earlier. Revenue rose to £651.0m during the year from £515.3m before.Engineer Senior reported a 'resilient performance' with strong cash flows and a £72m reduction in net debt while 2010 results are expected to be broadly in line with 2009 figures.Engineering consultant WSP said annual pre-tax profit halved after restructuring charges and as the economic slowdown created a 'particularly testing year.' Profit before tax fell to £25.4m for the year ended 31 December 2009 from £52.1m the year before. Revenue declined to £723.3m from £755.2m in 2008.FTSE 100 - RisersAggreko (AGK) 1,034.00p +6.05%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,410.00p +5.15%Pearson (PSON) 956.00p +4.82%SABMiller (SAB) 1,797.00p +4.48%Fresnillo (FRES) 782.50p +4.26%Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC) 1,066.00p +3.80%Petrofac Ltd (PFC) 1,065.00p +3.70%Antofagasta (ANTO) 916.00p +3.68%Vedanta Resources (VED) 2,641.00p +3.65%Xstrata (XTA) 1,067.50p +3.64%FTSE 100 - FallersPrudential (PRU) 530.00p -12.03%HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 682.00p -5.23%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 73.20p -5.12%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 50.26p -4.27%Aviva (AV.) 375.20p -3.87%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 36.69p -2.60%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,525.50p -2.34%3i Group (III) 259.40p -1.41%BT Group (BT.A) 113.50p -1.22%Standard Life (SL.) 193.10p -1.18%FTSE 250 - RisersRank Group (RNK) 111.90p +9.17%Pace (PIC) 190.00p +8.57%Tomkins (TOMK) 205.50p +6.70%Rotork (ROR) 1,373.00p +5.78%International Personal Finance (IPF) 211.00p +5.76%Edinburgh Dragon Trust (EFM) 200.50p +4.97%Laird (LRD) 134.00p +4.93%DS Smith (SMDS) 121.60p +4.65%Genesis Emerging Markets Fund Ltd. (GSS) 449.00p +4.54%Catlin Group (CGL) 362.20p +4.47%FTSE 250 - FallersDSG International (DSGI) 29.61p -3.49%Brit Insurance Holdings NV (BRE) 745.00p -3.25%Game Group (GMG) 79.70p -2.80%Brewin Dolphin (BRW) 121.80p -2.72%Debenhams (DEB) 61.30p -2.31%Eaga (EAGA) 150.70p -2.08%Inchcape (INCH) 25.02p -1.69%Evolution Group (EVG) 108.50p -1.63%St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 190.30p -1.60%Unite Group (UTG) 286.30p -1.48%